Storm Soul [3.5e Martial Discipline] -- PEACH

[Rithaniel]

I agree with Djinn about the number of Stances and 9th level maneuvers. Actually, the number of maneuvers in general seems pretty high. Also, it's odd that Thunder is not the one that does Sonic damage; thunder, after all, is the sound that lightning makes, not the electricity.

Wow, thanks for the in depth critique dude.

Well, in response to both Djinn and you DW, I always found that the list of stances and 9th level maneuvers that disciplines had was rather restricting, which is something that I was trying to remedy in this discipline, which I think I did quite well, to be honest. As for Thunder and the sonic/electric thing, well, it's partially influenced by 'this sounds cooler' and partly influenced by Pokemon (don't judge me). Though, I can understand your confusion there.

Other than that, disciplines don't have a "key ability", they have associated weapons and an associated skill. It would appear that Concentration is the skill associated with Storm Soul, since that's the skill that people trained in it gain, but you should say that.

Well, there where a few things in the discipline that related back to ability scores, so, I improvised and added some on. Though, I did note the assossiated weapons and skill, just used different terminology:

"The skill associated with the Storm Soul discipline is Concentration. The favoured weapons for the disciplne are the battleaxe, handaxe, kukri, longsword, scimitar, and short sword. The key ability is Wisdom."

Anyway, it looks great from a fluff perspective. Very well done there...

Oh, well thank you

On to maneuvers!

Foehn is literally three times as good as Wind Stride, a Desert Wind maneuver of the same level. That's not so good.

Yes, this was intentional, seeing as Wind's Stride is so incredibly subpar. Mine is more balanced to be on par with the Expedious Retreat spell, and made to actually be something you would want to take. The logic there is that, while it's a faster action to use, it only lasts one round, so, even trade off.

Again, Gale Burst is like Wolf Fang Strike plus Sapphire Nightmare Blade at once. Sure, there's the penalty if you fail the Concentration check, but skill checks are easy to optimize.

Well, yes and no. Sapphire Nightmare Blade grants you a bonus to damage, and raises your likeliness to hit with that extra damage. Gale Burst grants you twice as much extra damage, but, at the same time, lowers your likeliness to hit with all that extra damage. I thought about that one for a while, actually, and it was, at one time, +1d4, but I figured out that that was too little in the end.

Roaring Wind looks fine, though. Sort of like Island of Blades, but it works differently, which seems fine.

Thanks, it actually went through a few different versions before it came out as this. This is also where the discipline first goes back to Wisdom.

Thunderbolt is like a very weak version of Burning Blade. The latter doesn't offer the attack bonus, but it deals 1d6 more damage and more importantly, it's a boost that affects every attack that turn. Electricity damage is better than fire, but seriously, this seems like a relatively weak ability.

Well, don't forget it also gives you a bonus to hit equal to your Wisdom modifier, so, you're more likely to deal that extra damage. (similar to a smite, as I've learned, actually).

Arc of Lightning is pretty much the same story: it's just like Burning Brand with lightning instead of electricity, but it works for only one attack instead of for every attack that turn. Decidedly worse, methinks.

Actually, I would have expected people to call this one overpowered, seeing as it gives you +10 feet to reach, instead of the +5 to reach that Burning Brand gives you, which makes it, well, very potent in the hands of person who wants range.

Dancing Wind, I think, should increase your speed by more than 5 ft. That seems like very little.

Well, actually, this was weighed against the Iron Heart stance that gives you +5 feet to reach, and, seeing that Dancing Wind actually does stack with other stuff that would let you increase your reach, I thought it actually came out quite strong.

Squall Step looks solid. Basically the inverse of Absolute Steel Stance, which is just fine and makes sense.

Thanks, and yeah, I drew inspiration from Absolute Steel, actually, just thought I'd base it more on 'improve the benefits of a charge' instead of 'remove the penalty of a charge'.

Thundercrack is much better than Thunderbolt, but still rather weak at the level you first get it. It scales pretty quickly, though, which is nice. Could be quite awesome for someone who had the Legion of One maneuver from the Army of One discipline...

Hmm, don't know Legion of One. Though, that brings me to a thought I had about this matter. Wouldn't it be nice to have a stickied thread that contains links to all martial disciplines posted on Gitp? It'd make it a lot easier for people.

I'm divided about Crack of Lightning. The deafening aspect is good, and the range is solid, but I feel like any single attack maneuver at this level should have some bonus damage on it. Deafening is not debilitating enough to use this instead of something else... the range is nice, but pretty niche, I'm just not sure I'd ready it.

Well, the idea behind it is that it is forcing a status effect without a save, which, in and of itself, is pretty useful. Now, admittedly, deafening isn't as good as it could be, but, don't forget the extra range you get with that attack.

Pouring Rain needs some clarification. Do you move before or after the attack? Do you move even if you fail to defend yourself with the check? What other attacks could you possibly have to worry about at that point?

Ah, yeah, good catch there. I seemed to have missed the details on that one, and I'll probably fix it later on, when I find myself working on stuff. Also, that comment was meant to clear up any confusion about things like people who have Thicket of Blades or whatnot, since that stance just complicates matters to an unreasonable degree.

Voice of Thunder is pure awesome, though the name seems somewhat strange for its effect...

Well, it was originally called 'Voice of the West Wind', and was changed after that, when I did some research into the four winds, and justifications got fuzzy. Though, to explain, doesn't a clap of Thunder linger after it's passed? Well, that's the essence (voice) that is caught in this stance.

Hmm... by 5th level, most effects seem to be +6d6 damage, plus some other stuff (ignoring DR, giving you DR, etc). Cyclone Burst is +5d6 twice, after you make the Concentration check. Not sure the drawbacks make up for the fact that you are potentially dealing nearly twice the damage of other strikes at this level. Maybe, though.

Well, yeah, but, penalties to hit are pretty problematic with that as well, so, I can see what you mean, any advice for it?

Touch of the Rain seems fitting and reasonable.

Thanks again, now for a random smilie:

Zephyr Breath is awesome, well done on that. Though you might consider renaming it - a zephyr is a gentle, warm wind, nothing like the violence of a hurricane.

Oh, oops, I think I may have been a little hasty on naming that one after all. Any comments? Maybe a little revamping on the fluff would be in order?

Flooding Rain suffers from the same problem as Pouring Rain.

Check.

Streak of Lightning blinds instead of deafens. Definitely better, but again... blindness does not seem like a debilitating enough effect for this level. The Wizard's been doing that since level 3, at worst, and you're level 12.

Well, again, +10 foot range and blindness with no save, so, higher focus on utility use.

Whisper of the Wind is pretty cool, that's a neat ability... though this seems perhaps a bit high level for it?

Hmmm, well, perhaps, but, I can just see you linking with a guy with Improved Uncanny Dodge, and, oh fun, now nobody in the party can be sneak attacked except by an army of high level Rogues XD. Though, I can see your point. Have any recommendations for it?

Gaze of the Storm, quite frankly, seems really weak for a 7th level stance. The closest comparison is Assassin's Stance, which gives +2d6 Sneak Attack damage... as a 2nd level stance. Sure, SA has limitations, but seriously now.

I see what you mean there, but, well, I really had nothing to gauge it against, and the reasoning was that it stacked with all other maneuvers that would grant you bonus damage, so, just mix with Typhoon Burst, and suddenly, it's Mealstrom Burst, oh dear. Though, I can see your point there. Any advice for what wit would be good to improve to? +3d6? +4d6?

Tempest Eye turns your Swift action into a second Standard action? That's... quite powerful. Still, as a 7th level maneuver, the biggest possible abuse - getting it on a spellcaster and casting two 9th level spells at once - doesn't seem likely. I don't think it's too bad, though extra actions should always be considered critically. On some level, I suppose it's much less broken than the Factotum 8 ability, which isn't really all that broken, so I suppose it's pretty good. Definitely desirable.

Yeah, I was iffy on Tempest Eye when I was writting it, but, if no one is worried on it, then I'm not worried on it.

Bolt of Lightning does damage at range, and is a no-save paralyze? A paralyzed character is as good as dead, since they're helpless and should get Coup de Grace'd immediately, but that's also wasting an action and seems reasonable enough. Finally, one of these has an effect worth using.

Just my thinking. Of course, I can understand the others being subpar, but, they were designed on utility use, which, as you can see, this has a buttload of.

Drenching Rain, again, need clarification on how these maneuvers work.

And check again.

Step of the Four Winds... for a second I missed the "once per round" and I was flabbergasted. As it is... potent, very much so, but for an 8th level stance, not sure that's out of place at all.

Yeah, I was sure to put in that once per round bit, as I can see how powerful that can be.

Maelstrom Burst and Thunder both have the same problem: they don't do enough damage. Most 9th level maneuvers are save-or-dies. Strike of Perfect Clarity deals +100 damage - what Thunder will do at IL 20, but Strike of Perfect Clarity does it at IL 17. Maelstrom Burst is a little better (averages 99 damage, even at IL 17), but compared to the incredible effects of the other 9th level maneuvers, this is rather tame.

Well, Thunder has the added benefit of getting Wisdom to hit, making it actually above Strike of Perfect Clarity at level 20, so, not too worried about that one. As for Mealstrom Burst, I had actually been a little iffy on it myself, and had thought about removing the requirement for both attacks to be pointed at the same target. Any thoughts on that?

Mostly, I think you went overboard with your maneuver "lines". There's the Concentration+TWF line, the +X electricity damage per IL line, and the Concentration+movement counter line, and it's really just a bit much. This discipline seems to have too many maneuvers in general, but too many of them are just variations on these. I'd suggest paring down the amount of each of those lines, and create some new unique maneuvers, especially for 9th level.

Well, I can't really feel bad about offering a lot of options, or even see it as an issue. Though, one of the problems I always noticed that discipline's had, was that as maneuver level went up, you kept getting new ones, and your old ones might, while potentially being better, make you change your strategy. This opens up linely for heightened versatility, but can be fustrating at times. So, with this, I picked a few good ideas, and made maneuvers that would work with them at most every level of the game. This might have been what created the 'surplus' of maneuvers you're commenting on, actually.