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Shadow_Elf
2008-08-05, 04:34 PM
WARNING: This is my first attempt at a homebrew class. Please be nice :smallsmile:

Spellbinder
"I am a haven to my allies in a world of enemies"

Role: Defender. You cast spells that attract enemy fire and you can outlast any foe with your defensive spells and high durability.
Power Source: Arcane. You channel Arcane forces into your defenses and the minds of your enemies.
Key Abilities: Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom
Armour Proficiencies: Cloth, Leather, Hide, Scale, Light Shields
Weapon Proficiencies: Simple Melee, Military Melee, Simple Ranged
Implements: Familiar
Bonus to Defense: +1 Fortitude, +1 Will

Hit Points at First Level: 15 + Constitution Score
Hit Points per Level Gained: 6
Healing Surges Per Day: 9 + Constitution Modifier

Trained Skills: Arcana. From the Class Skill List below, chose three more trained skills at 1rst Level
Arcana, Diplomacy, Endurance, Heal, History, Insight, Intimidate

Build Options: Spell Shield, Arcane Artillery
Class Features: Cantrips, Elemental Mastery, Familiar, Spellbind

Spellbinders are incredibly powerful defensive mages, trained in the Arcane arts to better defend their allies in battle. They take to the front line, using a combination of defensive and offensive spells to keep their enemies away from allies. They become a conduit for the boundless Arcane energies of the cosmos when they engage the enemy with a spell on their lips.
You are a beacon of hope to your allies among a tide of monsters, standing between them and certain death that they may in turn help you reverse the momentum of the battle. You are intelligent and calculating, able to place yourself in the best position to avert disaster and win the the day.
The cosmos are calling your name. Do you answer?

Creating a Spellbinder
Spellbinders rely on their Strength, Intelligence and Wisdom for the vast majority of their attacks. A good Constitution score is ideal as well for better durability, but none of their powers are expressly based off of it. The two basic paths a Spellbinder can take early on are the Spell Shield and the Arcane Artillery.

Spell Shield:
Important Abilities:
Intelligence: Defensive Spells
Strength: Some Melee Attacks and Spells
Constitution: Durability
You focus on defensive spells and stances and the ability to bolster your allies.

Arcane Artillery:
Intelligence: Offensive Spells
Wisdom: Some of your Spells
Strength: Melee Spells and Attacks
You focus on defending your allies by eliminating enemies. You use offensive spells and attacks.

Spellbinder Class Features:
Cantrips: Cantrips are minor spells you learn at 1rst Level. You can use ghost sound, light, mage hand and prestidigitation as at-will powers.
Element Mastery: Pick one of either Acid, Cold, Fire, Force, Lightning, Poison, Psychic or Thunder. You gain +1 to attack and damage rolls when using a power that has this element as a keyword. This bonus does not apply to ongoing damage.
Familiar: You can use a Familiar to channel your spells and increase their power. You can switch between your vision and that of your familiar as a minor action. Once, per encounter, while gazing through your familiar's eyes, you may cast a spell with the implement keyword as if you were standing in your familiar's square. Familiars only add their enhancement bonus to the attack and damage rolls of your spells with the Implement keyword if they are within 10 squares of you.
Spellbind: The Arcane challenge of a Spellbinder is impossible to ingnore. You can use Spell Bind to mark an enemy of your choice.

Spellbinder Powers

Class Features

Cantrips (see Wizard, page 158 of the Player's Handbook)

Spellbind
"You cast a spell that compels your chosen foe to fight you. Should they fail to do so, your dweomer punishes them"
At-Will * Arcane, Mastered Element (see elemental mastery)
Minor Action Close Burst 5
Target: One creature in burst
Effect: You mark the target. The target remains marked until you use this power against another target, or if you fail to engage the target (see below). A creature can be subject to only one mark at a time. A new mark supercedes a mark that was already in place.
While a target is marked, it takes a -2 penalty to attack rolls for any attack that does not include you as a target. Also, it takes damage of the element you have mastered (see elemental mastery) equal to 2 + your Intelligence modifier the first time it makes an attack that does not include you. The damage increases to 5 + your Intelligence at 11th level, and 8 + your Intelligence modifier at 21rst level.
On your turn, you must engage the target you challenged or challenge a different target. To engage the target, you must either attack it or end your turn adjacent to it. If none of these events occur by the end of your turn, the marked condition ends and you may not use Spellbind on your next turn. You can use Spellbind once per turn.
Special: Even though this ability is a challenge, it does not depend on the intelligence or linguistic ability of the target. It is a magical compulsion that affects the creature's behavior, regardless of the creature's nature. You can't spellbind a creature that is already affected by your or another character's spellbind or divine challenge.

Level 1 At-Will Spells

Burning Brand
"You brand your foe with your flaming weapon, leaving a searing pain they will feel for quite awile"
At-Will * Arcane, Fire, Weapon
Standard Action Melee Weapon
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: 1[W] damage, The target takes ongoing fire damage equal to half your Strength modifier (save ends)
Increase damage to 2[W] damage and Strength modifier ongoing damage at level 21

Forceful Blow
"You envelope your weapon with force and it releases upon impact to knock you foe backwards"
At-Will * Arcane, Force, Weapon
Standard Action Melee Weapon
Attack: Strength vs. Fortitude
Hit: 1[W] + Strength modifier force damage and the target is pushed a number of squares equal to your Strength modifier
Increase damage to 2[W] + Strength modifier damage at level 21

Psionic Strike
"You assault your foe's mind with a deluge of psychic suggestions, leaving it confused"
At-Will * Arcane, Psychic, Implement
Standard Action Range 15
Target: One creature
Attack: Intelligence vs. Will
Hit: 1d6 + Intelligence Modifier damage and the target is dazed until the end of your next turn
Increase damage to 2d6 + Intelligence modifier damage at level 21

Arctic Blast
"You shower your foes with a wave of frosty energy"
At-Will * Arcane, Cold, Implement
Standard Action Blast 3
Attack: Intelligence vs. Reflex
Hit: 1d6 + Intelligence modifier damage. Make a secondary attack
Secondary Attack: Intelligence vs. Will
Secondary Hit: The target is slowed until the end your next turn

Level 1 Encounter Spells

Acid Shockwave
"A ring of corrosive liquid bursts forth from you, searing nearby foes"
Encounter * Arcane, Acid, Implement
Standard Action Close Burst 1
Attack: Intelligence vs. Reflex
Hit: 2d6 + Intelligence modifier acid damage

Bolt Lightning
"A bolt of lightning strikes your foe from the skies above"
Encounter * Arcane, Lightning, Implement
Standard Action Close Burst 10
Target: One enemy in burst
Attack: Intelligence vs. Reflex
Hit: 2d8 + Intelligence modifier damage and the target is slowed (save ends)

Deafening Blow
"You infuse your weapon with thunder energy, and the resulting blast shatters your foe's resolve"
Encounter * Arcane, Thunder, Weapon
Standard Action Melee Weapon
Attack: Strenth vs. AC
Hit: 2[W] + Strength modifier damage and your foe takes a -1 penalty to saving throws (save ends)

Venomous Strike
"Your weapon seeps poison into your foe when they fail to defend themselves"
Encounter * Arcane, Poison, Weapon
Standard Action Melee Weapon
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: 2[W] + Strength modifier poison damage and 5 ongoing poison damage (save ends)

Level 1 Daily Spells

Mind Blow
"You slowly cave in the mind of your opponent"
Daily * Arcane, Psychic, Force, Implement
Standard Action Range 15
Attack: Intelligence vs. Will
Hit: 2d6 + Intelligence modifier psychic and force damage and the target is dazed (save ends) and takes 5 ongoing force damage (save ends).
Special: The target must successfully save against the ongoing damage before it may attempt a save against the dazed effect

One-Two Spell
"You knock your foe down with a thunderous strike, but that is merely a set-up for what is to come"
Daily * Arcane, Acid, Thunder, Weapon
Standard Action Melee Weapon
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: 1[W] + Strength modifier damage and the target is knocked prone. Make a secondary attack
Secondary Attack: Intelligence vs. Reflex
Secondary Hit: 3d6 + Intelligence modifier acid damage

Supernova
"A ring of deadly fire and gas erupts forth from you, and even its aftermath is deadly"
Daily * Arcane, Fire, Poison, Implement
Standard Action Close Burst 2
Attack: Intelligence vs. Reflex
Hit: 2d8 + Intelligence modifier poison and fire damage, and 5 ongoing fire damage
Miss: 5 ongoing poison damage

White Lightning
"Your weapon glows white with the Arcane buildup of cold and lightning energy just before you strike"
Daily * Arcane, Cold, Lightning, Weapon
Standard Action Melee Weapon
Attack: Strength vs. Reflex
Hit: 3[W] + Intelligence modifier cold and lighting damage and the target is slowed and takes 5 ongoing lightning damage (save ends both)
Miss: Half damage, no ongoing damage, slowed until the end of your next turn

Familiar mechanic and Level 2 Utilities will come.

Vadin
2008-08-05, 05:49 PM
Looking forward to the rest of the class.

Shadow_Elf
2008-08-05, 08:53 PM
Looking forward to the rest of the class.

Thanks

Here's a familiar mechanic (Thanks to Zocelot for balancing help etc.)

Familiar rules:
Your familiar acts on your initiative.
Your familiar has hit points equal to yours. If it takes damage, you take half of that damage, and vice-versa.
Whenever your familiar receives a buff or a debuff, you may choose to transfer it to yourself. This also works the other way around.
Your familiar may not attack.
You may switch between your sight, and the sight of your familiar as a minor action. When using your familiar’s sight, you may dictate its actions. Otherwise, it will behave in whatever manner it thinks would be best (Note here. The "player" is still in control of the familiar. The wizard shouts commands that it follows as a free action)
If your familiar dies, you may not get another for one week.

Wizards can replace their implement specialisation with familiar by taking a feat. The ritual to bind a familiar to you is the following:
Familiars

Ritual: Bind Familiar
Level 1
Category: Binding
Time; 1 day
Duration; Permanent
Component cost: 1 gp
Key Skill; Arcana

If your Arcana check it over 10 you take a familiar that you have already bought and bind it to yourself. You may then use it as an implement. If you already have a familiar when you cast this ritual, you lose your old familiar and gain whichever familiar you cast this ritual on.
If your Arcana check is lower then 10, the ritual fails, and you may attempt it again after and extended rest.
The encounter ability that comes with familiars is listed above, but I'll mention it again: When looking through the eyes of your familiar, you can cast a spell with the implement keyword as if you were standing in their square.

Here's some familiars available on the market:

Toad
“A basic familiar, used by all types of wizards”
Move: 3
Size: Very Tiny
Sight: Normal
Enhancement Attack and damage rolls

Lvl 1 +1 840 gp
Lvl 6 +2 4,200 gp
Lvl 11 +3 21,000 gp
Lvl 16 +4 105,000 gp
Lvl 21 +5 525,000 gp
Lvl 26 +6 2,625,000 gp

Cat
"Quick and sneaky, cats are ideal for control mages who need more range
Move: 6
Size: Tiny
Sight: Low-Light Vision
Enhancement: Attack rolls and damage rolls

Lvl 3 +1 680 gp
Lvl 8 +2 3,400 gp
Lvl 13 +3 17,000 gp
Lvl 18 +4 85,000 gp
Lvl 23 +5 425,000 gp
Lvl 28 +6 2,125,000 gp

Owl
"Fly through the woods unseen and unheard and catch your enemies off guard with a surprise spell"
Move: Flight 6
Size: Tiny
Sight: Darkvision
Enhancement: Attack rolls and damage rolls

Lvl 5 +1 1,000 gp
Lvl 10 +2 5,000 gp
Lvl 15 +3 25,000 gp
Lvl 20 +4 125,000 gp
Lvl 25 +5 625,000 gp
Lvl 30 +6 3,125,000 gp

Imp
"Micheivous and incredibly disloyal, imps must be pressed into servitude by intimidation"
Move: Flight 5
Size: Tiny
Sight: Darkvision
Enhancement: Attack rolls and damage rolls
Power (Daily) Minor action
Your familiar becomes invisible for 1 hour. It loses it’s invisibility if you channel a spell through it.
Special: You may not choose to have this invisibility apply to you instead.

Lvl 12 +3 13,000 gp
Lvl 17 +4 65,000 gp
Lvl 22 +5 325,000 gp
Lvl 27 +6 1,625,000 gp

Snake
"Slithering along the ground, snakes can sneak up on opponents and deal heavy damage with acid and poison spells"
Move: 4
Size: Tiny
Sight: Normal
Enhancement: Attack rolls and damage rolls
Property: You add 2 to your enhancement bonus when channeling a spell with the poison or acid keyword

Lvl 6 +2 1,800 gp
Lvl 11 +3 9,000 gp
Lvl 16 +4 45,000 gp
Lvl 21 +5 225,000 gp
Lvl 26 +6 1,125,000 gp

Salamander
"Small and inconspicuous, you may burn your foes when they least expect it"
Move: 4
Size: Tiny
Sight: Normal
Enhancement: Attack rolls and damage rolls
Property: You add 2 to your enhancement bonus when channeling a spell with the fire or necrotic keyword

Lvl 6 +2 1,800 gp
Lvl 11 +3 9,000 gp
Lvl 16 +4 45,000 gp
Lvl 21 +5 225,000 gp
Lvl 26 +6 1,125,000 gp

Squirrel
"Small and incredibly obnoxious, squirrels are incredibly fast and deceptive"
Move: 6 and Climb 6
Size: Tiny
Sight: Normal
Enhancement: Attack rolls and damage rolls
Property: You add 2 to your enhancement bonus when channeling a spell with the illusion or conjuration keyword

Lvl 6 +2 1,800 gp
Lvl 11 +3 9,000 gp
Lvl 16 +4 45,000 gp
Lvl 21 +5 225,000 gp
Lvl 26 +6 1,125,000 gp

Albatross
"This great majectic bird carries with it the essence of the storms it navigates"
Move: 8
Size: Tiny
Sight: Normal
Enhancement: Attack rolls and Damage rolls
Property: You add 2 to your enchancement bonus when channeling a spell with the thunder or lightning keyword

Lvl 6 +2 1,800 gp
Lvl 11 +3 9,000 gp
Lvl 16 +4 45,000 gp
Lvl 21 +5 225,000 gp
Lvl 26 +6 1,125,000 gp

Remorhaz Larva
"This cute little guys never grow up!"
Move: 6 and Burrow 5
Size: Tiny
Sight: Tremorsense 20
Property: You add 2 to your enhancement bonus when channeling a spell with the cold or radiant keyword

Lvl 6 +2 1,800 gp
Lvl 11 +3 9,000 gp
Lvl 16 +4 45,000 gp
Lvl 21 +5 225,000 gp
Lvl 26 +6 1,125,000 gp

Zocelot
2008-08-05, 09:09 PM
I didn't know you'd use the familiars for this class...

Forcefull blow seems a bit overpowered. Compare it to Tide of Iron. ToI pushes a unit a single square, and lets you move up to them. FB pushes a unit up to 5 squares at level 1 and 10 at level 30. I don't think shifting up a square is worth several squares of pushing. I recommend making the push equal to half of the strength modifier.

Psionic Strike is badly named, and overpowered. Since the power source is Arcane, you shouldn't confuse people. Damagewise, this is equal to Ray of Frost. Dazed is useful in a different way then Slowed, but you should still reduce the range to 10.

For Bolt Lightning, instead of 1 enemy in burst 10, couldn't you just say ranged 10?

White Lightning is a bit overpowered, considering there is a Fighter Power that also does 3[W], but skips the ongoing damage and status effect.

Shadow_Elf
2008-08-05, 09:37 PM
I didn't know you'd use the familiars for this class... Hey, I saw an opportunity.


Forcefull blow seems a bit overpowered. Compare it to Tide of Iron. ToI pushes a unit a single square, and lets you move up to them. FB pushes a unit up to 5 squares at level 1 and 10 at level 30. I don't think shifting up a square is worth several squares of pushing. I recommend making the push equal to half of the strength modifier
It doesn't do double push at level 21+, and i doubt you'll have 30 STR @ Level 30. N E ways, i guess half STR is fine.


Psionic Strike is badly named, and overpowered. Since the power source is Arcane, you shouldn't confuse people. Damagewise, this is equal to Ray of Frost. Dazed is useful in a different way then Slowed, but you should still reduce the range to 10.
Ok, Psychic Strike then. Ok, Range 10 is fair. Also, It should be Close Burst 10, one creature in burst. I'll explain later in this post.


For Bolt Lightning, instead of 1 enemy in burst 10, couldn't you just say ranged 10?
Ok. Range 10, I.E. Ray of Frost, you must have an unobstructed line to them. So, if there are guys in the way, the ray has to meander around them. Close Burst 10, one creature in burst, you don't need to make the attack a clear path. Because bolt lightning comes outta the sky (and psychic strike has no physical manifestation) , you do not need to "aim". Compare Divine Challenge with ray of frost in terms of aiming and use, and you'll see what i mean.


White Lightning is a bit overpowered, considering there is a Fighter Power that also does 3[W], but skips the ongoing damage and status effect. The issue is that Brute Strike is underpowered, not that White Lightning is overpowered. Look at Paladin's Judgement and Radiant Delirium. They both have some good effects and effective 3[W] damage.

Zocelot
2008-08-06, 10:51 AM
The issue is that Brute Strike is underpowered, not that White Lightning is overpowered. Look at Paladin's Judgement and Radiant Delirium. They both have some good effects and effective 3[W] damage.

Brute Strike is meant for people using two-handed weapons that do at least 2d6 damage. 2d8 if the race allows oversized.

You're not even giving the Spellbinder Access to heavy shields*, which makes using a two-handed weapon an obvious choice to someone taking the "Spell Shield" Path.

*Even Access to heavy shields isn't enough to make Sword and Board a better choice. You also have to add powers that can only be used by someone wielding a shield.


Edit: I looked up the Paladin and there is a power that lets him do 3[W] damage, and lets an ally spend a healing surge. It's balanced to Brute Strike, because BS is reliable, but it is still overpowered by White Lightning. You should really lower WL to 2[W].

Ned the undead
2008-08-06, 04:34 PM
Brute Strike is meant for people using two-handed weapons that do at least 2d6 damage. 2d8 if the race allows oversized.

You're not even giving the Spellbinder Access to heavy shields*, which makes using a two-handed weapon an obvious choice to someone taking the "Spell Shield" Path.

*Even Access to heavy shields isn't enough to make Sword and Board a better choice. You also have to add powers that can only be used by someone wielding a shield.

Spiked Shade Sheild /dumb name.
"You raise your sheild while invoking power from the Shadowfell to make your foe pay for attacking your fellows."
Daily* Arcane, Force, Implement
Immediate Interrupt
Trigger: An ally adjacent to you is attacked
Special: Your must have a sheild equipped.
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: 1d8 + Intelligence modifier damage and the target takes a -1 to attack rolls against the target of his attack (choose one adjacent to you if there are multiple targets of your target's attack) and is marked untill your next turn.

EDIT: Shadow's not a keyword. *Facepalm*

Shadow_Elf
2008-08-12, 04:14 PM
Here's some level 2 Utilities. Sorry it took so long. PEACH and Enjoy!

Level 2 Utility Spells

Elemental Assist
“You envelope an ally’s weapon with your favourite element, adding to the power of their next blow”
Encounter * Arcane, Special
Immediate Reaction Ranged 5
Trigger: An ally succeeds on a melee attack roll
Effect: The ally gains a bonus to their damage roll of your mastered element equal to your Intelligence modifier
Special: This attack has your mastered element as a keyword

Last Ditch Switch
“You use your magical reserves to swap places with an injured ally to allow them to escape and regain their strength”
Daily * Arcane, Teleportation
Move Action Close Burst 10
Target: One bloodied ally in burst
Effect: Spend a healing surge but regain no hit points. You switch places with the target. The target may then shift a number of squares equal to half their movement as a free action.

Magical Reflexes
“You enhance yourself magically so that no enemy shall pass and no arrow shall strike true”
Daily * Arcane, Stance
Minor Action Personal
Effect: Enemies adjacent to you cannot shift without provoking an attack of opportunity from you and you gain +2 to your Reflex defence. You can still only make one attack of opportunity per turn.

EDIT: Sorry I'm really absent minded. I think that White Lightning would be underpowered at 2[W], but is currently overpowered at 3[W].
Like the shield idea, but this class really has no Shadowfell/necoritc stuff, and is very no necrotic/ no radiant (Spellbinders believe that those elements should be left to Necromancers and Clerics, and are not the realm of the Arcane) However, I like the idea of some shield-based abilties. I think to do an attack called Supernova justice, it'd have to be better and higher level, so i'll replace that with a Sword & Board ability. Also, Heavy Shields are a good idea, but I really wanted this defender to be more mobile than the existing ones, and the Armor Check Penalty on Heavy Shields sorta goes against that ideal.

CasESenSITItiVE
2008-08-13, 01:27 PM
kudos on the class, i really like the idea of an arcane defender. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the powers

Yakk
2008-08-13, 01:44 PM
Forceful Blow
"You envelope your weapon with force and it releases upon impact to knock you foe backwards"
At-Will * Arcane, Force, Weapon
Standard Action Melee Weapon
Attack: Strength vs. Fortitude
Hit: 1[W] + Strength modifier force damage and the target is pushed a number of squares equal to your Strength modifier
Increase damage to 2[W] + Strength modifier damage at level 21

Change to:
Hit: 1[W] force damage and the target is pushed a number of squares equal to your Wisdom modifier (min 1).
Increase damage to 2[W] damage at level 21

The power is already a Weapon Power vs Fortitude (which is quite strong), and also has a powerful knock-back effect. At the very least, strip your attribute bonus to damage.


Psionic Strike
"You assault your foe's mind with a deluge of psychic suggestions, leaving it confused"
At-Will * Arcane, Psychic, Implement
Standard Action Range 15
Target: One creature
Attack: Intelligence vs. Will
Hit: 1d6 + Intelligence Modifier damage and the target is dazed until the end of your next turn
Increase damage to 2d6 + Intelligence modifier damage at level 21
Dazed is a reasonably powerful status effect... It loses all but 1 action, grants CA, and I think it cannot make OAs. Compare to Ray of Frost, or the Wizard Illusion at-will... Significantly better, isn't it?


Arctic Blast
"You shower your foes with a wave of frosty energy"
At-Will * Arcane, Cold, Implement
Standard Action Blast 3
Attack: Intelligence vs. Reflex
Hit: 1d6 + Intelligence modifier damage. Make a secondary attack
Secondary Attack: Intelligence vs. Will
Secondary Hit: The target is slowed until the end your next turn
That is a lot of annoying secondary attacks. Hmm.

How about:

Arctic Blast
"You shower your foes with a wave of frosty energy"
At-Will * Arcane, Cold, Implement
Standard Action Close Burst 2
Attack: Intelligence vs. Reflex
Target: Each enemy in Burst
Hit: 1d6 damage, and the target is slowed until the end of your next turn.
Increase damage to 2d6 at level 21.


Your familiar acts on your initiative.
Your familiar has hit points equal to yours. If it takes damage, you take half of that damage, and vice-versa.

I'd have each of you take full damage, and powers that target both of you effect only one of you. (Ie, your familiar's HP are your own).


Whenever your familiar receives a buff or a debuff, you may choose to transfer it to yourself. This also works the other way around.
Or, rather, you both share the debuff or buff.


Your familiar may not attack.
"You may, as a standard action, make the Familar do an attack." Make the damage not that high, etc.


You may switch between your sight, and the sight of your familiar as a minor action. When using your familiar’s sight, you may dictate its actions. Otherwise, it will behave in whatever manner it thinks would be best (Note here. The "player" is still in control of the familiar. The wizard shouts commands that it follows as a free action)
Meh. Give the "Owner" full control and signt -- it simplifies things -- so long as the Familiar is within 20 squares of the Wizard.

The Familiar can also get one trained skill that the Wizard lacks.


If your familiar dies, you may not get another for one week.
If you share HP, that problem goes away. :-)

Less bookkeeping. And the ritual to bind the familiar becomes ... rather serious!

You could even have Familiars eat residuum to gain power.

Shadow_Elf
2008-08-13, 04:07 PM
Ok, your familiar taking half damage is not that you split the damage between you (that would give you effective 2x HP). Rather, if an attack does 20 damage to you, your familiar take 10 of that damage, for a total of 30 between you. However, the same works for healing. If you use your second wind to regain 10 hp, your familiar regains 5. You gain 1.5x damage from area attacks that target both of you, and you get 1.5x healing from AOE healing spells. This balances things out. I have already playtested familiars as a Wizard feat, replacing whatever Implement Mastery they choose at character creation. It works well, but a few things came up during playtesting:
1. The familiar is trained in one skill. In the campaign, my familiar is a cat. Cats get +5 to Stealth checks per plus. This is their stealth checks, not yours.
2. A Minor Action to switch visions is extremely annoying, as "channeling" a spell takes a full round (Minor, Standard, Minor). Instead, I am going to recommend that vision switching is a free action.
3. Only one "channel" per encounter is fair. I used my cat's amazing stealth to sneak up on a group of enemies, then used Thunderwave to knock them all off the sniping platform they were using to pepper us with stones and javelins. One or two died, and the rest lost their advantageous positions.
4. The health mechanic works fine. Targeted attacks cannot target a familiar if it is in a larger creature's square, but AOE attacks still can. This prevents it from being sniped, but not from taking damage.
5. Sometimes, the healer can only reach the familiar in a heated combat situation. However, the master still gets HP when the familiar is healed, so it was very convenient (kept my familiar in the Healbot's square, so I could channel defensively if necessary, or he could heal the Wizard through familiar)
6. Although it didn't come up, due to my Wizard's 1337 Reflex defense, I think that being able to slap your debuffs on your familiar is a good thing (maybe, you can only have one effect that was meant for you be on your familiar at a time?). Of course, if your both hit by a poison cloud, you can't throw both debuffs on it.
Ok, on other notes:

I have no problem dropping the damage on Forceful Blow a bit, but I think that might be overkill. I've already reduced the pushing to 1/2 STR rather than STR, which isn't amazing. With STR 18 or 20, you only push them 2 squares, which isn't that much.

Psychic Strike is basically for leaving an opening to an ally to come in and attack. Maybe 1d4 damage and dazed is more fair, since the idea isn't to cause damage, but to allow an ally to do so (or spend an action point and kick their butt)

Arctic Blast is based off a Spell from Diablo 2. The idea i had was that it would be kinda like cone of cold, and the secondary attack emulates good ol' 3.5e's need to roll a saving throw to tie your shoes, nevermind resist the cold. Close Burst doesn't make sense, but it may later for the upcoming Frost Nova power.

Supernova will be moved to level 29 dailies (or maybe lower). Hazard Shield will be replacing it. I will post that with the level 3 encounters in a few days.

I think that's it.

Yakk
2008-08-13, 04:32 PM
Make both you and your familiar the same target. If either of you are targeted, you both are. You share HP. You share stats. You share saves.

It's AC defense is (14+Level/2+(higher of your Int or Dex)+Familiar Implement Bonus).

It may move when you make a move action. (Various types have various amounts of move).

It has a melee attack range of 0, and cannot flank.

You may make a melee attack with your familiar as a standard action.
Attack: Wis+Implement+2 vs AC
Hit: 1d4+Con+Implement damage
This counts as a basic melee attack. Some familiars have different basic attacks.

You may channel an Arcane spell as an Encounter power through your familiar.

If an attack targets both you and your familiar, evaluated it against the target that is easiest to hit (due to cover, AC, etc).