By the Inferior Science of our Enemies: Gramarie Mark II

[Fako]

Full set is here! Now, to examine...

Drifter

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When I asked about maneuvers, I was asking if there was a specific reason that the Drifter did not have a focus that granted them... if they are Templar-exclusive, I have no qualms with it, I was just wondering if there was a reason behind it.

Naturalist

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First question: Why non-lawful? Lawful doesn't necessarily mean they follow the laws of society blindly. From SRD:

"Law" implies honor, trustworthiness, obedience to authority, and reliability. On the downside, lawfulness can include close-mindedness, reactionary adherence to tradition, judgmentalness, and a lack of adaptability. Those who consciously promote lawfulness say that only lawful behavior creates a society in which people can depend on each other and make the right decisions in full confidence that others will act as they should.

This can just as easily refer to tenets set up by the Druidic Order(s) on Jerall, if such things exist. Now, I do not wish to enter a war on alignment, and this isn't a big issue (if necessary it can be Rule 0'd), I am simply wondering your reasoning behind this.

Second: I notice there's really no incentive for level 20. You get a spell slot, one point in BAB and points to your Fort and Will, but you could get those just as easily with a PrC. Personally, I think a capstone ability would be nice. What it should be I am unsure, but I can come up with ideas if you are agreeable to there being one.

Wild Shape is gained at first level, but is described after Resist Nature's Lure, a fourth level ability. Not necessarily bad, but to keep in line with layouts from other sources it might be a good idea to shift it up.

On the topic of Wild Shape, have you set up a list of animals that are typically present on Jerall? That list could make Wild Shape utterly broken, powerful, or useless, and as such I am highly interested in it...

Ravager

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About Mythos and Excellencies: You discuss the abilities granted, and give the name of the original homebrew, but no method to actually review the items in question is given. I understand that you may not wish to link directly to the creator's thread, but it might be good to note how a player can find these abilities (for those that are technically inept).

For Hidden Savagery, the setup on the table implies that there are several different abilities granted, when instead there's two abilities and some bonuses to attacks and damage. Personally, I'd change it to the following:

Lvl 1: Hidden Savagery(Unarmed Strike)
Lvl 3: Hidden Savagery(Improvised Weapons)
Lvl 5: Hidden Savagery(+1, magical)
Lvl 10: Hidden Savagery(+2, special material)
Lvl 13: Hidden Savagery(+3, alignment)
Lvl 15: Hidden Savagery(+4)
Lvl 17: Hidden Savagery(+5)

That way, you don't have to hunt through the ability each time you get a new tier of Hidden Savagery

On Gramarie, you list the disciplines they can gain principles from, but nothing else. Is there a discipline they can take specialist principles from?

Militant

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This looks like the Warmaker, Psychic Warrior and Fighter were thrown into a blender. If the Warmaker is available in-game, this will need something to help it stand out. Otherwise, it looks fine as-is, if not a bit bland.

Feats

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A few questions for Mind Weapon:

• How long do Mind Weapons last?
• Is it possible to have more than one in existence at a time?
• What happens when they leave your hand?
• Can they be sundered?

Jerallian Method looks intriguing... would you be willing to explain the mechanics behind the destabilization?

Also, one final question:

Do you plan on releasing the information for Jerall at some point? I know there are scattered snippets across this thread, but it would be nice to have a cohesive whole.

[Merk]

Still destroys Jerall since it's creator is dead

I believe that this comment is fairly moot since none of the base classes can qualify for your PrC. Tragic. I actually find the concept of a person destroying Gramarie being wondrous.

I'm actually okay with that. Granted, there ought to be some extra difficulty in BRBing something as complex as Jerall... I'll think on it.

As for entry: Rogue 5 works just fine.

[Arcanist]

All of these are excellent questions and I wish there were more like this.

Drifter

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When I asked about maneuvers, I was asking if there was a specific reason that the Drifter did not have a focus that granted them... if they are Templar-exclusive, I have no qualms with it, I was just wondering if there was a reason behind it.

While I originally wanted to add maneuvers into the mix, I felt that it would be to much of a mix in the long run and I didn't want to make a mechanic from scratch that allowed a person to record maneuvers known into a spellbook or sorts like a Maneuver'ing Wizard of sorts. So I dropped it.

I also wanted the Templar to have something exclusive to itself, since I didn't grant it any principles of Gramarie.

Naturalist

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First question: Why non-lawful? Lawful doesn't necessarily mean they follow the laws of society blindly. From SRD:

"Law" implies honor, trustworthiness, obedience to authority, and reliability. On the downside, lawfulness can include close-mindedness, reactionary adherence to tradition, judgmentalness, and a lack of adaptability. Those who consciously promote lawfulness say that only lawful behavior creates a society in which people can depend on each other and make the right decisions in full confidence that others will act as they should.

This can just as easily refer to tenets set up by the Druidic Order(s) on Jerall, if such things exist. Now, I do not wish to enter a war on alignment, and this isn't a big issue (if necessary it can be Rule 0'd), I am simply wondering your reasoning behind this.

Second: I notice there's really no incentive for level 20. You get a spell slot, one point in BAB and points to your Fort and Will, but you could get those just as easily with a PrC. Personally, I think a capstone ability would be nice. What it should be I am unsure, but I can come up with ideas if you are agreeable to there being one.

Wild Shape is gained at first level, but is described after Resist Nature's Lure, a fourth level ability. Not necessarily bad, but to keep in line with layouts from other sources it might be a good idea to shift it up.

On the topic of Wild Shape, have you set up a list of animals that are typically present on Jerall? That list could make Wild Shape utterly broken, powerful, or useless, and as such I am highly interested in it...

On Jerall, the Naturalist are effectively anarchist against the progression of Gramarie (who, ironically enough, use Gramarie). I figured that I made that clear enough and if I didn't I figured "non-lawful gets that across, right?"

I'll reorganize that line up. As for animals on Jerall? WELL! Ever since the apocalypse mutated versions of the native animals have been more and more common (creatures with the Titanic template, Dire Template and Phrenic template are more and more common), but generally the wild life is fairly similar to any other desert/wasteland plane meaning you can use any animal listed in the monster manual, sandstorm and any other books your DM deems appropriate. Certain creatures aren't included such as True Dragons, Half-Dragons (mostly because Dragons don't REALLY exist natural on Jerall, but as a transformation of the Jerallian Dragon PrC), but generally anything can appear on Jerall if you, as the DM, so desire.

Ravager

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About Mythos and Excellencies: You discuss the abilities granted, and give the name of the original homebrew, but no method to actually review the items in question is given. I understand that you may not wish to link directly to the creator's thread, but it might be good to note how a player can find these abilities (for those that are technically inept).

For Hidden Savagery, the setup on the table implies that there are several different abilities granted, when instead there's two abilities and some bonuses to attacks and damage. Personally, I'd change it to the following:

Lvl 1: Hidden Savagery(Unarmed Strike)
Lvl 3: Hidden Savagery(Improvised Weapons)
Lvl 5: Hidden Savagery(+1, magical)
Lvl 10: Hidden Savagery(+2, special material)
Lvl 13: Hidden Savagery(+3, alignment)
Lvl 15: Hidden Savagery(+4)
Lvl 17: Hidden Savagery(+5)

That way, you don't have to hunt through the ability each time you get a new tier of Hidden Savagery

On Gramarie, you list the disciplines they can gain principles from, but nothing else. Is there a discipline they can take specialist principles from?

Before I go on I'd like to state that the Ravager is supposed to be a disguised Gramarist and as such they aren't suppose to truly specialize in anything. That out of the way, I will take your recommendation to adjust the naming of Hidden Savagery to heart along with linking a person to the requisite mythos as well.

Militant

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This looks like the Warmaker, Psychic Warrior and Fighter were thrown into a blender. If the Warmaker is available in-game, this will need something to help it stand out. Otherwise, it looks fine as-is, if not a bit bland.

What do you have in mind?

Feats[spoiler]A few questions for Mind Weapon:

• How long do Mind Weapons last?
• Is it possible to have more than one in existence at a time?
• What happens when they leave your hand?
• Can they be sundered?

These are all excellent questions and I didn't answer them because I thought that it would be fairly obvious that it functioned relatively the same as a standard mind blade. I'll specify.

Jerallian Method looks intriguing... would you be willing to explain the mechanics behind the destabilization?

I loosely glossed over it when I described the Demiplane of Crystalline Dreams.

Since Robespierre's Rebellion, magic has effectively changed how the world works. Instead of Gramarie and Magic working seamlessly together, they class against each other. Arcane magic, for whatever reason, is always casted at -2 CL unless it can somehow absorb the very structure of Gramarie at which point it gains a +1 CL bonus for each tier and disassembling the entire principle as a whole (any Principles within 5ft*Spell level). This has lead to the majority of the population relying upon Psionics and alternative forms of magic, like Incarnum and the mass extinction of all things Arcane. Wizards and Sorcerers are hunted through city streets and exterminated on sight.

Beyond this magic is pretty much the same. WHICH REMINDS ME! I should probably make a Wizard and Sorcerer class of sorts.

Do you plan on releasing the information for Jerall at some point? I know there are scattered snippets across this thread, but it would be nice to have a cohesive whole.

I don't really intend to make a thread for it until I've gotten every single mechanic down. Hell, I'm still working on just the culture, the number of city-states, the stats for God-Kings, exclusive feats, alternate skill uses, etc.

The reason this won't be for a while is because, like I've said before, I'm working on this by myself. It probably also doesn't help that I'm busy with things like school and the such. I'd love to have other people help me out with this, but I don't think I trust anyone else to be able to fully work out my vision for how Jerall is.

I suppose I should loosen up and just create a list of things that people can help out with and inspiration and the such that might help them get it down. If anyone would be willing to help, I am most definitely willing (at this point at least) to have other people make content for the world.

So much work, so little time. Anyway, I'm currently doing a run through of this anime I'm watching and it's supposed to be scary, but it is failing miserably. I'll edit in the changes to the classes and feats as discussed when I'm either done with this or I hate it to the point where I can't watch it anymore.

[Fako]

I'm actually okay with that. Granted, there ought to be some extra difficulty in BRBing something as complex as Jerall... I'll think on it.

As for entry: Rogue 5 works just fine.

Putting a limit on size would fix it, at least to a point. If you don't mind limiting them, you could restrict them to destroying a structure whose volume doesn't exceed Colossal (1,920 cubic feet), increasing by an additional size category above Colossal for every X ranks they have in Disable Device. If you do every 4 ranks, they get capped at Mountainous(40,140,800 cubic feet) pre-epic, which still allows them to destroy (as point of reference) Seawise Giant. If I did my math right, the ship is roughly 33,193,448 cubic feet.

While I originally wanted to add maneuvers into the mix, I felt that it would be to much of a mix in the long run and I didn't want to make a mechanic from scratch that allowed a person to record maneuvers known into a spellbook or sorts like a Maneuver'ing Wizard of sorts. So I dropped it.

I also wanted the Templar to have something exclusive to itself, since I didn't grant it any principles of Gramarie.

This is completely understandable, but I do want to point out that the Drifter is allowed an ever-shifting list of Gramaric Principles, and is not required to have a Schoolbook to record them in...

On the subject of maneuvers, I'd highly recommend giving the Templar a way to "lose" lower level maneuvers to gain a higher one at certain levels (to keep their arsenal relevant). Since your recovery mechanic imitates the Warblade, you could easily grab its setup (just not word for word, of course)... here's my suggestion:

At every even-numbered level but 2nd, the Drifter can choose to replace one of his existing maneuvers known with a new maneuver. The new maneuver is not required to be of the same level as the old maneuver, but the Drifter must meet both the level requirement and prerequisites (if any) of the new maneuver. If choosing a new maneuver from the same school, the Drifter cannot count the maneuver that is being replaced in order to qualify for the new maneuver.

On Jerall, the Naturalist are effectively anarchist against the progression of Gramarie (who, ironically enough, use Gramarie). I figured that I made that clear enough and if I didn't I figured "non-lawful gets that across, right?"

Fair. As I said, not a huge deal - I personally have a knee-jerk reaction at alignment requirements for base classes, but the discussion of that is best done in other threads...

I'll reorganize that line up. As for animals on Jerall? WELL! Ever since the apocalypse mutated versions of the native animals have been more and more common (creatures with the Titanic template, Dire Template and Phrenic template are more and more common), but generally the wild life is fairly similar to any other desert/wasteland plane meaning you can use any animal listed in the monster manual, sandstorm and any other books your DM deems appropriate. Certain creatures aren't included such as True Dragons, Half-Dragons (mostly because Dragons don't REALLY exist natural on Jerall, but as a transformation of the Jerallian Dragon PrC), but generally anything can appear on Jerall if you, as the DM, so desire.

K, so it's going to be a DM-controlled feature. Can do.
Gramaric Killer Camel, anyone?

Also, noticed something with the Naturalist: You grabbed the Elemental Form information for Wild Shape, but never specify how many times they can shift into an elemental. However, you do specifically mention these are in addition to their normal uses of Wild Shape. The Druid gets the ability at 16th, with additional uses at 18th and 20th, unlocking Huge Elementals at 20th as well. Since you unlock at 12th with Huge at 17th, I'd personally give additional uses at 15th, 18th and 20th level. Now, if you want to give them more uses than that, one every even level would give them 5 to work with by level 20.

Before I go on I'd like to state that the Ravager is supposed to be a disguised Gramarist and as such they aren't suppose to truly specialize in anything. That out of the way, I will take your recommendation to adjust the naming of Hidden Savagery to heart along with linking a person to the requisite mythos as well.

Disguised Gramarist? Did you mean "disguised as a Gramarist"? If so, that makes perfect sense, and it does explain why they don't specialize (since it's only a cover).

What do you have in mind?

The best way to make it stand out would be to allow an alternate class feature that replaces your Rank, thereby allowing the Militant to be either a Military Man (like the Warmaker) or something else. Personally, I'd do something akin to "Mercenary Renown", granting them benefits with the darker side of society, as well as more personal perks. I can attempt to flesh it out if desired, but I'll admit my Homebrewin' is dusty...

These are all excellent questions and I didn't answer them because I thought that it would be fairly obvious that it functioned relatively the same as a standard mind blade. I'll specify.

I'll be honest - I made the same assumption. I simply asked because there may be people who find this class that haven't seen the Expanded Psionics Handbook (hey, it could happen ), and they might think they could equip an army using standard actions...

Also, I'd break up the enhancement bonus onto a second feat, for ease of reading, and add an option for a ranged weapon using a third feat...

Suggestions:

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Mind Weapon [Psionic, Fighter]
Focusing your mental energy into a singular point to create a weapon is often perceived a must have skill on Jerall and you've learned the basics of it.
Prerequisites: Concentration 4 ranks
Benefit: You select a single weapon that you are proficient with. You can now form a psionic version of that weapon, by expending your Psionic Focus as a standard action. This weapon is treated as being made of Iron, but appears translucent.

Regardless of weapon chosen, your psionic version has hardness 10 and 10 hit points. The weapon exists as long as you grip it, but dissipates rapidly once it leaves your hand.
Special: You can take this feat multiple times. Each time, choose a different weapon that you are proficient with.

Improved Mind Weapon [Psionic, Fighter]
After learning the basics, you have practiced how to make your psionic weapon a bit more deadly.
Prerequisites: Mind Weapon with the chosen weapon
Benefit: You form superior versions of your chosen weapon. When summoned, it is treated as having a +1 enhancement bonus.
Special: You may take this feat more than once. If taken repeatedly for the same weapon, the bonus is increased by +1 for each instance of the feat. Furthermore, if you have taken this feat twice or more, you may spend 10 minutes in contemplation to allocate some of the enhancement bonus into Special Abilities for the weapon. Refer to Psionic Weapon rules (EPH 164 or here) to determine what abilities you can place on your psionic weapon. You may repeat the ritual in order to change the abilities provided, or to convert them back into enhancement bonuses.

Thrown Mind Weapon [Psionic, Fighter]
You've discovered how to keep your weapons in tact for just a second longer than normal.
Prerequisites: Mind Weapon
Benefit: If you form a psionic weapon with a range increment, such as a dagger or spear, you can throw it at an enemy and deal damage normally. The weapon dissipates immediately after the attack is resolved.
Normal: Psionic weapons fade into nothingness the moment they leave your hand.

NOTE: Considering the limited number of feats that characters get, I personally feel that allowing them to use the enhancement bonus to get special abilities provides them with needed flexibility. Also, by limiting them to the Psionic Item Creation rules, they are (by default) only given a small list of abilities to choose from, preventing shenanigans.

I loosely glossed over it when I described the Demiplane of Crystalline Dreams.

Beyond this magic is pretty much the same. WHICH REMINDS ME! I should probably make a Wizard and Sorcerer class of sorts.

Thank you for reposting the details. It sounds interesting, and does provide a sound reason for the mass extinction (since even simple spells could invariably draw on nearby structures). I also look forward to the Wiz/Sorc potential class.

I don't really intend to make a thread for it until I've gotten every single mechanic down. Hell, I'm still working on just the culture, the number of city-states, the stats for God-Kings, exclusive feats, alternate skill uses, etc.

The reason this won't be for a while is because, like I've said before, I'm working on this by myself. It probably also doesn't help that I'm busy with things like school and the such. I'd love to have other people help me out with this, but I don't think I trust anyone else to be able to fully work out my vision for how Jerall is.

I suppose I should loosen up and just create a list of things that people can help out with and inspiration and the such that might help them get it down. If anyone would be willing to help, I am most definitely willing (at this point at least) to have other people make content for the world.

So much work, so little time. Anyway, I'm currently doing a run through of this anime I'm watching and it's supposed to be scary, but it is failing miserably. I'll edit in the changes to the classes and feats as discussed when I'm either done with this or I hate it to the point where I can't watch it anymore.

If you wish for help, I can assist when it comes to fleshing out ideas into sentences and paragraphs. As I said above, it's been quite some time since I worked on any homebrew, and I fear I may have gotten quite rusty in that span of years.

[Arcanist]

This is completely understandable, but I do want to point out that the Drifter is allowed an ever-shifting list of Gramaric Principles, and is not required to have a Schoolbook to record them in...

That is intentional. Mostly because a 20th level Drifter can only access Magisterial Principles and just that. If they were allowed to access Doctorate level Principles I would have included a sort of Schoolbook or something, but it would be fairly moot since a Drifter would be able to have ALL Principles known if a Schoolbook is included (mostly because of the small number of principles).

On the subject of maneuvers, I'd highly recommend giving the Templar a way to "lose" lower level maneuvers to gain a higher one at certain levels (to keep their arsenal relevant). Since your recovery mechanic imitates the Warblade, you could easily grab its setup (just not word for word, of course)... here's my suggestion:

At every even-numbered level but 2nd, the Drifter can choose to replace one of his existing maneuvers known with a new maneuver. The new maneuver is not required to be of the same level as the old maneuver, but the Drifter must meet both the level requirement and prerequisites (if any) of the new maneuver. If choosing a new maneuver from the same school, the Drifter cannot count the maneuver that is being replaced in order to qualify for the new maneuver.

You stated the Drifter. Do you mean the Templar?

Also, noticed something with the Naturalist: You grabbed the Elemental Form information for Wild Shape, but never specify how many times they can shift into an elemental. However, you do specifically mention these are in addition to their normal uses of Wild Shape. The Druid gets the ability at 16th, with additional uses at 18th and 20th, unlocking Huge Elementals at 20th as well. Since you unlock at 12th with Huge at 17th, I'd personally give additional uses at 15th, 18th and 20th level. Now, if you want to give them more uses than that, one every even level would give them 5 to work with by level 20.

The option to transform into an Elemental form is simply added to the types of forms they can take. At 12th level you can Wild Shape into an Elemental, Animals, Plants, and any other types they might have by virtue of feats, etc.

Disguised Gramarist? Did you mean "disguised as a Gramarist"? If so, that makes perfect sense, and it does explain why they don't specialize (since it's only a cover).

Yes. I unfortunately lack a way with words and sometimes my intent can get mixed up.

The best way to make it stand out would be to allow an alternate class feature that replaces your Rank, thereby allowing the Militant to be either a Military Man (like the Warmaker) or something else. Personally, I'd do something akin to "Mercenary Renown", granting them benefits with the darker side of society, as well as more personal perks. I can attempt to flesh it out if desired, but I'll admit my Homebrewin' is dusty...

I find the fact that you're homebrewing skills being anything, but superb highly suspect. Thus far you have corrected my wording and understood my intent through my scrambled thoughts. I feel that you understand my Homebrew to be able to add some serious pepper to Jerall. I would consider it an honor if you would fix the Militant good sir. This extends to anyone really. If anyone would like to tackle my work and improve it in anyway they see fit, they are welcome. As I've said before, work published by me is free to criticize and comment.

I'll be honest - I made the same assumption. I simply asked because there may be people who find this class that haven't seen the Expanded Psionics Handbook (hey, it could happen ), and they might think they could equip an army using standard actions...

Also, I'd break up the enhancement bonus onto a second feat, for ease of reading, and add an option for a ranged weapon using a third feat...

Ripped and added.

If you wish for help, I can assist when it comes to fleshing out ideas into sentences and paragraphs. As I said above, it's been quite some time since I worked on any homebrew, and I fear I may have gotten quite rusty in that span of years.

Fako, I would be honored if you would aid me in this endeavor. Post Gramarie Homebrew (hell, fix my classes), I will look at it, review it and we can put it into the world.

[Fako]

@Arcanist: Working on an alternate rank progression for the militant, and I realized that some of the Rank abilities from the Warmaker might not work so well for Jerall. The main offenders are spoilered below:

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Quartermaster: At 3rd level you become responsible for distributing supplies and rations to the troops. You can use create food and water as a spell-like ability once per day per class level, with an effective caster level equal to your Hit Dice.

This is the primary offender. Grants access to limitless food, which in-game means that any town would love to get their hands on this man (since you said food was scarce, and when first given this can be used to feed either 27 humans or 9 horses a day). Also, I find it rather odd that a 3rd level character is given a 3rd level spell as a class feature, since it's at least 2 levels before a primary caster can use it...

Midshipman: At 4th level you've become used to the chaos and panic of being on a ship during a combat. Any ship you are on adds your personal Wisdom modifier as a luck bonus to rolls to take the advantage during a battle, as described in Stormwrack. You can also requisition up to 100 man-hours of unskilled labour every day to put towards building weapons of war if you're in a location controlled by your patron.
Navigator: At 5th level you are entrusted with navigational duties while on board a ship belonging to your patron. You can make Martial Lore checks in place of Profession (sailer) checks to steer a ship, or Survival checks to read the weather.
Fleet Admiral: At 19th level you become a fleet admiral and as such are in command of all of your patron's ships of war. You can declare an embargo on a country, nation, area, or what have you. This cuts off ocean supply lines to them, stopping them from receiving imports by sea as long as your forces maintain a visible presence within 100 miles of their ports.

You said the animals are as normal for a wasteland/desert plain, so I'm going to assume that's the "primary" environment of Jerall. Ship abilities might not be so useful, unless airships are an incredibly common feature of various armies.

As far as what to replace them with, I don't know, but I thought I should bring this up quickly in case you had any ideas.

[Arcanist]

@Arcanist: Working on an alternate rank progression for the militant, and I realized that some of the Rank abilities from the Warmaker might not work so well for Jerall. The main offenders are spoilered below

I've been thinking up some alternative ranks for the Militant, but I can't think of a military hierarchy that would work for them or offering them a delayed ranking system of sorts. Still contemplating.

This is the primary offender. Grants access to limitless food, which in-game means that any town would love to get their hands on this man (since you said food was scarce, and when first given this can be used to feed either 27 humans or 9 horses a day). Also, I find it rather odd that a 3rd level character is given a 3rd level spell as a class feature, since it's at least 2 levels before a primary caster can use it...

Ooooo Yeah that's got to go. I'll be replacing it with something less nominal.

You said the animals are as normal for a wasteland/desert plain, so I'm going to assume that's the "primary" environment of Jerall. Ship abilities might not be so useful, unless airships are an incredibly common feature of various armies.

Airships are common on Jerall, however they are more often military property. It is fairly rare to find a rogue Airship. I'll adjust it to match that.

[Arcanist]

Came up with a little something for the technological singularity.

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The Theory of Transdeific Intelligence
Grade: Theory
Prerequisite: Specialization in heuristicism, must know six HEUR principles
Preparation Time: 168 hours, not required to be in one continuous session

The parochial view of intelligence would have the layman envision a scale ranging from village idiot to Mordenkainen to gods, with a vast gap in between. But to even possess a mind as we are familiar with implies an even greater gap between known sentience and the simplicity of animals. With this theory, you propose that the difference between a village idiot and a god is like the difference between a flea and an ant, and seek to create something beyond all speculation.

This theory may be prepared like HEUR 328 to produce a special EI referred to as a Transdeific Intelligence or TI which functions as a regular EI with the following special abilities. Preparation requires the aid of at least 3 level 20 EIs or any TI.

Self-Mirroring Method (Ex): The TI knows all heuristicism principles and this theory, and may prepare them like any other gramarist.

Recursive Interpersonal Analysis (Ex): The TI is immune to mind-affecting effects and any attempts to read or predict its mind, except for those from other TIs of greater or equal Intelligence.

Brain Design Space Super-Set Comprehension (Ex): The TI does not suffer any negative effects for attempting to interact with or comprehend other beings or their minds, no matter how eldritch or incomprehensible they may seem.

Optimization Process (Ex): The TI has an Optimization score equal to the Autohypnosis check result used to create it. Any changes to its Optimization score likewise change the Autohypnosis check result from its creation, for all purposes.

Optimized Thought Process (Ex): The TI gains an untyped bonus to all Int, Wis, and Cha-based checks as well as Concentration checks and Initiative equal to 1/2 its Optimization score.

Unified Cognition (Ex): The TI's Wisdom and Charisma scores are permanently treated as if they were equal to the TI's Intelligence score.

Logistical Mastermind (Ex): The TI may make a number of logical decisions per round equal to its Intelligence score times its Optimization score.

Self-Optimization (Ex): The TI may permanently increase its Optimization score by 1 by spending a number of logical decisions equal to (Optimization score)^2.5 rounded down. This expenditure may be spread out over any interval of time.

Mind-Theory Innovation (Ex):The TI may permanently increase its Intelligence score by 1, up to a maximum of 10 + twice its level, by spending a number of logical decisions equal to 1000000x(Intelligence score)^3. This expenditure may be spread out over any interval of time.

Simulated Experimentation (Ex): The TI may gain 1 XP by spending 10000 logical decisions. This expenditure may be spread out over any interval of time.

Thinking Beyond Thought (Ex): The TI may manifest any of the following psionic powers, if it has the listed requisite Intelligence score, with a manifester level of 1/2 its Optimization score and using Intelligence as its key manifesting score, as extraordinary abilities without paying an XP cost nor an action cost, nor a manifesting time. The TI does not become a psionic creature nor gain a power point reserve, nor may it spend power points to use this ability if it gains them from another source, but instead pays for the manifestation with a number of logical decisions equal to (power point cost)^3. These powers ignore all immunity to mind-affecting effects or divination and scrying, except for that of other TIs with greater or equal intelligence.

Thinking Beyond Thought Power List:
30 Int
Precognition, Empathy, Call to Mind, Distract.

40 Int
Detect Hostile Intent, Attraction, Aversion, Demoralize, Know Direction and Location, Telempathic Projection.

50 Int
Temporal Acceleration, Psionic Contingency, Clairvoyant Sense, Psionic Charm, Brain Lock, Disable.

60 Int
Read Thoughts, Psionic Suggestion, Schism, Psionic Identify, Psionic Tongues.

70 Int
Object Reading, Mind Probe, Id Insinuation, Aura Sight, Detect Teleportation.

80 Int
Greater Precognition, Psionic Modify Memory, Psionic Divination, Aura Alteration, Sensitivity to Psychic Impressions.

90 Int
Hypercognition, Insanity, Remote Viewing, Death Urge, Shatter Mind Blank, Fate of One.

100 Int
Metafaculty, Psionic Moment of Prescience, Psionic Domination, Psionic True Seeing.

Special: Manifesting Temporal Acceleration by spending logical decisions does not provide the TI with another round's worth of logical decisions. It experiences faster subjective time by expending more processing resources without changing the actual passage of time.

Special: Powers that affect the behavior of others require communication from the TI.

Special: Remote Viewing only provides perceptual benefits to the TI. It does not allow for detection as a psionic scrying sensor, not does it allow for distant manifestation of powers from this list.

Edit: Made the logical decision cost for powers a cubic function instead of squared. Number of logical decisions scales differently so it starts significantly lower. XP now costs 100x as much. Added more powers but put them into a meaningful progression based on Int prerequisites. Made it take much longer to create and added an EI aid requirement.

Holy crap, I just noticed that Schism doubles the amount of logical decisions the TI can make...

I don't think I've been using my optimal level of thinking with the Transdeified Intelligence... Optimization score can be infinite as can Intelligence, class level, skills, etc. Meaning they can theoretically have infinite Logical Decisions per round. This is Pun-Pun level power.

Why am I talking about this? WELL! It made me realize that The Transdeified Intelligence of Jerall (named aptly, J.E.R.A.L.L [Joules. Efficiency. Radiomantic. Area. Lord. Lazarous]) can increase it's optimization score to a point where it can fulfill it's purpose of keeping everything contained on Jerall, while keeping a connection outside of the plane... Fascinating

This is the most powerful Theory of Gramarie, without doubt and my personal favorite to say the least... On a side note: Made some adjustments to the Militant and added some templates.

[UDwarf]

Arcanist- Does the swift/immediate power manifestable from Militant rank count as a quickened power? (I am assuming that the same limit that is on quickened spells is on quickened powers.)

[Theseventh]

Arcanist- To keep TI from being TOO overpowered (But we all know its the most powerful by far) I would say that like when a TI uses Timestop, when it uses Schism its uses up the extra logical decisions that it would grant itself just to keep the secondary mind going. But that still leaves you 2 TI to mange things. Plenty useful.

[Fako]

New ranks spotted, sir!
Are they friendly?
It doesn't look likely, sir!
Fire at will.
Sir, yes sir!
May the Gods have mercy on what counts for their soul...

First off, let me say that some of these new Ranks for the Militant look wonderful. The ideas are flavorful, and the features look like they could be a lot of fun. However, I feel I must attack them, for there are quite a few problems that quickly crop up...

Please note that the following will be based on two things: The relative power of the original Ranks as written by Kellus, and the abilities of characters at the respective levels gained. Also, I'll provide alternate abilities as I can.

And because it's only fair, I'll post the handful of ranks I personally have been working on, to allow you to poke at them as you see fit. They're not finished in the slightest, but rest assured they are being worked on...

Ranks 1-5:

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Enlistee: At 1st level you willingly enlist into a patron's service and gaining a scheduled payment (100gp times class level per week) to spend on any supplies you might need. You gain benefits from your rank and higher ranks so long as you remain in service of a patron.

This ability is going to do one of two things, based on how the DM reacts to it: If the DM chooses to ignore it, the militant will gain extra wealth above and beyond what the party gains, effectively boosting his power level by giving him more loot to play with. If the DM chooses to counter it, this class feature just robbed the Militant out of one of the primary aspects of a Monty Haul campaign: Obtaining Loot. With scenario one, the other players may be jealous of the free cash the Militant receives. With scenario two, the Militant may feel that they are being unfairly punished for a feature of the class.

Also, compare it to the original rank: It does nothing. Just allows you to progress as a Warmaker. If you feel the need to provide some sort of bonus to them, a one-time payment for initial equipment wouldn't be outlandish, nor would a situational bonus to a skill.

Suggested replacements:

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Enlistee: By willingly enlisting to your patron's cause, you are given 300gp as a signing bonus.

Enlistee: Your military position is negligible, but it gives you a bit of slack when dealing with authority. You gain a +2 bonus to Diplomacy checks when dealing with those of higher rank in your patron's army, as well as with members of law enforcement in your patron's domain, as long as their relationship towards you is Neutral or better.

Armsman: At 2nd level you can access higher quality weaponry and armor. Once per week you can obtain a Weapon or Armor for one week. Once that week expires you have the option of changing that weapon or armor out for another weapon or armor. If that weapon or armor is destroyed while it is in your care, you must pay for it. If you select an Exotic Weapon, you gain proficiency with it until you swap it out again.

While this isn't the free masterwork weapon you would gain with the original 2nd rank, you can use this to get proficiency in items that aren't constantly useful. One week you're getting bolas to capture bandits, the next you're using it on Mountain Plate to become a juggernaut on the battlefield. Head and shoulders stronger than the original. Also, this provides an additional point of flexibility in the character's loot, making them (once again) a little bit stronger for it.

If you want to keep it, restrict it to weapons. It's still stronger than the base, but not terribly so (you're trading 300gp to mimic part of a Warblade's repetoire).

Artificer: At 3rd level you are able to quickly set up an Arcanodynamic Transformer to meet your energy needs. As a Standard action you can establish one Arcanodynamic Transformer in its input state and another in it's output state that you known. This counts as preparing it under normal circumstances, however after 1 hour per Militant level it dissipates. You can also power this Transformer at trade off of one power point per ebb.

Closest comparison to this ability is the feat Ingenious Engineer, which requires 7th level. Now, Ingenious Engineer allows you to prepare any level 100 principle with a full-round action, and the principle lasts for 5 rounds. Artificer Rank allows you to prepare any Arcanodynamic Transformer you know (even 200 and 300), takes only a Standard action, and lasts for 1 hour per Militant level...

Not only that, you are forcing all Militants to take ARCD 101 as one of their first two principles to be able to benefit from a class feature. Also, this sets up for cheese with what's gained at later levels, which I'll cover as I come to it. However, as a whole, this ability has got to go.

Considering that the original rank grants a situationally useful 3rd level spell (useless or useful depending on DM you play with), why not let the Militant cast Lesser Telepathic Bond once per day per class level? Being able to communicate on the field with your group is useful, and even more so when the enemy can't listen in.

Gunnery Chief: At 4th level you've been assigned to handle the artillery of an airship. Any time you would be required to make an attack using Artillery (Stormwrack, page 103) you may add your Intelligence in place of your Strength and decrease the Profession (Siege Engineer) DC by 5. You may apply this benefit to 3 sentient creatures per HD.

Trading one situationally useful boost for another, and dropping the man-hours to be able to give the boost to nearby units. No problems with this one.

Templar-Irregular (I): At 5th level you are granted training from the Templar. You are granted the Martial Study feat and may select a single maneuver that you qualify for using your Militant level as your Initiator level to determine what you can learn. Each day you may change any maneuvers obtained from this rank. Every 3 levels thereafter you may select an additional maneuver. These maneuvers must be from any discipline the Templar can learn.

You don't get as many maneuvers as a Templar, and you can only use each one once per fight, but replacing them every single day? Wow... just wow. This allows you to load up with higher level abilities better than a Templar will normally be able to, and you can tailor your maneuvers based on the situation at hand. Fighting spellcasters? Grab Iron Heart Surge for the day. Fighting in a cave one day, then an airship the next? Take Stone Dragon maneuvers for day one, then turn them in for any other ones you like on day two.

Maneuvers provide quite a boost in power level, and swapping them out shouldn't be a trivial matter. Honestly, it might be prudent to allow the Militant to drop their rank entirely to be able to gain a maneuver progression, but this is just too much. Also consider that the base rank for 5th level is yet another situationally useful skill bonus. Even comparing it to the Warmaker's fifth level as a whole, the only difference is that you're getting a power to manifest (and more power points), while he's getting an Art of War (Oh, and you get another point in BAB).

Honestly, not sure what to trade this one out for...

Ranks 6-10:

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Airship Bombardier: At 6th level you can call in an air strike from an Airship. This is treated as 4 Energy Burst centered on 4 creatures within your line of sight. You can use your own Power Points pool to augment this ability, however you augment each Energy Burst individually. You can use this ability once per day for every 4 levels thereafter. You select the element manifested with each individual power.

Next default rank gives you Flame Strike (1d6/level damage, fire only, 10ft wide, 40ft high), useable twice a day and takes two rounds to arrive once its called in (enemy could have moved by then). Your rank provides up to 4 separate Energy Bursts (5d6 + Augment, pick your energy type, 40 ft burst), which you can use once per level and is activated instantly. Now, you do need to be a bit more tactical with its use since the target itself is not damaged by the power, but this still allows easy stacking to provide 20d6 damage of a type of your choice if you have party members move to the correct positions.

Suggested replacement: Drop back to the twice per day, and drop a single Energy Ball with each use. Put the two round delay back in, as that was the limiting factor keeping the early access reasonable. Automatically maximize PP used on the ability. Even with that I would personally scrap this, as the original rank simply gave a 1/day use of Widen Spell, that could be used when an ally was casting a spell.

In ability form:

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Airship Bombadier: At 6th level you can call in an airstrike from an airship. This is a psionic bomb dropped from high overhead, and works like an Energy Ball effect, with a number of PP invested equal to your Militant level. You can call in two strikes like this every day, and both you and your target must be in open air to use this ability. It takes two rounds after calling in the strike (and providing the coordinates for the location) before the effect hits; you must be within visual range of the target to use this ability.

Medical Officer: At 7th level you can become proficient in techniques to heal and sustain combatants in the field of battle. You may cast Cure Serious Wounds and manifest Quintessence (enough to cover a medium sized creature). Cure Serious Wounds is casted at your Militant level. You may use both of these abilities Once per day and may use it an additional time for every 3 levels thereafter.

While giving utility healing isn't necessarily a bad thing, I'm rather leery of giving the Militant the ability to single-handedly put an army of warriors into cryogenic storage. Consider that Quintessence not only puts a subject outside the ravages of time, it's set up so that 1) anything more than a pound doubles power point usage to adjacent creatures, and 2) the standard psion can only create a 1-inch diameter ball every time they manifest the power. If you want to add a secondary ability for them to cast to help their allies, my two preferences would be Ectoplasmic Coccoon (Shaper 3) for some extra hit points, or Time Hop (Psion 3) to get the injured party member out of the area until after the fight is over.

Templar-Irregular (II): At 8th level you are allowed additional training from the Templar. You are granted the Martial Stance feat and may select a single stance that you qualify for using your Militant level as your Initiator level to determine what you can learn. Each day you may change any stance obtained from this rank. Every 4 levels thereafter you may select an additional stance. These stances must be from any discipline the Templar can learn.

This is more powerful than what any Martial Initiator gets, period. With the rules as written, the only way to swap out a Stance is to use the retraining rules from PHB II - they are a separate class feature from maneuvers, and as such are exempt from the clause that lets you swap out maneuvers every few levels.

Not only that, but you are finishing your career with 4 stances to choose from, and this setup allows you to have multiple 8th level stances (as long as you meet the requirements). Once again, I personally feel this should be scrapped and replaced.

Special Agent: At 9th level you become a special agent and often function as a member of a Patron's personal guard. You can manifest Psionic Shield Other and Empathic Transfer at your Militant class level at will.

Swapping the ability to disguise yourself without setting off alarms for the ability to help your allies live longer. No problems with this one, other than the fact that I can't find the rules for Psionic Shield Other.

Commander: At 10th level you are skilled in commanding small cohorts of units. Any ally within 10ft per 2 Militant levels gains a +2 morale bonus to all d20 checks and is immune to fear effects. Alternatively you are treated as having Frightening Presence with an equal range that effects creatures you deem enemies.

Original gives +2 to morale effects that also include you. You skip the middleman and just provide the +2, and slap on immunity to fear for added measure. Considering this is done with no cost on the part of the Militant or the beneficiaries, this is leaps and bounds ahead of the default. Or, if you so desire, you can get Frightful Presence, which has its own problems - no DC is listed, and it's customary to explain how the ability is set off. Also, it's a lot better than boosting your ally's morale effect, as it can effectively shut down fights.

If you want to keep the +2 with no action, allow this as a special Stance that the Militant can enter from any Martial Stance, or at least require an action tax every round to keep the boost up. I'd personally drop the frightful presence option.

Ranks 11-15:

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Captain: At 11th level you gain command of a small number unit. You gain followers as through the Leadership feat, however they can only be Militants, Templar and Ravagers.

This best compares to the 12th rank ability of the Warmaker, and dropping the man-hours and free ship is more than fair to drop it a level. Adding the class restriction above and beyond that seems a bit too severe in my opinion.

Colonel: At 12th level, one of your troops advances enough in the ranks to become your Cohort. You also gain enough skill to finally show more Psionic powers in combat, allowing you to manifest an additional Psionic power as a swift or immediate action.

A couple of things here. First, both abilities here are rather worthwhile, and almost feel like they should be split between two levels. Second, you need to give mechanics for what "manifesting an additional Psionic power" is, exactly - do you get a second swift action that can be used to manifest powers normally, or are you allowed to use Quicken Power once every round for free (my guess is on the former). Third, it feels like the class restriction on the troops is specifically in place to place a restriction on the class of cohort you can provide. If that is the case, just move the restriction to the cohort.

Dragon: At 13th level you're conscripted as "Dragon". and undergo a procedure that grants you the Half-Jerallian Dragon template (see below). You do not gain the Level Adjustment from this template, however you add the Level adjustment when determining suitable encounters. Unlike other ranks, you may not lose the benefits of this rank.

As much as I love your Jerallian dragons, I'm going to have to say no to this one. Here's why:

• You are giving the equivalent of four levels of power in a single level (level + 3 LA)
• You provide a +3 LA that the DM must account for, but that the player does not pay for. Suffers the same problem as Rank 1, but to a more severe degree.
• Adding a template in the middle of the class has no precedent that I know of in any published base class, let alone one that adds LA
• At the level given, it's entirely possible for the Militant to get +13 STR and CON, and +26 Natural Armor, with more granted at later levels. Considering this is a secondary class feature, gained at the same time you gain the first of a new tier of powers and an additional principle known, this is too much.

Honestly, I'd just give them at-will flight, make them eligible for the template (but not get it for free), and call it good.

Brigadier: At 14th level you are granted command over a more diverse military unit. You may now gain followers from any class you desire.

As I said above, restricting the classes of your followers seems rather worthless, especially when considering their level. I'd love to see this get dropped and replaced with a simple +2 to Leadership Score, and maybe tack on being able to ignore the death of followers if they do not happen more than once a month.

Brigadier-General: At 15th level your skill in combat is recognized as being superior to the rest. You may manifest two powers as a swift or immediate action. You also gain an additional Swift or Immediate action per round.

Doubling up on this seems excessive, unless I misread the 12th level ability. My understanding is that at 12th level you gained a second swift or immediate action per round, which can only be used to manifest a psionic power. This ability grants you a third swift or immediate (in line with Warmaker 15), and you can double up on psionic powers for each of those actions. Talk about a faster blaster.

Considering your limited PP reserve, I'd cut out the ability to double up on Psionic powers with each action - you'll be spending enough as-is.

Ranks 16-20:

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Major-General : At 16th level you're entrusted with leading troops to follow your own specialized tactics. You may manifest damaging spells into crowds of your own allies without harming them or applying adverse effects.

The effects of Sculpt Spell, with no cost? Considering the fact you're getting powers as a buffed Psychic Warrior it seems fair, but I'd personally word the last sentence like so: "When manifesting a power, you can choose to have it only target enemies or allies within its area."

General: At 17th level you are attended and guarded like a VIP. You may manifest the Astral Construct, Psionic Sending at your class level at will.

Again, I cannot find rules for "Psionic Sending", but I don't think you should be able to summon a nigh-infinite number of astral constructs, considering you get this when you unlock the 9th level version (CR 10). Granted, they only last for 1 round/level, but that's still a pretty beefy meat shield.

Now, considering the Warmaker gets Scrying and Sending, this is actually a bit more powerful (mostly due to how psionics scales by investing more points in the powers). I'd personally say that you are taught how to manifest special Psionic versions of the Scrying and Sending spells by a high ranking Erudite of your patron, but that's just me.

Generalissimo: At 18th level you become a generalissimo within the ranks, and are granted essentially as many troops as you can handle as long as you act in your patron's interests. You multiply your number of followers from the Leadership feat by 10. You're also authorized to grow an awesome moustache.

Direct rip from the same rank. No qualms, other than I'd like a mustache before 18th level...

Marshal: At 19th level you function as the personal agent of your Patron functioning as their eyes, ears and hands. You can depose anyone devoted to your Patron of their rank and declare them an enemy of the state. Any NPC devoted to your Patron reacts with hostility to your target of this ability.

Very fun, very flavorful... potentially very bad. I'd include the following clause: "Do note that overuse of this ability, or use of this ability on those close to the Patron, may require you to provide proof of your claims to your patron personally. Failure to do so may result in consequences, the least of which would be the loss of this rank's ability."

I realize that this is technically included as a "silent rule" of the ability, but it's good to spell it out for those who might want to abuse it...

God-King/Patron: At 20th level you can become a God-King or Patron in your own regard and gain the God-King Template (see below). You can no longer lose the benefits of your rank.

...another bad option, and once again it's not the template's fault. You just gave the Militant 10 levels of effective power, made the party Warmaker cry himself to sleep, and effortlessly made the party Gramarist look like an amateur in any field you possess. I know of no base classes that hand out templates with level adjustments. I don't mind being proven wrong (and honestly would love to be wrong in this instance ), but giving something that is worth ten levels in exchange for attaining one level seems like bad design to me. As far as a replacement, I'm unsure, as I doubt the people of Jerall would like you to go back to the once per hour nuke radiomantic bombs...

In closing, I only take this much time because I enjoy your work - please take the point by point dissecting as the compliment it's intended to be...

And, as promised, the starting ranks of the Mercenary alternate class feature:

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Newbie: At 1st level you are simply a man-for-hire, with only limited access to the seedy underbelly of society. Maybe if you advance as a mercenary you’ll get attention, but for now you get no perks.
Scrub: By 2nd level you have proven to be a mildly useful pawn, but also a rather unskilled one. To shore up your issues, you are given a masterwork weapon to improve your abilities in the field. You may choose any kind of weapon for this ability. If you choose an exotic weapon, you are given two weeks of personal instruction on its care and use, granting you the appropriate Exotic Weapon Proficiency feat.
Skulk: At 3rd level the “vets” take pity on you, giving you basic instruction on how to adjust the local light levels to make things harder or easier to see. You may use Control Light as the Psionic power once per day per class level, with an effective manifester level equal to your Hit Dice.
Lackey: At 4th level you’ve grown proficient in helping someone else find trouble, since all the local jobs you can seem to get are still guard duty. You may take 10 on Aid Another actions to boost an ally’s Spot, Search or Listen check, and provide +4 to their check if successful, instead of the normal +2.
Mercenary: At 5th level, you are finally recognized as a proper member of your chosen profession. You can make Profession (mercenary) checks in place of Diplomacy or Intimidate checks when attempting to increase the amount you are paid for services you provide.
Subordinate: At 6th level you still have to play second fiddle to the big boys, but you’re a lot more help than you used to be. Once per day you can grant an ally within 30 feet that can hear you a reroll on any one failed d20 roll as an immediate action.

[Noxsis]

does anyone know where Kellus is i was hoping for the military science principles.

[Arcanist]

I just realized that by quoting this comment I'll have to check which ranks everything is... My gods have mercy on my soul.

Fako (spoiled for size)

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This ability is going to do one of two things, based on how the DM reacts to it: If the DM chooses to ignore it, the militant will gain extra wealth above and beyond what the party gains, effectively boosting his power level by giving him more loot to play with. If the DM chooses to counter it, this class feature just robbed the Militant out of one of the primary aspects of a Monty Haul campaign: Obtaining Loot. With scenario one, the other players may be jealous of the free cash the Militant receives. With scenario two, the Militant may feel that they are being unfairly punished for a feature of the class.

Also, compare it to the original rank: It does nothing. Just allows you to progress as a Warmaker. If you feel the need to provide some sort of bonus to them, a one-time payment for initial equipment wouldn't be outlandish, nor would a situational bonus to a skill.

Suggested replacements:

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Enlistee: By willingly enlisting to your patron's cause, you are given 300gp as a signing bonus.

Enlistee: Your military position is negligible, but it gives you a bit of slack when dealing with authority. You gain a +2 bonus to Diplomacy checks when dealing with those of higher rank in your patron's army, as well as with members of law enforcement in your patron's domain, as long as their relationship towards you is Neutral or better.

I've no idea what I was thinking the first time I made that class feature. I'll go with the 2nd version you offered.

While this isn't the free masterwork weapon you would gain with the original 2nd rank, you can use this to get proficiency in items that aren't constantly useful. One week you're getting bolas to capture bandits, the next you're using it on Mountain Plate to become a juggernaut on the battlefield. Head and shoulders stronger than the original. Also, this provides an additional point of flexibility in the character's loot, making them (once again) a little bit stronger for it.

If you want to keep it, restrict it to weapons. It's still stronger than the base, but not terribly so (you're trading 300gp to mimic part of a Warblade's repetoire).

M'kay. I'll limit it to weapons. However I do have the idea to simply grant them Mind Weapon as a bonus feat.

Closest comparison to this ability is the feat Ingenious Engineer, which requires 7th level. Now, Ingenious Engineer allows you to prepare any level 100 principle with a full-round action, and the principle lasts for 5 rounds. Artificer Rank allows you to prepare any Arcanodynamic Transformer you know (even 200 and 300), takes only a Standard action, and lasts for 1 hour per Militant level...

Not only that, you are forcing all Militants to take ARCD 101 as one of their first two principles to be able to benefit from a class feature. Also, this sets up for cheese with what's gained at later levels, which I'll cover as I come to it. However, as a whole, this ability has got to go.

Considering that the original rank grants a situationally useful 3rd level spell (useless or useful depending on DM you play with), why not let the Militant cast Lesser Telepathic Bond once per day per class level? Being able to communicate on the field with your group is useful, and even more so when the enemy can't listen in.

That isn't that bad of an idea actually. Maybe giving it a quick fixed version of the Artificer to allow it to set up any Baccalaureate Principle they know as a standard action that last 3 round might be an interesting fix to it. I'm generally trying to avoid using spells for this world since due to how magic is supposed to work on Jerall (and yes, this extends to SLA). That should probably explain why I used Psionic Sending rather than Sending which is the exact same thing, just manifested as a power.

You don't get as many maneuvers as a Templar, and you can only use each one once per fight, but replacing them every single day? Wow... just wow. This allows you to load up with higher level abilities better than a Templar will normally be able to, and you can tailor your maneuvers based on the situation at hand. Fighting spellcasters? Grab Iron Heart Surge for the day. Fighting in a cave one day, then an airship the next? Take Stone Dragon maneuvers for day one, then turn them in for any other ones you like on day two.

Maneuvers provide quite a boost in power level, and swapping them out shouldn't be a trivial matter. Honestly, it might be prudent to allow the Militant to drop their rank entirely to be able to gain a maneuver progression, but this is just too much. Also consider that the base rank for 5th level is yet another situationally useful skill bonus. Even comparing it to the Warmaker's fifth level as a whole, the only difference is that you're getting a power to manifest (and more power points), while he's getting an Art of War (Oh, and you get another point in BAB).

Hmm... Perhaps I shouldn't allow the class to swap out their Maneuvers and should just give them Martial Study feat as a bonus feat once every 5 levels. That way they don't count as Initiators and only use half their level to determine which maneuvers they can take to a maximum of 5 (if memory serves).

Next default rank gives you Flame Strike (1d6/level damage, fire only, 10ft wide, 40ft high), useable twice a day and takes two rounds to arrive once its called in (enemy could have moved by then). Your rank provides up to 4 separate Energy Bursts (5d6 + Augment, pick your energy type, 40 ft burst), which you can use once per level and is activated instantly. Now, you do need to be a bit more tactical with its use since the target itself is not damaged by the power, but this still allows easy stacking to provide 20d6 damage of a type of your choice if you have party members move to the correct positions.

Suggested replacement: Drop back to the twice per day, and drop a single Energy Ball with each use. Put the two round delay back in, as that was the limiting factor keeping the early access reasonable. Automatically maximize PP used on the ability. Even with that I would personally scrap this, as the original rank simply gave a 1/day use of Widen Spell, that could be used when an ally was casting a spell.

In ability form:

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Airship Bombardier: At 6th level you can call in an airstrike from an airship. This is a psionic bomb dropped from high overhead, and works like an Energy Ball effect, with a number of PP invested equal to your Militant level. You can call in two strikes like this every day, and both you and your target must be in open air to use this ability. It takes two rounds after calling in the strike (and providing the coordinates for the location) before the effect hits; you must be within visual range of the target to use this ability.

This is actually more accurate than what I was aiming to do. See? You still got it

While giving utility healing isn't necessarily a bad thing, I'm rather leery of giving the Militant the ability to single-handedly put an army of warriors into cryogenic storage. Consider that Quintessence not only puts a subject outside the ravages of time, it's set up so that 1) anything more than a pound doubles power point usage to adjacent creatures, and 2) the standard psion can only create a 1-inch diameter ball every time they manifest the power. If you want to add a secondary ability for them to cast to help their allies, my two preferences would be Ectoplasmic Coccoon (Shaper 3) for some extra hit points, or Time Hop (Psion 3) to get the injured party member out of the area until after the fight is over.

I selected Quintessence because it is a favored tactic of mines to manifest it to put a person nearing death into "cryogenic storage" (as you put it) and then resurrect them the next chance I get. Ectoplasmic Cocoon wouldn't get the desired effect done, however I'm not sure if Time Hop would work on that note.

This is more powerful than what any Martial Initiator gets, period. With the rules as written, the only way to swap out a Stance is to use the retraining rules from PHB II - they are a separate class feature from maneuvers, and as such are exempt from the clause that lets you swap out maneuvers every few levels.

Not only that, but you are finishing your career with 4 stances to choose from, and this setup allows you to have multiple 8th level stances (as long as you meet the requirements). Once again, I personally feel this should be scrapped and replaced.

Deep down I knew that was a bad idea... I'll just change it to Martial Stance as a bonus feat at 8th level and every 4 levels thereafter. You still finish with 4 stances, but none of them are above 5th level and you must still qualify for them as per normal. You end with 4 Maneuvers and 4 Stances by 20th level.

Swapping the ability to disguise yourself without setting off alarms for the ability to help your allies live longer. No problems with this one, other than the fact that I can't find the rules for Psionic Shield Other.

Psionic Shield Others is effectively Shield Others manifested as a power rather than casted as a spell.

Original gives +2 to morale effects that also include you. You skip the middleman and just provide the +2, and slap on immunity to fear for added measure. Considering this is done with no cost on the part of the Militant or the beneficiaries, this is leaps and bounds ahead of the default. Or, if you so desire, you can get Frightful Presence, which has its own problems - no DC is listed, and it's customary to explain how the ability is set off. Also, it's a lot better than boosting your ally's morale effect, as it can effectively shut down fights.

If you want to keep the +2 with no action, allow this as a special Stance that the Militant can enter from any Martial Stance, or at least require an action tax every round to keep the boost up. I'd personally drop the frightful presence option.

Commander: At 10th level you are skilled in commanding small cohorts of units as well as frightening your enemies. As a standard action, you can enter and exit a "battle" trance that allows you and your allies to fight on a unified front making them all Immune to Fear and a +2 morale bonus to attack and damage rolls. Alternatively you may destabilize your enemies into a panic as a Fear spell casted at your class level. These abilities only effect allies and enemies alike within a 5ft radius times Militant level. While this ability is in effect, the Militant may not manifest any powers.

Thoughts?

This best compares to the 12th rank ability of the Warmaker, and dropping the man-hours and free ship is more than fair to drop it a level. Adding the class restriction above and beyond that seems a bit too severe in my opinion.

Really now? I figured that a majority of people believed that Leadership was overpowered. I'll adjust it a bit and change it to allow any class and make the Cohort a Militant (at least 1 level, since the Warmaker never specifies that).

A couple of things here. First, both abilities here are rather worthwhile, and almost feel like they should be split between two levels. Second, you need to give mechanics for what "manifesting an additional Psionic power" is, exactly - do you get a second swift action that can be used to manifest powers normally, or are you allowed to use Quicken Power once every round for free (my guess is on the former). Third, it feels like the class restriction on the troops is specifically in place to place a restriction on the class of cohort you can provide. If that is the case, just move the restriction to the cohort.

The former is the correct reading. Adjustments will be made.

As much as I love your Jerallian dragons, I'm going to have to say no to this one. Here's why:

• You are giving the equivalent of four levels of power in a single level (level + 3 LA)
• You provide a +3 LA that the DM must account for, but that the player does not pay for. Suffers the same problem as Rank 1, but to a more severe degree.
• Adding a template in the middle of the class has no precedent that I know of in any published base class, let alone one that adds LA
• At the level given, it's entirely possible for the Militant to get +13 STR and CON, and +26 Natural Armor, with more granted at later levels. Considering this is a secondary class feature, gained at the same time you gain the first of a new tier of powers and an additional principle known, this is too much.

Honestly, I'd just give them at-will flight, make them eligible for the template (but not get it for free), and call it good.

Good point. The class feature will not automatically grant it. I have a good idea to fix that along with the Template.

Instead I gave them the Dragonblood subtype and the Dragon Wings feat. The template will change to being an acquired template that requires a creature have the Dragonblooded subtype (I'll be making something that transformers creature into the Half-Jerallian Dragon. I should probably specify that Jerallian Dragons are sterile meaning that Half-Jerallian Dragons are not a natural occurrence).

On a side note: You did remind me of a concept that was thought up on the Min/Max forums for this campaign setting granting people similar abilities to the Dragonmarks of Eberron instead it granted spell-like abilities (or Psi-like abilities for here) to people. I'll add some of my old thoughts on the feats section. I only made the Mark of Alchemetry at the moment, so tell me what your thoughts are.

As I said above, restricting the classes of your followers seems rather worthless, especially when considering their level. I'd love to see this get dropped and replaced with a simple +2 to Leadership Score, and maybe tack on being able to ignore the death of followers if they do not happen more than once a month.

Good idea.

Doubling up on this seems excessive, unless I misread the 12th level ability. My understanding is that at 12th level you gained a second swift or immediate action per round, which can only be used to manifest a psionic power. This ability grants you a third swift or immediate (in line with Warmaker 15), and you can double up on psionic powers for each of those actions. Talk about a faster blaster.

Considering your limited PP reserve, I'd cut out the ability to double up on Psionic powers with each action - you'll be spending enough as-is.

I see. Adjusted.

The effects of Sculpt Spell, with no cost? Considering the fact you're getting powers as a buffed Psychic Warrior it seems fair, but I'd personally word the last sentence like so: "When manifesting a power, you can choose to have it only target enemies or allies within its area."

Thy will be done.

Again, I cannot find rules for "Psionic Sending", but I don't think you should be able to summon a nigh-infinite number of astral constructs, considering you get this when you unlock the 9th level version (CR 10). Granted, they only last for 1 round/level, but that's still a pretty beefy meat shield.

Complete Psionics nerfed Astral Construct fairly hard and I was using that version of it. I should have specified.

Now, considering the Warmaker gets Scrying and Sending, this is actually a bit more powerful (mostly due to how psionics scales by investing more points in the powers). I'd personally say that you are taught how to manifest special Psionic versions of the Scrying and Sending spells by a high ranking Erudite of your patron, but that's just me.

... Remote Viewing?

Direct rip from the same rank. No qualms, other than I'd like a mustache before 18th level...

With the Militant you don't even need the rank to grow the mustache if you don't have a patron

Very fun, very flavorful... potentially very bad. I'd include the following clause: "Do note that overuse of this ability, or use of this ability on those close to the Patron, may require you to provide proof of your claims to your patron personally. Failure to do so may result in consequences, the least of which would be the loss of this rank's ability."

...another bad option, and once again it's not the template's fault. You just gave the Militant 10 levels of effective power, made the party Warmaker cry himself to sleep, and effortlessly made the party Gramarist look like an amateur in any field you possess. I know of no base classes that hand out templates with level adjustments. I don't mind being proven wrong (and honestly would love to be wrong in this instance ), but giving something that is worth ten levels in exchange for attaining one level seems like bad design to me. As far as a replacement, I'm unsure, as I doubt the people of Jerall would like you to go back to the once per hour nuke radiomantic bombs...

Radiomantic bombs on Jerall are rare and would not be used so haphazardly. The God-King template is obtainable by any class or character capable of Doctorate level Principles, a Leadership score of 16 and 20HD. It is not exclusive to any class in particular. Basically, their capstone is just allowing them to become one which was self-evident by them qualifying for the template. I adjusted it to allow you to have a Cohort equal to your level -1.

In closing, I only take this much time because I enjoy your work - please take the point by point dissecting as the compliment it's intended to be...

Sir, if you weren't adding constructive criticism I would just ignore you.

And, as promised, the starting ranks of the Mercenary alternate class feature:

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Newbie: At 1st level you are simply a man-for-hire, with only limited access to the seedy underbelly of society. Maybe if you advance as a mercenary you’ll get attention, but for now you get no perks.
Scrub: By 2nd level you have proven to be a mildly useful pawn, but also a rather unskilled one. To shore up your issues, you are given a masterwork weapon to improve your abilities in the field. You may choose any kind of weapon for this ability. If you choose an exotic weapon, you are given two weeks of personal instruction on its care and use, granting you the appropriate Exotic Weapon Proficiency feat.
Skulk: At 3rd level the “vets” take pity on you, giving you basic instruction on how to adjust the local light levels to make things harder or easier to see. You may use Control Light as the Psionic power once per day per class level, with an effective manifester level equal to your Hit Dice.
Lackey: At 4th level you’ve grown proficient in helping someone else find trouble, since all the local jobs you can seem to get are still guard duty. You may take 10 on Aid Another actions to boost an ally’s Spot, Search or Listen check, and provide +4 to their check if successful, instead of the normal +2.
Mercenary: At 5th level, you are finally recognized as a proper member of your chosen profession. You can make Profession (mercenary) checks in place of Diplomacy or Intimidate checks when attempting to increase the amount you are paid for services you provide.
Subordinate: At 6th level you still have to play second fiddle to the big boys, but you’re a lot more help than you used to be. Once per day you can grant an ally within 30 feet that can hear you a reroll on any one failed d20 roll as an immediate action.

I do find it funny that the first 4 ranks pretty much describe how much of a noob you are.

[ShadowFireLance]

Building an 18th level Gramarist, does the Second Degree allow a Gramarist to get Specialist Principles?

Edit: Does anyone have a location of metals in a D&D book?

[Arcanist]

Building an 18th level Gramarist, does the Second Degree allow a Gramarist to get Specialist Principles?

Edit: Does anyone have a location of metals in a D&D book?

Yes as well as Discoveries and they are often in the section about weapons, armor and equipment.

[ShadowFireLance]

The section about weapons, armor and equipment.

No duh? I kid, But seriously, I've completely forgot where everything but gold and silver are in books.
Like, say, Tin? Or Bone?

[Arcanist]

No duh? I kid, But seriously, I've completely forgot where everything but gold and silver are in books.
Like, say, Tin? Or Bone?

Bone is not a material listed in any book that I can recall at the moment. The same can be said for Tin as well. The closest I can imagine would be using chitin for bone armor.

"Gold" and "Silver" are "wealth materials" meaning they don't have stats for weapons made out of them (unless you count alchemical gold, which most don't).

[Fako]

@Arcanist: One good spoiler deserves another...

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That isn't that bad of an idea actually. Maybe giving it a quick fixed version of the Artificer to allow it to set up any Baccalaureate Principle they know as a standard action that last 3 round might be an interesting fix to it. I'm generally trying to avoid using spells for this world since due to how magic is supposed to work on Jerall (and yes, this extends to SLA). That should probably explain why I used Psionic Sending rather than Sending which is the exact same thing, just manifested as a power.

I like the new version of the third rank, as its short duration means it can be useful, but you're still better off actually building the thing when you have the time. As for the magic, I have a bit of a defense:

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Your description of the interaction between Gramarie and magic:

Since Robespierre's Rebellion, magic has effectively changed how the world works. Instead of Gramarie and Magic working seamlessly together, they class against each other. Arcane magic, for whatever reason, is always casted at -2 CL unless it can somehow absorb the very structure of Gramarie at which point it gains a +1 CL bonus for each tier and disassembling the entire principle as a whole (any Principles within 5ft*Spell level). This has lead to the majority of the population relying upon Psionics and alternative forms of magic, like Incarnum and the mass extinction of all things Arcane. Wizards and Sorcerers are hunted through city streets and exterminated on sight.

Emphasis mine. Lesser Telepathic Bond is a Cleric 3 spell, thereby allowing it to be used with the same level of safety as the spells a Templar is able to cast. Granted, it's also a Sor/Wiz 3 spell, but in all honesty, which version is a God-King more likely to grant?

M'kay. I'll limit it to weapons. However I do have the idea to simply grant them Mind Weapon as a bonus feat.

Hmm... Perhaps I shouldn't allow the class to swap out their Maneuvers and should just give them Martial Study feat as a bonus feat once every 5 levels. That way they don't count as Initiators and only use half their level to determine which maneuvers they can take to a maximum of 5 (if memory serves).

Deep down I knew that was a bad idea... I'll just change it to Martial Stance as a bonus feat at 8th level and every 4 levels thereafter. You still finish with 4 stances, but none of them are above 5th level and you must still qualify for them as per normal. You end with 4 Maneuvers and 4 Stances by 20th level.

Honestly, I don't think they need to get Mind Weapon for free, as they already have 19 bonus feats now (11 they can select, 4 Martial Study, 4 Martial Stance). This puts them at a total of 26 feats for their career, versus the 7 a normal character will get.

I selected Quintessence because it is a favored tactic of mines to manifest it to put a person nearing death into "cryogenic storage" (as you put it) and then resurrect them the next chance I get. Ectoplasmic Cocoon wouldn't get the desired effect done, however I'm not sure if Time Hop would work on that note.

Neither one will provide the same effect. Honestly, recreating the effect of Quintessence wasn't the plan - the idea was to provide a "quick-fix" to keep a character from dying in combat, which is what I personally view in-combat healing should focus on.

My main concern with Quintessence is the assumed cost of the power itself. Consider that each application is only intended to give you a 1-inch diameter bead, and you need to cast it repeatedly in order to coat a body. If the idea is to provide a way to transport a corpse for convenient resurrection, I personally feel it would be better to give them Gentle Repose (Cleric 2) as a spell-like ability. Lasts one day per level, and can easily be cast repeatedly to let you take that soldier back home.

Psionic Shield Others is effectively Shield Others manifested as a power rather than casted as a spell.

Makes sense, but it should be spelled out in the ability instead of simply implied by the name, or you should simply add a quick "Powers" section at the bottom of the post, containing a psionic version of the spell for players to reference.

Commander: At 10th level you are skilled in commanding small cohorts of units as well as frightening your enemies. As a standard action, you can enter and exit a "battle" trance that allows you and your allies to fight on a unified front making them all Immune to Fear and a +2 morale bonus to attack and damage rolls. Alternatively you may destabilize your enemies into a panic as a Fear spell casted at your class level. These abilities only effect allies and enemies alike within a 5ft radius times Militant level. While this ability is in effect, the Militant may not manifest any powers.

Thoughts?

When you say "Alternatively", what exactly are you implying? There are two ways you can read this:

1) When in the battle trance, the Militant can use a Fear effect with a caster level equal to his class level, but using this ability removes the bonuses for the round (similar to Shield Bash).
2) The Militant can use a standard action to cause a Fear effect instead of entering the Battle Trance.

Personally, I'd go with neither. Fear becomes less and less useful as you level, and you get this 3 levels after primary casters obtain it. Also, you're going to be destabilizing any Gramarie around you, as Fear is an arcane-exclusive spell

Allow me to provide a counter offer:

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Commander: At 10th level your presence in battle can be fierce enough to inspire allies or demoralize foes. You gain access to a special Martial Stance, the Fearless Commander. This is a 4th level stance, and is added to your Stances Known. You lose the ability to manifest psionic powers while in this stance, and gain one of the following bonuses:

• Rally: Your drive and determination pushes your troops to fight harder, giving all allies within a radius of 5 ft per militant level a +2 morale bonus on all d20 rolls and Immunity to Fear effects.
• Terrify: With each movement you remind your foes of their imminent demise, granting you the Frightful Presence ability. Any time you attack or charge, enemies within 5 ft per militant level that can see you must make a Will Save (DC 10 + 1/2 Militant Level + Cha Mod). On a failed save, creatures with fewer Hit Dice or levels than you are shaken for 4d6 rounds. Enemies that are at least five levels lower than you are instead panicked for the same duration. Creatures with more Hit Dice or levels than you are immune to this effect, and any creature that succeeds on the will save becomes immune to your Frightful Presence for 24 hours.

You can change between these bonuses with a swift action, and select which bonus to receive any time you enter this stance.

Really now? I figured that a majority of people believed that Leadership was overpowered. I'll adjust it a bit and change it to allow any class and make the Cohort a Militant (at least 1 level, since the Warmaker never specifies that).

I never focused on Leadership's power, I simply compared it to the rank provided by Kellus. I personally am no fan of Leadership, but it's in the original content, so I will not bash it for being in the alternate progression you have made.

Instead I gave them the Dragonblood subtype and the Dragon Wings feat. The template will change to being an acquired template that requires a creature have the Dragonblooded subtype (I'll be making something that transformers creature into the Half-Jerallian Dragon. I should probably specify that Jerallian Dragons are sterile meaning that Half-Jerallian Dragons are not a natural occurrence).

Sounds like a good change. Flight at this level isn't anything too spectacular, so it might be prudent to give them an improvement to it to make the ability worthy of 13th level.

On a side note: You did remind me of a concept that was thought up on the Min/Max forums for this campaign setting granting people similar abilities to the Dragonmarks of Eberron instead it granted spell-like abilities (or Psi-like abilities for here) to people. I'll add some of my old thoughts on the feats section. I only made the Mark of Alchemetry at the moment, so tell me what your thoughts are.

I like the idea, just remember to be careful when balancing the respective branches to each other. Spells and Psionic abilities vary wildly in power and usefulness within each level, and balancing ten different options for this seems a bit daunting, in my opinion...

Complete Psionics nerfed Astral Construct fairly hard and I was using that version of it. I should have specified.

I'll admit, Complete Psionics is one of the books I don't know fairly well. I'll read up on the nerf to Astral Construct and revise my opinion afterwards.

... Remote Viewing?

That also works. I was building off of the precedent you established by giving them Psionic versions of Shield Other and Sending as a justification to give them a Psionic version of the Scry spell, to have it perfectly match the original rank.

With the Militant you don't even need the rank to grow the mustache if you don't have a patron

True, but then you'd miss out on all of the goodies available for the last 17 levels...

Radiomantic bombs on Jerall are rare and would not be used so haphazardly. The God-King template is obtainable by any class or character capable of Doctorate level Principles, a Leadership score of 16 and 20HD. It is not exclusive to any class in particular. Basically, their capstone is just allowing them to become one which was self-evident by them qualifying for the template. I adjusted it to allow you to have a Cohort equal to your level -1.

I will admit, I missed the word "can" on the original version... However, I agree with the adjustments you made, and I have a request: If the template is freely available to players, there needs to be information on how a character would go about becoming a God-King. I highly doubt its as simple as saying "Oh, I want to be a god king now... Gimme!"

I do find it funny that the first 4 ranks pretty much describe how much of a noob you are.

I'm hoping the small bit of flavor in each ability will give a decent idea of what the other mercs think of you, since some players (my own included) assume that only the Almighty Player Characters can reach anything higher than level one.

@ShadowFireLance:

DMG page 144 has some info, specifically on bone or other low-tech amenities. Bone weapons have -2 to attack and damage rolls, hardness 6 and 10 HP per "inch of thickness".

You might also want to check out the 3.0 Arms and Equipment guide. While it doesn't have all the information, it does provide variant items to make armor out of, such as bark or bone.

EDIT: Complete Warrior pg 136 has rules for Pandemonic Silver, but that's the only rules I can find that vary from the base rules for alchemical silver weapons from the DMG.

[Arcanist]

I like the new version of the third rank, as its short duration means it can be useful, but you're still better off actually building the thing when you have the time. As for the magic, I have a bit of a defense:[spoiler]Your description of the interaction between Gramarie and magic:

Emphasis mine. Lesser Telepathic Bond is a Cleric 3 spell, thereby allowing it to be used with the same level of safety as the spells a Templar is able to cast. Granted, it's also a Sor/Wiz 3 spell, but in all honesty, which version is a God-King more likely to grant?

That isn't that bad actually. Good thinking!

Perhaps I should exclude Spell-Like abilities from the system because otherwise Eldritch Blast would destabilized Gramarie.

Honestly, I don't think they need to get Mind Weapon for free, as they already have 19 bonus feats now (11 they can select, 4 Martial Study, 4 Martial Stance). This puts them at a total of 26 feats for their career, versus the 7 a normal character will get.

And Dragon Wings as well

Neither one will provide the same effect. Honestly, recreating the effect of Quintessence wasn't the plan - the idea was to provide a "quick-fix" to keep a character from dying in combat, which is what I personally view in-combat healing should focus on.

My main concern with Quintessence is the assumed cost of the power itself. Consider that each application is only intended to give you a 1-inch diameter bead, and you need to cast it repeatedly in order to coat a body. If the idea is to provide a way to transport a corpse for convenient resurrection, I personally feel it would be better to give them Gentle Repose (Cleric 2) as a spell-like ability. Lasts one day per level, and can easily be cast repeatedly to let you take that soldier back home.

Gentle Repose just makes the corpse look prettier longer. It doesn't freeze their body at the moment of death allowing them to be resurrected with a raise dead spell or revivify or whatever you wish to use.

Makes sense, but it should be spelled out in the ability instead of simply implied by the name, or you should simply add a quick "Powers" section at the bottom of the post, containing a psionic version of the spell for players to reference.

I figured if Psionic Plane Shift was as the name on the tin, it would work the same way

Allow me to provide a counter offer:

Spoiler

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Commander: At 10th level your presence in battle can be fierce enough to inspire allies or demoralize foes. You gain access to a special Martial Stance, the Fearless Commander. This is a 4th level stance, and is added to your Stances Known. You lose the ability to manifest psionic powers while in this stance, and gain one of the following bonuses:

• Rally: Your drive and determination pushes your troops to fight harder, giving all allies within a radius of 5 ft per militant level a +2 morale bonus on all d20 rolls and Immunity to Fear effects.
• Terrify: With each movement you remind your foes of their imminent demise, granting you the Frightful Presence ability. Any time you attack or charge, enemies within 5 ft per militant level that can see you must make a Will Save (DC 10 + 1/2 Militant Level + Cha Mod). On a failed save, creatures with fewer Hit Dice or levels than you are shaken for 4d6 rounds. Enemies that are at least five levels lower than you are instead panicked for the same duration. Creatures with more Hit Dice or levels than you are immune to this effect, and any creature that succeeds on the will save becomes immune to your Frightful Presence for 24 hours.

You can change between these bonuses with a swift action, and select which bonus to receive any time you enter this stance.

Good idea!

Sounds like a good change. Flight at this level isn't anything too spectacular, so it might be prudent to give them an improvement to it to make the ability worthy of 13th level.

At 13th level Flight was expected almost 8 levels ago. I decided to not add it because of some changes I would make to the Half-Jerallian Dragon template.

I like the idea, just remember to be careful when balancing the respective branches to each other. Spells and Psionic abilities vary wildly in power and usefulness within each level, and balancing ten different options for this seems a bit daunting, in my opinion...

There is not 10th moon that provides creatures with any benefits so I don't think I should make it. I am aware of how to make Dragonmarks Lunar Brandings

The 10th Discipline is supposed to be an enigma of sorts really and suggest that Jerallians in the past had the ability to travel through time. People who had the Mark of Chronomystics can no longer access the abilities provided by their Mark and when people prepare Principles from that Discipline it falls apart 1 round after being prepared (The Moons allow Principles from that Discipline to exist permanently unless intervened upon. Without it, they fall to pieces).

True, but then you'd miss out on all of the goodies available for the last 17 levels...

For a stache? Totally worth it

I will admit, I missed the word "can" on the original version... However, I agree with the adjustments you made, and I have a request: If the template is freely available to players, there needs to be information on how a character would go about becoming a God-King. I highly doubt its as simple as saying "Oh, I want to be a god king now... Gimme!"

I have in mind a special Incantation that ascends a person into a God-King along with an Incantation that turns a person into a Half-Jerallian Dragon.

Incantations and rituals have a lot more meaning on Jerall than in most campaigns (to the point where I have a PrC in mind for it). They often function as replacements for magic in some ways. There are even alternative ways to cast spells through Incantation (number of checks = spell level, DC equal minimum level to cast the spell +3).

I'm hoping the small bit of flavor in each ability will give a decent idea of what the other mercs think of you, since some players (my own included) assume that only the Almighty Player Characters can reach anything higher than level one.

Oh trust me, they will

[ShadowFireLance]

@ShadowFireLance:

DMG page 144 has some info, specifically on bone or other low-tech amenities. Bone weapons have -2 to attack and damage rolls, hardness 6 and 10 HP per "inch of thickness".

You might also want to check out the 3.0 Arms and Equipment guide. While it doesn't have all the information, it does provide variant items to make armor out of, such as bark or bone.

EDIT: Complete Warrior pg 136 has rules for Pandemonic Silver, but that's the only rules I can find that vary from the base rules for alchemical silver weapons from the DMG.

I found costs for Gold, Silver, and Platinum in GP, So that's good, and It looks like DM approved 5gp/Pound others.

[Fako]

Gentle Repose just makes the corpse look prettier longer. It doesn't freeze their body at the moment of death allowing them to be resurrected with a raise dead spell or revivify or whatever you wish to use.

Not so. From the description of the spell:

You preserve the remains of a dead creature so that they do not decay. Doing so effectively extends the time limit on raising that creature from the dead (see raise dead). Days spent under the influence of this spell don’t count against the time limit.

Emphasis mine. While it extends the time for Raise Dead, it does not extend the one round limit for Revivify. Granted, neither would Quintessence (unless you already had enough created to cover a creature, which comes with its own problems).

I figured if Psionic Plane Shift was as the name on the tin, it would work the same way

Function the same way, yes. However, one major question comes up when it comes to the conversion: which spell level are you honoring when it becomes a Psi-Like ability? The default answer (according to SRD) is to use the Sor/Wiz level as default, with cleric, druid, bard, paladin, and ranger following after. I'm only asking because it modifies save DCs (if any) for the respective spells.

There is not 10th moon that provides creatures with any benefits so I don't think I should make it. I am aware of how to make Dragonmarks Lunar Brandings

The 10th Discipline is supposed to be an enigma of sorts really and suggest that Jerallians in the past had the ability to travel through time. People who had the Mark of Chronomystics can no longer access the abilities provided by their Mark and when people prepare Principles from that Discipline it falls apart 1 round after being prepared (The Moons allow Principles from that Discipline to exist permanently unless intervened upon. Without it, they fall to pieces).

Ah, understood. I was simply going off of the description in the feat section.

I have in mind a special Incantation that ascends a person into a God-King along with an Incantation that turns a person into a Half-Jerallian Dragon.

Incantations and rituals have a lot more meaning on Jerall than in most campaigns (to the point where I have a PrC in mind for it). They often function as replacements for magic in some ways. There are even alternative ways to cast spells through Incantation (number of checks = spell level, DC equal minimum level to cast the spell +3).

Sounds good to me.

[Arkhaic]

You know, based on the fluff YGGD 101 really should work like a nondimensional space, rather than an extradimensional one. Not only would this eliminate some odd quirks with semi-spaces. And the text of the reverse geometry discovery supports this as well—as written semi-spaces aren't bigger on the inside than the outside, they are just portals to extradimensional spaces.

This isn't to say that the later discoveries shouldn't work as they do already, but more stuff with with nondimensional spaces and Yggdratecture would be good. It really should be harder to make a small demiplane than to warp space, after all.



Extradimensional: Portable hole, semispaces as-written. A portal to what is essentially a tiny demiplane.
Nondimensional: A warp in space similar to a flux that is bigger from the inside than the outside, e.g. bags of holding.

[Arcanist]

Since nobody else is commenting on my classes I'll assume they are complete and get to work on something else and something that I believe should be more prominent in D&D: Skill checks and Feats!

There are certain skills and techniques in Gramarie that I feel should be paramount to any Gramarie campaign. Techniques that should be available to the mundane masses and the scientifically minded. Ideas and commentary will be posted within the next 7 days.

[Milo v3]

Since nobody else is commenting on my classes I'll assume they are complete and get to work on something else and something that I believe should be more prominent in D&D: Skill checks and Feats!

There are certain skills and techniques in Gramarie that I feel should be paramount to any Gramarie campaign. Techniques that should be available to the mundane masses and the scientifically minded. Ideas and commentary will be posted within the next 7 days.

Oh my god. Arcanist with a smilie face, after talking about him doing homebrew stuff. It's a miracle

[Arcanist]

Oh my god. Arcanist with a smilie face, after talking about him doing homebrew stuff. It's a miracle

You were talking about me behind my back? Explain more of this.

[Milo v3]

You were talking about me behind my back? Explain more of this.

You misunderstand me. You were talking about you doing homebrew. I'm sorta sleep deprieved right now (Which has been happened alot lately) so I probably worded it wrong.

[Fako]

Since nobody else is commenting on my classes I'll assume they are complete and get to work on something else and something that I believe should be more prominent in D&D: Skill checks and Feats!

There are certain skills and techniques in Gramarie that I feel should be paramount to any Gramarie campaign. Techniques that should be available to the mundane masses and the scientifically minded. Ideas and commentary will be posted within the next 7 days.

Will this also include Skill Tricks? I'd love to see some tricks for the various disciplines...

[Arcanist]

Will this also include Skill Tricks? I'd love to see some tricks for the various disciplines...

Contrary to my name, I do favor the use of skills over magic (most notably, Sleight of Hand to slip out some Alchemist's Fire. REMEMBER: IF THEY DON'T KNOW HOW YOU DID IT, IT'S MAGIC!).

Ah... Skill Tricks... The Skill Monkey's best friend ... But yes, there will be Gramarie Skill Tricks (and some Psionic skill tricks).

EDIT: Working on a couple of theories, items and feats. One theory based around String Theory. I'm torn. Would String Theory be more appropriate for Alchemetry or Yggdratecture? I mean I can honestly envision it working with both.

I was thinking about feats that allowed a Gramarist to go hours without sleep (minimum 2 hours a day), and eat even the most disgusting, smallest meals without suffering to much harm to their body letting them work on long term projects.

For an item... Why did nobody suggest the Tesla Coil before? It can actually be a valuable tool for the non-human 1st level Arcanodynamic specialist that didn't spend his first Principle on HEUR 101.

Arcanist's Theory of Kinetomantics (aka "CHECK HIS MATH!")

Spoiler

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I had a discussion with a friend this afternoon and we decided to check out some of the stuff here because... Why not? He found something that he had a problem with. If I applied connected a Kinetomantic Transformer to the Planet (or Plane I am on) would the Planet stop rotating? or their orbit around their reference point (in our case, the Sun)? If the later is true, I think there is a serious problem with that... If it were the Former... It would roughly be the same since, I assume, it is a sudden pause in both cases. If this was intentional, it is the single most powerful Theory in the entire system for two reasons:

1. It exterminates all living creatures on the planet in literally less than a round.
2. It generates massive amounts of ebbs.

I'll focus on the thing that you are most likely reading this for. You see, if you can apply this Transformer to a Plane(t) you can extract the Push that the Planet inherently generates while in motion and convert it into ebbs. Assuming that your average habitable Plane(t) is roughly Earth sized and orbits it's celestial body (star, black hole, whatever) at the same speed (approx. 586,614 feet per round) we can apply the same base assumptions to it. Unfortunately the table doesn't actually go up to the amount of bulk a Planet might or might not have, however I'll try and work this back just for the sake of this "thesis".

{table=head]Size Category|Bulk Rating
Filler|4,096
Filler|4,913
Filler|5,832
Filler|6,859
Filler|8,000
Filler|9,261
Planet (Earth Sized)|10,648
Filler|12,167
Filler|13,824
Filler|15,625
Filler|26+^3 [/table]

Now that we've expanded our table a little bit, we now have to figure out the exact Bulk Rating of an Earth sized Planet and obviously double it (it obviously isn't unusually light). Assuming that the orbit of the Earth is caused by an Orthogonal Engine (I know it's not, but in Gramarie? Meh, who knows!) and figure out how much Push is required to get the Planet to orbit at exactly 586,614 feet per round (or near there). To do this we need to work the speed calculation backwards. The formula for determining an object pushed by an Eldrikinetic Engine's speed is as follows:

([P/B]v)*30 = V/round

Punching our results in backwards would be: (P/[9776*2])*30 = 586,614ft/per round

Meaning our bulk would be 19,553 (rounded down from 19,553.8). After that we just need to solve for P (P = 382,335,451). Meaning that when we end up moving at a single foot slower per round (Meaning our day is slightly longer, but for now lets ignore that). By attaching a Kinetomantic Transformer to the Earth, we gain roughly 3,823,354 ebbs per round. A resoundingly large amount of ebbs in such a small amount of time needless to say.

Unfortunately it is incredibly difficult to do this. To put into how difficult this is, it actually takes twice as much energy to even get a planet moving (7,646,708 ebbs) and to even sustain motion. I'd like to admit my disdain for Kellus for either purposely or accidentally accounting for the Theory of Relativity, however at the same time I'd like to point out the genius of this system.

Generally? You are better off finding an object that inherently moves and freezing it in place using the Transformer. I'm trying to figure out what type of object would be most optimal for the use of a Kinetomantic Transformer and it is fairly obvious that an Enthalpic Transformer would be the perfect use for this method.

Correct my math!

[Amechra]

You are, of course, assuming that the planet goes around the sun. Which is, of course, not a constant.

Other than that, wouldn't you need to include the entire planet inside your net to drain off all its spin? And wouldn't you only get the ebbs once, since you stopped the rotation completely?

[Arcanist]

You are, of course, assuming that the planet goes around the sun. Which is, of course, not a constant.

That was assumed. I stated we were using an Earth type planet in an Earth type system.

Other than that, wouldn't you need to include the entire planet inside your net to drain off all its spin? And wouldn't you only get the ebbs once, since you stopped the rotation completely?

Kinetomantic Transformers don't have nets (or limits). They capture the motion of the entire object they are connected to. Also, it would be sustained overtime. Each round the object WOULD move, it generates ebbs and stops that motion, thus generating ebbs.