The Mirroring Blade (WIP, PEACH, etc)

[Soliloquy]

Alright, this is my first Homebrew base class, so it probably isn't that good, but hey, that's what you guys are here for right? Okay maybe not, but here goes.
Mirroring blade

Hit die: d8

Skills: Autohypnosis, Balance, Concentration, Craft, Listen, Perform, Profession, Search, Sense Motive, and Spot.
Skill Points per level 4 + int modifier

Level	BAB	Fort	Ref	Will	Class Abilities
1st	+0	+0	+0	+2	Read Aura (Minor)
2nd	+1	+0	+0	+3	Minor Mirror Power
3rd	+2	+1	+1	+3
4th	+3	+1	+1	+4	Minor Mirror Power
5th	+3	+1	+1	+4	Read Aura (Intermediate)
6th	+4	+2	+2	+5	Minor Mirror Power
7th	+5	+2	+2	+5	Aura Memory
8th	+6/+1	+2	+2	+6	Dagger Oath, Intermediate Mirror Power
9th	+6/+1	+3	+3	+6	Read Aura (Major),
10th	+7/+2	+3	+3	+7	Intermediate Mirror Power
11th	+8/+3	+3	+3	+7	Guillotine Oath
12th	+9/+4	+4	+4	+8	Intermediate Mirror Power
13th	+9/+4	+4	+4	+8	Soul Sight
14th	+10/+5	+4	+4	+9	Blood Oath, Greater Mirror Power
15th	+11/+6/+1	+5	+5	+9	Soul Memory
16th	+12/+7/+2	+5	+5	+10	Greater Mirror Power
17th	+12/+7/+2	+5	+5	+10	Soul Oath
18th	+13/+8/+3	+6	+6	+11	Greater Mirror Power
19th	+14/+9/+4	+6	+6	+11
20th	+15/+10/+5	+6	+6	+12	Soul Mirror Power

Read Aura: By looking at the reflection of a person or object in your blade, you can see an aura around them, showing their alignment, to a degree found by the strength of the targets aura and your Mirroring blade level as detect alignment.

At 5th level, the Mirroring blade can use this ability to detect magic.

At 9th level, this can be used to see the targets emotional state and attitude towards someone the person is thinking about or talking with.

You can see an aura of strength one less than your maximum in a normal reflection, and two less at will. For this purpose Soul sight counts as reading an aura. For example, at ninth level you could use detect alignment simply by looking at your target and magic through any mirror.

Mirror Powers: At every even level a Mirroring blade learns a new minor mirror power. At 8th level the Mirroring blade can learn intermediate mirror powers. At 14th level they can gain greater mirror powers. At 20th level they gain a soul mirror power. There is no way to get more than one of these. If a Mirroring blade who reaches 20th level already has a soul mirror power, they instead get a greater mirror power.

Aura Memory: At 7th level the Mirroring blade gains the ability to remember a number of auras equal to their class level + 2 * Wis modifier. They get a +2 on checks to recognize someone whose aura they have memorized, as well as bluff, diplomacy, intimidate and sense motive checks against them. This bonus increases by +1 at tenth level and every three levels after that.

Dagger Oath: From 8th level on a Mirroring blade can have one Dagger Oath. To activate this ability they must use a dagger or knife to stab someone in the hand. This is a full round action. He must first make a contract with the person to do or not do something. If the target was not planning on preforming the action, the dagger stabs them. If at any time they consider or decide not to follow the contract, they feel pain in their hand. If they do not follow the contract their hand is stabbed at that time. This deals 1d4 damage + the Mirroring blade's Wisdom modifier, and disables the hand until it is healed 1 point of damage or someone succeeds on a DC 20 heal check.

Guillotine Oath: At 11th level a mirroring blade can make a guillotine oath. He can make a verbal agreement with someone who fully understands the dangers and this ability, and still agrees, verbally and mentally with the conditions. This restriction applies to all of the oath abilities after this. For the purpose of this and all subsequent abilities, mind control does not establish agreement. If the person he uses this ability on decides to or plans to break the agreement, his neck begins to bleed, dealing one point of damage for the first round, two points every subsequent round. If they break the agreement, they are beheaded, but can be raised normally. If the mirroring blade breaks it, he loses a limb permanently as it is destroyed instantly. It can not be regenerated by any means.

Soul Sight: A 13th level mirroring blade can see a soul by looking through his blade. The soul reflects many aspects of the persons personality, and is totally unique. A mirroring blade can remember a number of souls equal to their Wis modifier at any time. This can be used to identify someone whose soul is remembered with perfect accuracy, or as true seeing a number of times per day equal to half the users Wis modifier +3.

Blood Oath: At level 14 the mirroring blade can create an oath that extend the binding to the decedents of both parties. If the target does not accept the oath, it does not take effect. Both parties know it does not take effect. If the original target breaks the oath, their blood tears out of their body, killing them instantly. They can only be brought back to life by a true resurrection spell. If the mirroring blade breaks his oath, he cannot be brought back to life by any means except divine intervention. Unlike with most oaths, the mirroring blade can lessen or remove the penalties on the other party. If the generation after the first break the oath, they are wracked with pain for 6d10 rounds, and take 1d8 damage per round. If they survive, they receive a -4 in every ability and become blind. The generations after that receive a -2 in every ability and must make a fortitude save or become blind. All generations must succeed on a will save in order to break the oath. This does not apply to children had before the oath.

Soul Memory: The number of souls the mirroring blade can have memorized is doubled at 15th level.

Soul Oath: At 17th level the mirroring blade can make a soul oath. The soul oath only affects the mirroring blade. The mirroring blade can never break the oath. If he dies trying to fulfill his oath, he has the option of coming back immediately as a risen martyr (BoED 68). If he dies without having fulfilled his oath, and does not come back as a risen martyr, he must guide others down his path, and use them to fulfill his oath. If he has completed his oath, he still has the latter option of staying on earth and guiding the future generations.

[b]Mirror Powers[:/b]
Unless otherwise stated, a mirror powers dc is 10 + 1/2 class level + Wis modifier.
[b]Minor Mirror Powers[:/b]

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Spirit Crushing Blow: Each time you hit a target who you have used read aura on within the last minute, he takes a cumulative -1 on all will saves for each 10 damage dealt this penalty disappears after the minute is up.

Flashing Blade of the Sun: As a full round action use your blade to reflect light into your opponents eyes. Opponent must make a reflex save or be blinded for a number of rounds equal to your wisdom modifier.

Blade Reflection Technique: While taking a full defense or partial defense action, the user of this technique may reflect any attack that missed his armor class by five or greater back at the user using his own attack roll.

Eyes of Vision Unclouded: All non-total concealment is reduced from its normal value. 10% of concealment is ignored at first level, plus additional 10% every five levels, up to a maximum of 50% and 20th level.

See the Blade: you gain your wisdom modifier to armor class

[b]Intermediate Mirror Powers[:/b]

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[b]Greater Mirror Powers[:/b]

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[b]Soul Mirror Powers[:/b]

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[Overneath]

Mirrors never lie, hm? Let's see.

-Table snip-

I'm not seeing a lot in the class features to justify the Good Reflex save progression, and I'm certainly surprised by the fact that the class lacks Good Will.

Read Aura: By looking at the reflection of a person or object in your blade, you can see an aura around them, showing their alignment, to a degree found by the strength of the targets aura and your Mirroring blade level as detect alignment.

At 5th level, the Mirroring blade can use this ability to detect magic.

At 9th level, this can be used to see the targets emotional state and attitude towards someone the person is thinking about or talking with.

You can see an aura of one less than your maximum in a normal reflection, and two less at will. For this purpose Soul sight counts as reading an aura

You may want to check the RAW on those last two sentences. I assume you mean that your maximum is determined by the basic detect alignment spells, but I'm unsure if that's accurate or if it refers to another mechanic.

Aura Memory: At 7th level the Mirroring blade gains the ability to remember a number of auras equal to their class level + 2 * Wis modifier. They get a +2 on checks to recognize someone whose aura they have memorized, as well as bluff, diplomacy, intimidate and sense motive checks against them.

Interesting. It's flavorful, but...I'm not sure. There's nothing wrong with it, but I've always liked scaling bonuses. That said, Soul Sight is definitely a progression later on, so it can stand well enough.

Dagger Oath: From 8th level on a Mirroring blade can have one Dagger Oath. To activate this ability they must use a dagger or knife to stab someone in the hand. This is a full round action. He must first make a contract with the person to do or not do something. If the target was not planning on preforming the action, the dagger stabs them. If at any time they consider or decide not to follow the contract, they feel pain in their hand. If they do not follow the contract their hand is stabbed at that time.

Err, what? Does this actually do anything, mechanically speaking? I could see a minor Geas affect, or maybe even just constant subdual damage under certain circumstances. But it reads more like a 1d4 damage pinky swear.

Guillotine Oath: At 11th level a mirroring blade can make a guillotine oath. He can make a verbal agreement with someone who fully understands the dangers and this ability, and still agrees, verbally and mentally with the conditions. If the person he uses this ability on considers breaking the agreement, his neck begins to bleed, dealing one point of damage for the first round, and doubling each subsequent round. If they break the agreement, they are beheaded, but can be raised normally. If the mirroring blade breaks it, he loses a limb permanently as it is destroyed instantly. It can not be regenerated by any means.

And then the power of the Oaths increases by an order of magnitude. I'd dial this back a little. Or a lot. Give them a saving throw to avoid the decapitation, at least. Also, it may be more efficient for them to take a set amount of damage whenever they 'consider' (a word which you may wish to specify the meaning of) breaking the oath instead of giving them an exponential bleed effect that, by RAW, doesn't actually end once it starts.

Soul Sight: A 13th level mirroring blade can see a soul by looking through his blade. The soul reflects many aspects of the persons personality, and is totally unique. A mirroring blade can remember a number of souls equal to their Wis modifier at any time. This can be used to identify someone whose soul is remembered with perfect accuracy, or as true seeing a number of times per day equal to half the users Wis modifier +3.

Yes. This is very nice, and could even be granted a level or two earlier, if you wish. Though the 'blade' part bothers me. Should this class come with or craft a unique weapon, or can they look through any sword?

Blood Oath: At level 14 the mirroring blade can create an oath that extend the binding to the decedents of both parties. If the original target breaks the oath, their blood tears out of their body, killing them instantly. They can only be brought back to life by a true resurrection spell. If the mirroring blade breaks his oath, he cannot be brought back to life by any means. Unlike with most oaths, the mirroring blade can lessen or remove the penalties on the other party. If the generation after the first break the oath, they are wracked with pain for 6d10 rounds, and take 1d8 damage per round. If they survive, they receive a -4 in every ability and become blind. The generations after that receive a -2 in every ability and must make a fortitude save or become blind. All generations must succeed on a will save in order to break the oath.

First rule of order: Don't kill someone in a way that requires true resurrection before anyone of your same level can actually cast it. Second rule of order: Allowing a saving throw is the gentlemanly way of eviscerating someone. I actually like the flavor of this, but what if the target has no descendants? Also the penalties against said descendants are pretty extreme if we assume they aren't also adventurers of a similar level. That thing can one-shot a commoner if they do something by accident.

I'm also leery of the clause that's harsher against the user. I suppose it's infinitely easier for the Mirroring Blade to phrase the oath in a way that won't end in his horrible death, but it's a risk few will take. Which, if that's the point, is a nice touch.

Soul Oath: At 17th level the mirroring blade can make a soul oath. The soul oath only affects the mirroring blade. The mirroring blade can never break the oath. If he dies trying to fulfill his oath, he has the option of coming back immediately as a risen martyr (BoED 68). If he dies without having fulfilled his oath, and does not come back as a risen martyr, he must guide others down his path, and use them to fulfill his oath. If he has completed his oath, he still has the latter option of staying on earth and guiding the future generations.

This seems specific, but I don't see anything overly wrong with it.


All in all, the class is interesting. Even as it stands, I'd play one. With a little more icing and a little less cake, this could end up being one of the greats.

[Soliloquy]

Mirrors never lie, hm? Let's see.
I'm not seeing a lot in the class features to justify the Good Reflex save progression, and I'm certainly surprised by the fact that the class lacks Good Will.

An excellent point. Changed

You may want to check the RAW on those last two sentences. I assume you mean that your maximum is determined by the basic detect alignment spells, but I'm unsure if that's accurate or if it refers to another mechanic.

I meant the strength of the aura, actually. So that at ninth level you could use detect alignment at will and magic through any mirror. Looking back, though, it could be a little...

Interesting. It's flavorful, but...I'm not sure. There's nothing wrong with it, but I've always liked scaling bonuses. That said, Soul Sight is definitely a progression later on, so it can stand well enough.

Yeah, the idea was to set up Soul Sight. If you think I should have it scale, though, I can.

Err, what? Does this actually do anything, mechanically speaking? I could see a minor Geas affect, or maybe even just constant subdual damage under certain circumstances. But it reads more like a 1d4 damage pinky swear.

Kind of yeah.

And then the power of the Oaths increases by an order of magnitude. I'd dial this back a little. Or a lot. Give them a saving throw to avoid the decapitation, at least. Also, it may be more efficient for them to take a set amount of damage whenever they 'consider' (a word which you may wish to specify the meaning of) breaking the oath instead of giving them an exponential bleed effect that, by RAW, doesn't actually end once it starts.

WHOA. Those are a lot closer together than I remembered. My view was that they had to purposely fail the saving throw in the first place for it to apply. And yeah, the exponential was a terrible idea.

Yes. This is very nice, and could even be granted a level or two earlier, if you wish. Though the 'blade' part bothers me. Should this class come with or craft a unique weapon, or can they look through any sword?

I figured any weapon would do. Switched this with Guillotine Oath.

First rule of order: Don't kill someone in a way that requires true resurrection before anyone of your same level can actually cast it. Second rule of order: Allowing a saving throw is the gentlemanly way of eviscerating someone. I actually like the flavor of this, but what if the target has no descendants? Also the penalties against said descendants are pretty extreme if we assume they aren't also adventurers of a similar level. That thing can one-shot a commoner if they do something by accident.

I'm also leery of the clause that's harsher against the user. I suppose it's infinitely easier for the Mirroring Blade to phrase the oath in a way that won't end in his horrible death, but it's a risk few will take. Which, if that's the point, is a nice touch.

The higher level was part of the point in my mind. Since he can't do it to anyone who doesn't let him, I didn't think it was that out of line. If you disagree though, I can change it. To be honest, the death of the first generation was part of the point. The damage only works for the first generation, when the curse is strongest. As for the clause where it is harsher towards the wielder, that was the idea. I didn't want the character to be able to break his own oaths of that power. I am adding in an exception: God level magic.

This seems specific, but I don't see anything overly wrong with it.

All in all, the class is interesting. Even as it stands, I'd play one. With a little more icing and a little less cake, this could end up being one of the greats.

I don't know what that means, but thank you! I was originally planning on waiting until it was finished before putting it up, but changed my mind. What's your view on the mirror powers? The ones I have and/or suggestions for others are both welcome!

[Overneath]

Yeah, the idea was to set up Soul Sight. If you think I should have it scale, though, I can.

Call it my instinctive tic. The ability doesn't need scaling, I personally just enjoy scaling things.

The higher level was part of the point in my mind. Since he can't do it to anyone who doesn't let him, I didn't think it was that out of line. If you disagree though, I can change it. To be honest, the death of the first generation was part of the point. The damage only works for the first generation, when the curse is strongest. As for the clause where it is harsher towards the wielder, that was the idea. I didn't want the character to be able to break his own oaths of that power. I am adding in an exception: God level magic.

Noting that the Oaths are voluntary (which didn't stick in my mind until now), I'm not as worried about the consequences.

I don't know what that means, but thank you! I was originally planning on waiting until it was finished before putting it up, but changed my mind. What's your view on the mirror powers? The ones I have and/or suggestions for others are both welcome!

Your powers are going to revolve around Divination and anti-Illusion effects, or so it appears. There's only so much you can do with that, but the way your class is designed allows you to produce gish powers as a fallback. Scrying on people through mirrors if you know their aura, piercing veils through reflected light, and, of course, Mirror Image.

[CinuzIta]

Maybe it's just me, but I don't See the Hit dice or class' skills anywhere

[Soliloquy]

Call it my instinctive tic. The ability doesn't need scaling, I personally just enjoy scaling things.

In that case, I think I will make it scale slightly.

Noting that the Oaths are voluntary (which didn't stick in my mind until now), I'm not as worried about the consequences.

Yeah, I didn't want them to be able to force oaths on people, and I though this just made more sense with the fluff.

Your powers are going to revolve around Divination and anti-Illusion effects, or so it appears. There's only so much you can do with that, but the way your class is designed allows you to produce gish powers as a fallback. Scrying on people through mirrors if you know their aura, piercing veils through reflected light, and, of course, Mirror Image.

I will be considering all of these. I hadn't thought of Mirror Image though.

Maybe it's just me, but I don't See the Hit dice or class' skills anywhere

Whoops!
What do you think about these? Not so sure on some of the skills.

[Magikeeper]

Yeah, I didn't want them to be able to force oaths on people, and I though this just made more sense with the fluff.

Only the guillotine oath makes any mention of willingness - and I'm not sure that wording rules out dominate.

The level 14 oath can also be forced on people without their knowledge - if your target's parents are not on their side/can be animated as undead/etc you could just use them for a no-save (since all generations must save, and your allies/minions will fail it) -4 to all stats. Actually, for the no-save -2 you just need to get your hands on any ancestor. Now that I think about it, does this ability even kill undead? Or even if it can, could you just lessen the penalties on the parents without reducing the penalties on the decedents?

Also, you can do this at-will, so maybe make a couple hundred oaths that your ally violates at the same time. Pay for a single true res, pretty cheap for 100d8 * 6d10 surefire damage (DR may or may not prevent this).

It would really warp the world though - the remains of ancestors effectively become material components for familicide oaths. Even if undead don't count, any clan becomes vulnerable if their family line is known and they have ANY weak links within range of a true res.

I think the 'only revived by true res' bit is fine though. You can do far worse to a target by level 14 without even being high-op.

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I would suggest you simply have the oath, and the knowledge of what it is, pass on to the oldest descendent that was born after the making of the oath when the oathmaker dies. If the oathmaker is later revived, the oath is once again their problem. All descendents are made aware of the oath as soon as it is made, whether it can be passed to them or not. If any descendent fulfills the oath it is broken, even if they are not the ones faced with the penalty. The oath is considered fulfilled if there is ever a point where it cannot be passed on to a legal target.


That last bit pretty much kills the 'make an intentionally impossible oath to wipe out every future family member' plan. It also means that, in the case of 'I vow to never do -blah-' oaths, simply perma-killing the one that made the oath can free the family from the restriction.


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One last note: If the oaths are re-tooled to avoid all the unintended uses of them, I think being no-save is fine. You have to agree to these things, and frankly it isn't much of a deterrent if you can just raise your saving throws and break the oath.


Edit:
What is:

You can see an aura of strength one less than your maximum in a normal reflection, and two less at will. For this purpose Soul sight counts as reading an aura

This supposed to mean? Also, is reading an aura a standard action?

[Soliloquy]

Edited for clarity.

[Magikeeper]

But "at ninth level you could use detect alignment at will" still doesn't make any sense - this .. ah, I see. I would instead specify that you can use detect alignment by simply looking at the target. Being able to use a reflection based ability 'at will' does not remove the need to look at a reflection - that sort of wording implies the ability can now be used more often, I.E., it was not previously at-will.

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How many skill points per level? Looks like a 4 + int class, just based on that list.

I notice this class only has minor powers, so perhaps the 3/4ths bab will not be an issue. But 3/4ths bab is bad for what appears to be a very martial class. The oaths are somewhat niche, sensing is more of a supporting ability, and this class is not a skill monkey.

Also, flashing blade of the sun doesn't note what its save DC is. The standard is 10 + 1/2HD* + base stat, but you don't even note what stat the save is based on. It looks like it is probably wisdom, but ....

Well, the goal of homebrew (IMO) is to be played. Each part of this class that requires a DM to take out a pen and fill in what you probably meant reduces the chance of him allowing it.

In this case I would just make a blanket statement in the mirror powers section noting that "the save DCs for mirror powers are equal to 10 + 1/2 class level + the mirror blade's wisdom modifier."

*1/2 class level is more common for base classes. Depends on how much you want to support multiclassing.

[Soliloquy]

Thanks and changed!