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Pyromania2667
2022-07-03, 03:40 AM
I will mostly use this for myself and my friends along with anyone else who wishes to be a Truenamer in my 3.5e games.

I wanted to keep this as basic and close to the class as possible whilst just... making this not be a total bummer when you play as the Truenamer. It won't be perfect and I'll be open to suggestions and input, but I want to make sure that everything feels cohesive to play. The Truenamer, to me, seems intended to be a support class. Thus, I will be modifying how the utterances work whilst adding very few, to keep it as close to the original as possible

Sorry, I will not be going into the prestige classes. The DCs for most effects remain the same except where noted otherwise (such as the DC for speaking an utterance has been changed, but not the DC to resist an utterance)


Most features remain the same, but there are a few additions

Level 3 - Gain the "Skill Focus: Truename" feat. If the Truenamer already has this feat, they may learn any other Knowledge Focus feat instead.

Sending - moved to level 10

Speak unto the Masses - moved to level 13

At level 7, a Truenamer can learn an additional utterance from The Lexicon of the Evolving Mind of appropriate level.

At level 12, a Truenamer can learn an additional utterance from all Lexicons of appropriate level

At level 20, a Truenamer can learn an additional utterance from all Lexicons

Once per day, starting at level 17, a Truenamer can attempt to Unname a target, even if they do not know their True Name. The Truespeak DC is 35 + (target's CR or HD) [Or 20 + CR/HD if you know their true name]
Additionally, once per week, a Truenamer can use the Ritual of Renaming on a target (no cost, takes an hour)




The first time you speak a particular utterance, the DC acts as normal. However, the universe tends to resist being manipulated with Truespeak repeatedly in a short period of time. Each time you successfully speak the same utterance in a day, the DC of your Truespeak check for that utterance increases by 2.

A natural 20 decreases the DC of the utterance by 2 instead of increasing it (but no less than the base DC)
Failures or natural 1 does not affect the DC of the utterance.
Successfully speaking an utterance with Truespeak within a roll of (20 - Int mod) does not increase the DC through The Law of Resistance.
Ex: A Truenamer has 20 intelligence for a +5 mod, and as such, a roll of 15 - 19 will not increase the DC on a successful Truespeak check (20 reduces the DC as stated previously)

The universe is infinite, and as such, does not see time the way mortals do. We are all fleeting specs in the passage of time. And the more powerful a Truespeaker, the easier it is for them to ease the stress of Resistance.

Once per day, taking a short rest resets the DC of all Utterance Truespeak DCs to default. The Truenamer must not use any utterances during this time.

At level 11, A Truenamer can meditate for 30 seconds (5 turns) to reset the DC of all Utterances once per day. This is in addition to resetting Utterance DCs once per day through a short rest


All utterances obey the Law of Sequence. As the universe isn't so easily bent to anyone's will, it will push back against anyone attempting to use an utterance in sequence if they're already commanding one.

Attempting to use an utterance with an ongoing duration whilst it is already active on another target increases the Truespeak DC by 4 for each active identical utterance until all identical utterances have ended in duration. The reverse of an utterance is treated as the same utterance for the purpose of the Law of Sequence, but not utterances of a different level.

Additionally, a Truenamer can end any ongoing effects they've caused.
(This is a bit of a late addition, so a few specific abilities already mentioned ending it early. Regardless, I want to specify you can cancel any / all ongoing effects at any time.)



Lexicon of the Evolving Mind
the DC for utterances has been adjusted to: (9 + utterance level + CR (or total HD if there is no CR, such as players)
Special: Since the act of Truespeaking is so precise and demanding, there's limitations on one's ability to speak it at the maximum possible effectiveness. Your Truespeak check can NEVER exceed (15 + Truenamer level / levels in Truespeaking classes)). This is from any source (such as intelligence modifier, skill ranks, items and spells)
Except for the item "Amulet of Silver Tongue" which allow you to go beyond this limit (by 5 and 10 respectively), but only through the item.


Hmm, this may require Quicken Utterance to become +15 instead of 20. Since this is intended to be a homebrew fix, you should figure out how certain modifiers to Utterances work to smooth out and make those "metamagic" effects slightly easier to manage.

I really like the idea of capping out the maximum possible ranks to smooth out the experience and have it be less of "Oh, time to put in EVERYTHING I got into that Truespeaking skill, hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaI'mDeadInsid e"

Durations remain the same unless specified otherwise. All related saves to resist an utterance remain the same unless specified otherwise

Spell effects (the fluff text, like golden breath, green lights, etc) will only take place on targets directly affected by your utterance. So no faking around or swapping targets with the utterance because it was worded weirdly.

Personally, I despise most effects that give Fast Healing (Looking at you, Spontaneous Rejuvenation). Though, don't get me wrong, wands of vigor are great, I just feel like the niche if it's your only healing effect is... inconvenient. Should a Truenamer be a dedicated healer? Eh, maybe. Why not? Now the healing works differently so it functions with Fast Healing effects.


The intent here is to have the choices be slightly more impactful at earlier levels and make the player decide which would be best for the situation. Defensive or offensive plays?


Defensive Edge - AC adjustment is now 2 instead of one. Gives the target 3 temporary hit points. Reverse - target immediately loses up to 3 temporary hit points in addition to the AC adjustment

Inertia Surge - Duration increased to 2 rounds

Knight’s Puissance - Attack Roll modifier adjusted to +/- 3. Target can reroll and take the higher roll. (Reverse - Target must reroll and take the lower roll)

Universal Aptitude - No changes

Word of Nurturing, Minor - Now instead instantly heals the target for 1 hit point and they restore an additional 1 hit point on their turn for the duration (Not fast healing, heals undead). Reverse - Damage increased to 1d6 + 1, no longer requires concentration.


The enhanced sight line is... underwhelming, so I juiced it up quite a bit as well as trying to add more clarity to the other utterances. Also, Silent Caster can be neat on a Rogue or a heavily armored character if you want to help them sneak around more.


Archer’s Eye - Targeted ally ignores miss chance granted from any forms of concealment on their target as long as it's not 100% miss chance. Target additionally ignores penalties for ranged attacks at any range up to 300ft or firing into melee combat. Reverse unchanged

Hidden Truth - No changes

Perceive the Unseen - Targeted ally gains Blindsight - 60ft. Reverse - Targeted Ally gains the effects of Invisibility(phb spell) and Total Concealment for the duration

Silent Caster - Duration increased to 3 rounds for both instances. Caster's spells with verbal components gain +2 to DC, if it has any. Reverse - DC to resist silence effect increased by 3. Willingly failing the save increases the duration to 10 minutes.

Speed of the Zephyr- Normal unchanged. Reverse - Can set a target's speed to 0.

Strike of Might - Target's first instance of weapon damage on their next turn deals bonus damage equal to 8 + Truenamer level. Reverse - Target's first instance of weapon damage on their next turn deals less damage equal to 3 + Truenamer level

Temporal Twist - Stacks with other effects such as Haste or Snake's Swiftness. Reverse unchanged

Word of Nurturing, Lesser Now instead instantly heals the target for 3 hit points and they restore an additional 3 hit points on their turn for the duration. Reverse - Damage increased to 2d6+2, no longer requires concentration.


Flight..? FLIGHT?! With the adjusted Law of Sequence, it becomes slightly more manageable, but keep in mind it's still active for that entire duration.


Accelerated Attack - Grant an ally the benefits of the Rapid Blitz feat (PHB II) Additional attacks made this way incur a -3 and -6 penality instead. Reverse - Target cannot provoke attacks of opportunity and can cast spells during movement. Spells with a Full Round Action time halve movement.

Energy Negation - Grant a target Resistance 20 to any energy type or Resistance 10 to two energy types. Reverse - Damage increased to a flat 13 per round

Incarnation of Angels - Smite limit gained from template removed on both instances. Smite attacks used from any source deal 10 additional damage. Gain a +15 circumstance bonus to charisma checks when interacting with celestials (or fiends when reversed). After 5 turns, duration can be extended to 10 hours (concentration)

Seek the Sky - After 5 turns, duration can be extended to 10 minutes (concentration)

Greater Speed of the Zephyr - No change

Temporal Spiral - For one turn, grant a target an additional move action on their turn. Your target attacks with such speed and precision, they ignore all negative modifiers to attack rolls. All attack rolls after the first use the highest applicable value. Reverse - DC to resist is increased by 2

Vision Sharpened - Target gains True Seeing(PHB spell). Reverse - Target gains Greater Invisibility

Word of Nurturing, Moderate Now instead instantly heals the target for 5 hit points and they restore an additional 5 hit points on their turn for the duration. Reverse - Damage increased to 4d6+4, no longer requires concentration.


Why do the Breath utterances suck? Well, now they don't have to. Now you can be like a good bard and grant them Empyreal Ecstasy without the penalties! Kind of. Anyway, enjoy some more metamagic and typeless bonuses because yeah. Typeless bonuses


Breath of Cleansing Duration changed to 3 rounds on both instances. For the duration, at the start of the target's turn, they may make a new saving throw to immediately end as many spell, spell-like ability, or supernatural abilities upon them - your target gets a typeless bonus on their saves equal to your Charisma modifier. This effect cannot restore any health, ability drain, damage negative levels or likewise. Reverse - DC to resist is increased by 3

Caster Lens - In addition to preexisting effects, all spells casted benefit from Enlarge Spell(PHB). Reverse - In addition to preexisting effects, this utterance will prevent casters from using spells outside their caster level range, but it will not cause them to lose spells. Additionally, spells with a range of Close, Medium or Long have half the range, rounded down to the closest 5ft interval

Confounding Resistance - In addition to preexisting effects, the target gains a typeless bonus to all appropriate saves for this utterance equal to your Charisma modifier. Reverse - in addition to all preexisting effects, the target takes a typeless penalty to all appropriate saves for this utterance equal to your Charisma modifier level (-2 effect stacks with this)

Magic Contraction - Spell resistance increased to 18 + Truenamer level. Reverse unchanged

Morale Boost - Target gains immunity to fear and can willingly choose to suppress any mind-fffecting effects inflicted upon them for the duration. Reverse - Target becomes Panicked for the duration - This effect ignores any and all immunities, resistances or similar abilities to resist panic. (Target still gets a will save)

Spell Rebirth - In addition to preexisting effects, you can reapply one spell or effect with a duration that has expended its duration within a round, once per spell. The duration is an amount of rounds equal to your Charisma modifier . Reverse - (The spell must have been directly cast upon the target. If the spell is an area of effect, it will only dispel if the target is the center of the area, for example, a silence spell casted directly onto a target.)

Word of Bolstering - Duration set to 5 turns (concentration) Cures 5 + Cha mod points of ability drain / damage to all stats every turn at the start of the target's round in addition to one negative level every turn. Target heals back all damage they took within the previous turn for the duration (up to twice your Int mod). Reverse - All ability scores, except constitution, are reduced by 5 + Cha mod per round at the start of their turn.

Word of Nurturing, Potent Now instead instantly heals the target for 10 hit points and they restore an additional 10 hit points on their turn for the duration. Reverse - Damage increased to 6d6+6, no longer requires concentration.


Revivify?! I love Revivify! Here you go, cast Revivify at range. Oh, fine, I guess you can have some energy immunity, too... And your first Death effect. Fun! Death effects! Don't go too ham, it's not THAT strong.


Eldritch Attraction - No saving throw

Greater Energy Negation - Grants ally immunity to ALL energy types. Reverse - Damage increased to 25, affects reach, melee/touch and ranged/ranged touch attacks.

Essence of Lifespark - Adjusted to remove all negative levels or similar level / experience drain effects not from Resurrection instead of one. Can be used on an ally that has died within one turn, acting similarly to the Revivify spell (Spell Compendium), causing the target to regain all lost limbs or even its entire body, armor, items and everything intact if they have suffered from the Disintegrate spell (or similar death effects). The target suffers no level loss and is set to 0 hp and stable. Reverse - Target suffers two level losses instead of one. If the target has less than half their base maximum hit points or 50 hp, whichever is further from their max hp, they die.

Preternatural Clarity - Bonus must be used before result of the roll has been stated by the DM. The bonus is instead equal to Truenamer level. Reverse - Target suffers from an effect similar to Wages of Sin (Book of Exalted Deeds) except there is no alignment requirement - DC to resist increased by 4

Seek the Sky, Greater - Target, and all designated targets within 20ft gain the benefits of the spell. After 5 turns, caster may concentrate for up to one hour to maintain the effects. Reverse - If the distance dropped is at least 10ft onto any surface or body of liquid, the target takes exactly 80 points worth of fall damage and suffers any related penalties to falling. This damage cannot be mitigated in any fashion.

Sensory Focus - Target gains the effects of Foresight(phb) for 3 turns. Reverse - Target becomes Blinded, Deafened, Paralyzed and unable to think / execute any mental actions. (DC to resist increased by 6)

Ward of Peace - Target cannot be the target of any attack, spell, spell-like effect or anything similar that requires your target to be a direct target or center of effect. The target is immune to all effects that deal any type of damage unless the damage is an area effect, in which the target only takes half damage (such as Fireball, but Fireball cannot be directly cast at the target). Reverse Effect now instantaneous and has no save. (Since it's instantaneous, the banishment has no duration anymore. See you never!)

Word of Nurturing, Critical - Now instead instantly heals the target for 20 hit points and they restore an additional 20 hit points on their turn for the duration (Not fast healing, heals undead). Reverse - Damage increased to 10d6 + 10, no longer requires concentration.



M-m-m-m-metamagic?! In my Games?! For free?! These words must be spoken truly. Time to go a little crazy since you're basically a 9th level caster now. Still not AS powerful of effects as other 9th level casters... BUT... you can make them your best friends with Intensify Spell because... yeah... This is probably okay, I'm sure.


Breath of Recovery - Target exhales a golden puff of breath as if just affected by the following spells - Panacea(Spell Compendium), Greater Restoration(PHB), Heal(PHB), Regenerate(PHB) in addition to removing nonlethal damage - this effect does not do any hit point healing. Reverse - Duration set to 3 rounds (concentration). Target loses 40% of their maximum health at the beginning of their turn until they reach -1 hit points, in which the target begins dying and rendered unconscious unless healed as wisps of black smoke expel from every facial orifice. Damage per turn cannot exceed twice your maximum hit points. DC to resist increased by 6

Ether Reforged - Duration is now 5 rounds. Target's weapon attacks are maximized and ignore all forms of damage resistance, immunities, incorporeality and similar effects that reduce incoming damage / grant a chance to evade damage / ignore damage or otherwise. Target's armor additionally cannot be ignored by (in)corporeality in addition to having all damage reduction / immunities from any source be unmitigable (granting full protection always). Reverse - Duration lasts until willingly cancelled by the Truenamer (Since Law of Sequence has been adjusted... have fun!)

Knight’s Puissance, Greater - Target's attack rolls are always considered to be a natural 20. Add your Truenamer level to damage rolls made by the target. Reverse - Target's attack rolls are always considered to be a natural 1. Subtract your Truenamer level to damage rolls made by the target. (Law of Sequence causes the DC to increase by 10 instead as the Universe pushes back against such forceful will)
(Those with a keen eye will notice it says DAMAGE rolls, not specifying weapon rolls. This is on purpose.)

Mystic Rampart - Target gains a typeless bonus to their AC, Initiative and saves equal to half your Truenamer level + Charisma modifier. Reverse - Target gains a typeless penalty to their AC, Initiative and saves equal to half your Truenamer level + Charisma modifier

Singular Mind- For 3 turns, the target becomes immune to mind effecting spells / effects, enchantments, curses, and possession or otherwise similar in addition to being freed of them. If the spell or effect cannot be removed normally, then make an opposed caster level check (your bonus is equal to your Truenamer level plus Intelligence). If your result is higher than the check, you dispel any related effects. Reverse - (No save, but the Truespeak DC is increased by 6) This functions as per any dominate spell, except nothing can resist the effect regardless of type, origin or otherwise. You control the creature(s) on their turn in the initiative order.

Word of Nurturing, Greater - Now instead instantly heals the target for 30 hit points and they restore an additional 30 hit points on their turn for the duration (Not fast healing, heals undead). Reverse - Damage increased to 15d6 + 15, no longer requires concentration.

Magic Contraction, Greater
Duration: 5 rounds (normal) or 1 round (reverse)
Saving Throw: None
Normal: With this utterance of protection, you grant your target complete protection from magical effects as a black, translucent figure wraps around them.
Target gains complete and utter immunity to all damage or healing from spells, spell-like effects or similar. When an effect reaches your target, its visible effect vanishes into nothingness as the universe swallows it in an instant. Physical attacks deal half damage as the figure cushions the blows.

Reverse: A string of complex syllables allows your ally to master the magic they hold.

You grant your target the ability to apply the effect of the Intensify Spell feat (ELH - Maximize then double listed effects) to any spell or spell-like they cast for the duration of the utterance without increasing the level of the spell or specially preparing it ahead of time.

This utterance suffers from triple the amount from the Law of Resistance.


Lexicon of the Crafted Tool
Truespeak DC has been adjusted to 16 + Utterance Level + (2x CL of item)
If the item is not magical, the DC is always 18 + Utterance level


These aren't too bad, but the critical one falls off faster... Enjoy more critical damage!


Fortify Armor - No Change

Keen Weapon - In addition to preexisting effects, it also increases the critical modifier by one stage. (Increase from x2 to x3, x3 to x4 - and so on)



Heat / Chill metal is cool, but not very strong at this level. Now, it's almost usable! Also, if your DM ever gives you an item without any charges, here's a way to replenish them a bit. Or squeeze more uses out of an item you enjoy. Shoot, I should specify that it wont work on Pearls of Power... I don't want Truenamers to be THAT good, okay?


Agitate Metal - No saving throw. Effects are immediate, dealing 2d6 + 3 for the entire duration

Analyze Item - In addition to preexisting effects, once per day, you can restore up to two charges or uses per day on a magical item if it uses charges or has uses per day (given it's not once per day or single use). Unused charges are lost after 24 hours or Dawn, whichever is sooner - in which case, you can reapply charges again. (Intelligent items can make a will save using the standard DC from LEM to resist regaining charges if they do not wish to regain charges)



TFW you are just trading your actions to cancel out an enemy's item/weapon... Yeah, I guess my power is only as strong as the mook's sword or wand, time to do nothing but cry because you are useless. Well, now the effects are actually semi-decent.


Rebuild Item - Can affect items from up to 5 turns (30 seconds) of its damaged or destroyed state

Suppress Weapon - Target's weapon becomes unwieldy. Damage it deals always rolls the lowest number for each dice and loses all magical properties for the duration. Increase the Truespeak DC by 10 to subtract your Truename level from all attack rolls the target makes with the weapon. (Now that Law of Sequence is more lenient, have fun making all the mooks useless!)



Supress Item made me sad when I realized how bad it was. Now, have fun making that evil wizard lose all the magic from his wands. Useful? Not really. But it's better than before. Also, I tried making transmute weapon actually decent. Backbiter with no restrictions? Might be useful, too. Who knows.


Suppress Item - No concentration requirement. A wielder with the suppressed item has all magical items they have on their person suppressed as well. Increase the Truespeak DC by 10 to destroy the item. It vanishes in a puff of smoke as it ceases to exist.

Transmute Weapon - You can alter the properties of a weapon. In addition to changing the magical or mundane effects to another type, you can also allow the weapon to ignore Damage Reduction, Hardness and other damage mitigating effects. You could choose to cause the weapon to wrap around the target, causing it to latch onto the target, preventing unequipping or disarms. You could also alter the weapon to instead lash out at the attack every time they swing, similar to the effects of Backbiter(Spell Compendium) regardless of the type of weapon. Increase the Truespeak DC by 10 to destroy the weapon. It vanishes in a puff of smoke as it ceases to exist



Metamagic metamagic metamagic. So I look upon the sorcerer as he thrusts another potion at me. "Make it better." A tear sheds from my eye as I nod with fake glee, "Anything for you, M'lord." I can hardly see the potion in my palms, tears clouding my vision as I whisper the words of power again unto the bottle. I pass it back to him as he consumes it in an instant, not letting my efforts go to waste. Is this all I am..? His supplement? Augmentor?
Well, now you can do all that, but BETTER! And live happily ever after! Yippee! :smallcool:


Metamagic Catalyst - Duration increased to 1 hour but only applies on the first use (extending this utterance not only increases the duration to 2 hours, but also allows you to apply it on two uses instead of one!) (You can willingly cancel any other applications if the Law of Sequence is getting unmanageable) Apply one of the following metamagic effects to a scroll, wand, potion or any magic item with a spell or spell-like effect. (Heighten Spell, Maximize Spell, Enlarge Spell.) Increase the Truespeak DC by 10 to apply one of the following metamagic effects instead: (Intensify Spell, Persistent Spell)

Seize Item - Range increased to 60ft. Weight Limit is now 500lbs. You can instead bring the object adjacent to you or to a nearby ally within 30ft of you if so desired. You can increase the Truespeak DC by 5 to gain a +10 circumstance bonus to your disarm attempt, you can increase the DC by intervals of 5 to further increase your bonus by 10 each time.

Unlock Potential
Level: 5
Range: 60 ft.
Target: One magic item or weapon
Duration: 5 rounds
Your words cause the item to shine vibrantly as crackles of white energy surround it like jolts of lightning, causing the magic within to greaten its potential.

You must target a magic item with charges or uses per day. For the duration of your Utterance, anyone wielding the item can activate it as a swift action if the activate time takes longer. The item can be activated freely at no expenditure to uses per day or charges remaining, even if it has run out of uses per day or charges previously. Any effects that may harm a user of the item (but perhaps may harm nearby targets) do not unless the user willingly chooses to allow as such.

Increase the DC by 5 to affect a scroll with this Utterance. For the duration, the scroll may be repeatedly used without it being consumed.

When used on an Energy Burst weapon, the burst effect always triggers regardless of whether or not it lands a critical. In addition, all damaging properties from a magic weapon are doubled for the duration. (For example, a shortsword +2 will deal 2d6 + 4 damage instead of 1d6 + 2. A merciful dagger will deal 2d4 + 2d6 instead of 1d4 + 1d6)




Lexicon of the Perfected Map
Truespeak DC lowered to 18 + 3 per utterance level
Okay, like, I had to look up the original DC because it... wasn't in the book?


Honestly, Shield of the Landscape is... underwhelming. It can be very nice for roleplay and fluff, so I see no need to remove it. Have fun making a cute little bed of rocks or hammock out of leaves temporarily.

Fog From the Void - No changes

Shield of the Landscape - You can alter the effects at will as a free action. The area is always centered around you and follows you regardless of distance you move (but if there's nothing natural to effect, it quickly becomes useless). You can adjust who has cover or total cover from the environment on your turn, adjusting as you please.

You can manipulate the environment as you please, granting allies simple protection from rain, snow and gentle weather conditions. You could attempt to stop an avalanche (Your modifier against the check a DM decides should be equal to Truenamer level + Intelligence)
One could reshape the lands to provide a comfortable place for themselves and nearby allies to rest, given the flora and fauna isn't extremely violent. Nonsentient flora can be made passive (for example, thorny bushes can have their thorns removed or you can simply have them part and make a path for you)

After 1 minute, you can use concentration to maintain the effects for up to 10 hours, not broken by willingly going to sleep.

Shockwave - Now Instantaneous. You may increase the Truespeak DC by 5, allowing you to affect who is and is not affected by the shock wave in addition to allowing no save and deal 4d4 + 4 lethal damage

Blessed Land
Level: 1
Area: 20-ft.-radius spread, centered on you
Duration: 1 minute

You can draw divine power into the immediate lands around you, causing it to spark with hints of positive or negative energy at your choice.

When using this Utterance, decide if the effect you want is Consecration or Desecration (it will act as per the spells in the PHB). You can end the effect early at will.
If the effect is Consecration, all damage dealt within the area becomes nonlethal, regardless of source or type. You can disable or enable this effect as a standard action

If the effect is Desecration, all damage dealt within the area becomes lethal, regardless of source or type. You can disable or enable this effect as a standard action



Why do the damaging effects just make me want to cry? Like, I'm trying to reshape the universe here. Just let me hurt people the way WotC hurt me by releasing this class in this state. Anyway, I can't see a cool way to make Transmute Rock to Mud super strong, so... knock yourself out since that's basically the worst option now imo

Energy Vortex - Damage increased to 5d6 + 5.
Increasing the Truespeak DC by 5 increases the damage to 8d6 + 10 for 30 seconds (5 turns).
Increasing the Truespeak DC by 10 increases the damage to 14d6 + 15 for 18 seconds (3 turns).
Increasing the Truespeak DC by 15 increases the damage to 20d6 + 20 for 12 seconds (2 turns).

Speak Rock to Mud - In addition to preexisting effects, increase the Truespeak DC by 5 to allow you to transform magical rocks
Increase the Truespeak DC by 10 to double the cubic volume you can transmute
(+15 if you want to combine both effects)

Transform the Landscape - With this effect, you can designated who is affected an unaffected by the terrain. Units that usually ignore difficult terrain find it increasingly difficult to traverse through the area you've used an utterance upon and as such, treat the terrain as standard difficult terrain regardless of any conditions or effects they have.
Increase the Truespeak DC by 5 to add an additional effect similar to Entangle(phb) using rocks, plants or anything natural on any targets within the area once per round (DC to resist, break free or escape artist is your standard LEM DC but for reflex or appropriate skill using to escape / avoid it) Targets caught in this Entangle effect can take 1d6 + 2 damage every turn if you choose to deal damage.



The hills have eyes... No, really, ask them, they'll tell you everything they've seen. The grass, too. And that lake, but he seems really pissy about it. Wonder why. Anyway, have fun messing with people.


Lore of the World - You and all designated allies upon speaking this utterance can communicate with anything listed for the duration of the utterance within the area. Distance also increased to 10 miles (or more at DM's discretion if deemed appropriate). In addition to talking with the trees, the wind, bodies of water, rocks... you can also talk to the ground and even the void of space (But the void of space is... spacey and extremely vague).

Master the Four Winds - Radius is a 40ft area you designate. Increase the Truespeak DC by 4 to have the winds deal 1d3 + 3 damage to targets in the area, similar to a sandstorm

Thwart the Traveler - Increse the Truespeak DC by 10 have the effect be permanent until dismissed. (Dying or losing consciousness counts as dismissing the effect) (Good lock dealing with the Law of Sequence DC here if you want to stack this effect)



We're here. We have words. We are level 20. LET'S. DO. THIS... Wait..? What do you mean we have no metamagic? That's it, if we don't get metamagic, then NOBODY GETS ANY MAGIC AT ALL.


Anger the Sleeping Earth - Radius is 20ft. Increase DC by 4 to increase Radius by 20ft. You can further increase the radius by 20ft for every 4 you add to the DC
Increase the DC by 4 to specify which targets are unaffected by this utterance.

Conjunctive Gate - :smallsmile:

Deny Passage - In addition to preexisting effects, prevents all means of transportation, teleportation or otherwise in and out of the area regardless of caster level or effect someone attempts to use. (Designated targets can still move freely in and out, of course). The ONLY effect that can trump this is "Say My Name and I Am There"
Increase Truespeak DC by 10 to increase the duration by up to 24 hours

Unweave
Level: 4
Duration: 1 minute

As you speak the utterance, you see the spirals of magic unweave itself as the area quickly becomes a Dead Magic Zone.

Nothing can conjure magic, spell-like effects or anything magical in the area regardless of caster level or strength of the caster. (A deity within their domain can use an opposed caster level check against you to prevent you from creating a Dead Magic Zone near them. Your bonus is Truenamer Level + intelligence mod)

Increase the DC by 5 to specifically allow chosen targets to be unaffected by the Dead Magic Zone
Increase the DC by 5 to increase the radius to 40ft (instead of 20) You can increase the DC further to increase the radius by intervals of 20ft for every 5 DC increase

(Nope, not even Mystra will save you from this Dead Magic Zone... BECAUSE I SAID SO. No means no! Clerics / Initiates of Mystra / whatever. You just can't. Truenamers deserve this)


...Thank you for reading everything, that means a lot to me! Hope you enjoyed! You're free to adjust some things if you wish to use this fix in your games. All I wanted to do is keep the true feeling of the original Truenamer intact without it feeling horrible to play as.

noob
2022-07-03, 04:18 AM
Should this be going in the homebrew section of the forum?
https://forums.giantitp.com/forumdisplay.php?15-Homebrew-Design
also intensify does more than maximising and doubling damage:

All variable, numeric effects of an intensified spell are maximized, then doubled
So yes, it can also raise healed hp, double the volume of objects disintegrated by disintegrate and so on.

Pyromania2667
2022-07-03, 04:23 AM
Should this be going in the homebrew section of the forum?

Oh, yeah. Probably.
Looks like I accidentally posted on the wrong forum. Gonna fix that

pabelfly
2022-07-03, 05:53 AM
Okay. Had a look through this. I've played multiple vanilla Truenamer-based builds. Here are my critiques:

Getting Skill Focus: Truenamer isn't a bad change. The other changes, allowing additional utterances known, aren't bad either, but should be more specific as to what level of utterance the player can learn.

The DC you've for a Truespeak check you've given... I don't think it's a good idea. Let's take a CR 20 enemy. Default calculation is 15 + 2 x 20 = 55, which isn't hard to get, assuming average WBL and some optimization ability. Your calculation would have it between 30 to 35. This makes it trivially easy to pass the truespeak check. Regular Truenamers aren't short of how often they can reuse utterances at high level. This makes it much worse.

If you want to change how the check works, I would instead consider having it based on skill ranks, which are really hard to increase outside of one per level. I'd consider something like... you get as many uses of an utterance per day as you have skill ranks. You can use stuff like Quicken, Extend, and so forth, but they have an extra cost. For example, Extend Utterance might cost two uses of a skill, while Quickened utterance would cost an extra four uses. This removes the heavy dependence the class has on items, allowed feats, available resources, and optimization ability.

Just a few thoughts. Could go through the Utterances as well if you were interested.

Endarire
2022-07-03, 05:35 PM
Should Truenaming even be a skill check? If a Wizard casts fireball or most any other spell, the most of a skill check required is Concentration which isn't even guaranteed to happen. Perhaps require Truenaming checks only for applying metamagic or to set an effect DC, not merely to use an ability.

pabelfly
2022-07-03, 05:50 PM
Should Truenaming even be a skill check? If a Wizard casts fireball or most any other spell, the most of a skill check required is Concentration which isn't even guaranteed to happen. Perhaps require Truenaming checks only for applying metamagic or to set an effect DC, not merely to use an ability.

It's a flawed idea due to how varied a skill check can be based on optimisation ability and sources available. Having it be based on ranks like Bard abilities would help with this, I would think

Pyromania2667
2022-07-04, 02:15 AM
Okay. Had a look through this. I've played multiple vanilla Truenamer-based builds. Here are my critiques:

Getting Skill Focus: Truenamer isn't a bad change. The other changes, allowing additional utterances known, aren't bad either, but should be more specific as to what level of utterance the player can learn.

The DC you've for a Truespeak check you've given... I don't think it's a good idea. Let's take a CR 20 enemy. Default calculation is 15 + 2 x 20 = 55, which isn't hard to get, assuming average WBL and some optimization ability. Your calculation would have it between 30 to 35. This makes it trivially easy to pass the truespeak check. Regular Truenamers aren't short of how often they can reuse utterances at high level. This makes it much worse.

If you want to change how the check works, I would instead consider having it based on skill ranks, which are really hard to increase outside of one per level. I'd consider something like... you get as many uses of an utterance per day as you have skill ranks. You can use stuff like Quicken, Extend, and so forth, but they have an extra cost. For example, Extend Utterance might cost two uses of a skill, while Quickened utterance would cost an extra four uses. This removes the heavy dependence the class has on items, allowed feats, available resources, and optimization ability.

Just a few thoughts. Could go through the Utterances as well if you were interested.

Hmm, that is a thought. You're welcome to also go through the utterances since the intent was bringing them to a more standardized power level WITHOUT having a Truename be a significantly stronger caster than a Cleric or Sorc/Wizard

I've added a special condition if the opposing creature's CR (or HD) is 15 or greater, the Truespeak DC increases by 10.
I just didn't want it to feel extremely out of hand at lower levels where getting those ranks of Truespeak is a tad more difficult


Also, I need to try to nudge the topic to the homebrew forum, but I can't post URLs due to not being active, so... check out my profile or something, idk

Beni-Kujaku
2022-07-04, 02:20 AM
Truespeak DC has been adjusted to 14 + Utterance Level + (2x CL of item)
If the item is not magical, the DC is always 19 + Utterance level

Soooo... Affecting a non-magical item is harder than a low-level magical item?

Pyromania2667
2022-07-04, 02:31 AM
Soooo... Affecting a non-magical item is harder than a low-level magical item?

I may increase the DC for the magical item and slightly reduce the DC for nonmagical items, but the intent is for magical items to greatly outscale mundane items

Beni-Kujaku
2022-07-04, 02:32 AM
The DC you've for a Truespeak check you've given... I don't think it's a good idea. Let's take a CR 20 enemy. Default calculation is 15 + 2 x 20 = 55, which isn't hard to get, assuming average WBL and some optimization ability. Your calculation would have it between 30 to 35. This makes it trivially easy to pass the truespeak check. Regular Truenamers aren't short of how often they can reuse utterances at high level. This makes it much worse.

That's the thing, classes are not created considering an optimizing player. 55 isn't "not hard to get", it's completely impossible to get without using feats, items and spells boosting your Truename check. A low-op level 20 truenamer should be expected to have 22-28 Int, 23 ranks in Truespeak, and maybe Skill Focus (total+32), and still be able to cast their best utterances half the time on a level equivalent foe (remember that the second time will be harder and so on due to Sequence). In general, no class requires gear to function, nor should they. Having something like 10+CR/HD of the foe+2xutterance level gives a DC 42 for a 6th level utterance on a 20HD foe. That seems more fair than 55. And you just completely remove the Amulet of Silver Tongue and the Paragnostic Assembly because you shouldn't ask a player to bookdive and find a specific item and a specific organization to play a class. That item is just necessary on every truenamer to the point that it should be a class feature. Relying on an item so much that the class is borderline unplayable without is just not good game design. And most probably item familiar because... Well, because it's an incredibly broken concept that shouldn't be playable due to how it puts the DM in a "lose-lose" situation.


I may increase the DC for the magical item and slightly reduce the DC for nonmagical items, but the intent is for magical items to greatly outscale mundane items

Yeah, so just put it at 10+whatever for the nonmagical and 10+CL+whatever for the magical ones, not 19+whatever for the nonmagical ones.



Special: If an opposing creature has a CR (or HD if there's no applicable CR) of 15 or greater, increase the Truespeak DC by 10

That feels... Incredibly steep and arbitrary. I mean, if you're going that way, it's much smoother to just use 2xCR (or 1.5xCR), but then you're going back to the main problem of the class, which is that you need heavy optimisation of your Truespeak check for it to even function, but that when you're optimizing that much, then the check becomes irrelevant.

Pyromania2667
2022-07-04, 02:46 AM
That feels... Incredibly steep and arbitrary. I mean, if you're going that way, it's much smoother to just use 2xCR (or 1.5xCR), but then you're going back to the main problem of the class, which is that you need heavy optimisation of your Truespeak check for it to even function, but that when you're optimizing that much, then the check becomes irrelevant.

I didn't want the checks to become unmanageable at lower levels whilst being completely trivial at higher levels.
I suppose 1.5 CR could work, but I'm not fully onto the idea.

Personally, I prefer this iteration, but I could see the thought process of how it feels tacked on. Though, it's not wholly out of flavor that stronger foes become harder to manipulate

Beni-Kujaku
2022-07-04, 02:52 AM
If you want to change how the check works, I would instead consider having it based on skill ranks, which are really hard to increase outside of one per level. I'd consider something like... you get as many uses of an utterance per day as you have skill ranks.

Something I thought about that would fit the Truenamer while solving some of the most glaring problems (much more difference between optimized and not-optimized truenamers than for other classes, basically no effect for the Truenamer Level except for the Words of Nurturing, much too easy to use as a dip...) would be to cap your bonus on Truespeak checks at 3+twice your Truenamer level (plus any 'naming prestige class). That gives you a cap for optimization that would make the Truenamer gameplay less hyper-focused on simply increasing their check and make it viable to keep some resources on other things. It would also make it less of an auto-win against high level enemies, while still rewarding some degrees of optimization, since 3+twice your Truenamer level is not completely trivial to meet. And above all, it would not make a dipped Truenamer able to successfully cast any of their Utterances on level-appropriate enemies, the same way a dipped wizard isn't able to affect level-appropriate enemies with 1st-level spells because of DCs and short duration.

Pyromania2667
2022-07-04, 03:11 AM
Something I thought about that would fit the Truenamer while solving some of the most glaring problems (much more difference between optimized and not-optimized truenamers than for other classes, basically no effect for the Truenamer Level except for the Words of Nurturing, much too easy to use as a dip...) would be to cap your bonus on Truespeak checks at 3+twice your Truenamer level (plus any 'naming prestige class). That gives you a cap for optimization that would make the Truenamer gameplay less hyper-focused on simply increasing their check and make it viable to keep some resources on other things. It would also make it less of an auto-win against high level enemies, while still rewarding some degrees of optimization, since 3+twice your Truenamer level is not completely trivial to meet. And above all, it would not make a dipped Truenamer able to successfully cast any of their Utterances on level-appropriate enemies, the same way a dipped wizard isn't able to affect level-appropriate enemies with 1st-level spells because of DCs and short duration.

I really like the idea of a skill cap. I'd say no more than 15 + (your levels in Truenamer and any other Truespeaking class)
So no need to go CRAZY with intelligence boosting items, skill boosting items or otherwise

At level one, the cap would be 16
A level one player could have 4 int, Skill focus and 4 ranks, so that's already 11 ranks out of the 16 you could use. Though, if the cap is too low, this would greatly affect the way utterances work with Quicken and stuff

Pyromania2667
2022-07-04, 04:30 AM
Should this be going in the homebrew section of the forum?
also intensify does more than maximising and doubling damage:

So yes, it can also raise healed hp, double the volume of objects disintegrated by disintegrate and so on.

Yes, I know, I just wrote a simple version in case anyone didn't know. I have modified the text to make my intents as clear as possible

pabelfly
2022-07-04, 05:09 AM
That's the thing, classes are not created considering an optimizing player. 55 isn't "not hard to get", it's completely impossible to get without using feats, items and spells boosting your Truename check. A low-op level 20 truenamer should be expected to have 22-28 Int, 23 ranks in Truespeak, and maybe Skill Focus (total+32), and still be able to cast their best utterances half the time on a level equivalent foe (remember that the second time will be harder and so on due to Sequence). In general, no class requires gear to function, nor should they. Having something like 10+CR/HD of the foe+2xutterance level gives a DC 42 for a 6th level utterance on a 20HD foe. That seems more fair than 55. And you just completely remove the Amulet of Silver Tongue and the Paragnostic Assembly because you shouldn't ask a player to bookdive and find a specific item and a specific organization to play a class. That item is just necessary on every truenamer to the point that it should be a class feature. Relying on an item so much that the class is borderline unplayable without is just not good game design. And most probably item familiar because... Well, because it's an incredibly broken concept that shouldn't be playable due to how it puts the DM in a "lose-lose" situation.

I'm going to base my idea of a low-OP truenamer off the example in the book:

Starts off with 15 INT, has a race with neutral bonus to INT. Character has put all stat boosts into INT to get to 20 INT. Character has a +6 Band of Intellect, Skill Focus (Truespeak) and a Greater Amulet of Silver Tongue. These are all stronger versions of the items that the example Truenamer has in Tome of Magic, and they're all in core or Tome of Magic. and I haven't included a custom competence item, the Paragnostic Assembly, or an item familiar (agree that the last is a terribly-designed feat).

23 ranks + 5 Base INT + 3 Band of Intellect + 3 Skill Focus + 10 Greater Amulet of Silver Tongue
54 ranks

As for the Amulet of Silver Tongue, it gets mentioned eleven different times throughout the Truenamer section of the book, including in every Truename-based character example, and even has a special entry in the contents page of the book. It's hard to miss even with just a cursory reading of the Truename section. Whether or not having an item be compulsory for a character is a fair question, but it seems that all Truename-based characters are designed with this item in mind. If you're making a Truenamer-based character, you need to accept that this casting system is designed with this item in mind or find another character type you're interested in.

As I said, trivially easy to optimise. But I do agree with you that overall, the class is poorly-designed. Especially having the casting be based on a skill check. I don't think anyone would argue that.


Soooo... Affecting a non-magical item is harder than a low-level magical item?

Just like a regular Truename character.


Something I thought about that would fit the Truenamer while solving some of the most glaring problems (much more difference between optimized and not-optimized truenamers than for other classes, basically no effect for the Truenamer Level except for the Words of Nurturing, much too easy to use as a dip...) would be to cap your bonus on Truespeak checks at 3+twice your Truenamer level (plus any 'naming prestige class). That gives you a cap for optimization that would make the Truenamer gameplay less hyper-focused on simply increasing their check and make it viable to keep some resources on other things. It would also make it less of an auto-win against high level enemies, while still rewarding some degrees of optimization, since 3+twice your Truenamer level is not completely trivial to meet. And above all, it would not make a dipped Truenamer able to successfully cast any of their Utterances on level-appropriate enemies, the same way a dipped wizard isn't able to affect level-appropriate enemies with 1st-level spells because of DCs and short duration.

This isn't a bad idea either.

Beni-Kujaku
2022-07-04, 06:55 AM
If you're making a Truenamer-based character, you need to accept that this casting system is designed with this item in mind or find another character type you're interested in.

Just like a regular Truename character.

Oh, I absolutely agree that this is how the original class is designed. I'm saying that if this is to be a rework, we should try to trim off as much bad design as we can from the class. And having a class not work without an item is just the sign that WotC completely understood how broken their class was and tried to patch it however they could (the same way they put Quicken Utterance at +20DC, meaning that for an utterance to be quickened, you have to have so many bonuses to Truespeak that the basic check is irrelevant).

And same for affecting an item. I'm not saying the original Truenamer doesn't work that way, I'm saying that the fact that it works that way is dumb, makes little to no sense and should be changed if you want to have a functioning rework.

Edit: by the way, I don't know how you reached a 54 bonus to Truespeak, the bonuses you listed add to +44, even with the Silver Tongue Amulet. Without the amulet, the truenamer cannot make a DC 55 even with a nat 20.

pabelfly
2022-07-04, 07:04 AM
Oh, I absolutely agree that this is how the original class is designed. I'm saying that if this is to be a rework, we should try to trim off as much bad design as we can from the class. And having a class not work without an item is just the sign that WotC completely understood how broken their class was and tried to patch it however they could (the same way they put Quicken Utterance at +20DC, meaning that for an utterance to be quickened, you have to have so many bonuses to Truespeak that the basic check is irrelevant).

And same for affecting an item. I'm not saying the original Truenamer doesn't work that way, I'm saying that the fact that it works that way is dumb, makes little to no sense and should be changed if you want to have a functioning rework.

Sure, I'd agree with that.


Edit: by the way, I don't know how you reached a 54 bonus to Truespeak, the bonuses you listed add to +44, even with the Silver Tongue Amulet. Without the amulet, the truenamer cannot make a DC 55 even with a nat 20.

Damn it, I don't know how I messed that up. Thanks for the catch.

RandomPeasant
2022-07-05, 01:40 AM
The numbers you need to reach to do your job as a Truenamer at mid or high levels allow you to break the game if you specialize in skills that are actually good, like UMD or Diplomacy. Skill based casting does not work in a level based system. Either you base it off ranks, and it is a level-based progression with extra steps, or you have something that is inherently broken because bonuses can very by more than the RNG between characters who are both nominally specialists in the same skill.

The question I think you need to ask, before setting out to fix the Truenamer, is what it is about the Truenamer you feel is worth fixing. Do you just want the personal satisfaction of turning what is probably the worst class in the game into something worthwhile? Are there specific abilities you think are cool that you would like people to have access to without sucking horribly? Do you just think "language magic" or "reversible spells" are cool gimmicks? Until you figure that out, it's difficult to say what a "Truenamer fix" should look like. There is a reasonable argument that a fixed Truenamer is just a Sorcerer who gets free Still Spell on all his castings and Eschew Materials but has to pick a power word spell as his first at each level.

Pyromania2667
2022-07-05, 12:29 PM
The numbers you need to reach to do your job as a Truenamer at mid or high levels allow you to break the game if you specialize in skills that are actually good, like UMD or Diplomacy. Skill based casting does not work in a level based system. Either you base it off ranks, and it is a level-based progression with extra steps, or you have something that is inherently broken because bonuses can very by more than the RNG between characters who are both nominally specialists in the same skill.

The question I think you need to ask, before setting out to fix the Truenamer, is what it is about the Truenamer you feel is worth fixing. Do you just want the personal satisfaction of turning what is probably the worst class in the game into something worthwhile? Are there specific abilities you think are cool that you would like people to have access to without sucking horribly? Do you just think "language magic" or "reversible spells" are cool gimmicks? Until you figure that out, it's difficult to say what a "Truenamer fix" should look like. There is a reasonable argument that a fixed Truenamer is just a Sorcerer who gets free Still Spell on all his castings and Eschew Materials but has to pick a power word spell as his first at each level.

I've already addressed a lot of these in the text. I hope the reworked utterances make it stand out as NOT just any other caster given their more unique utility