Request a Homebrew: Thread 3

[Tzardok]

R1213

I'd like a new Master Path of mysteries for the shadowcaster. The 9th level mystery should be a flavourful variant of the spell/power genesis, something that follows roughly this description:

the Plane of Shadow is essentially the plane of what else is - it's not meant to be its own thing, but to reflect in a certain way a different thing that exists. It's closer to the Plane of Mirrors than to the other Transitive Planes. It's plausible that powerful magic could shape a "demiplane" from Shadow, but the result would be problematic and deeply unstable - imagine shadow conjuration producing genesis and having even the boundaries of your created plane being only quasi-real.

I don't have any preferences for what the 8th and 7th level mysteries should do, just that they fit together flavour-wise.

[ngilop]

R1214

I'd like some help with a Dromite paragon class as well as a paragon class for the Illumináre

I have been working on a whole new Bard to replace the standard and its just fried my brain along with the stuff I've had to deal with in the course of my job this week.

[Morphic tide]

C1214: To be clear, you're referring to the Unearthed Arcana-filed Racial Paragon Prestige Classes, correct? If so, then the most important thing to note is that they are VERY insistently about just improving what's normally done by the race about as broadly as possible. Given that, here's a basic possibly-missing-things take on Dromite, if only for inspiration purposes:

Level	BAB	Fort	Ref	Will	Special	Powers known
1	+0	+2	+0	+2	Psychokinesis aptitude, Track	-
2	+1	+3	+0	+3	Improved Chitin	+1 level of Wilder
3	+2	+3	+0	+3	Ability Boost (+2 Cha)	+1 level of Wilder

Hit dice: d8

Class skills:
The Dromite Paragon's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Concentration (Con), Diplomacy (Cha), Profession (Wis), Spot (Wis), and Survival (Wis)

In addition, each Dromite Paragon gains class skills based on its energy resistance:

Cold: Sense Motive (Wis), Autohypnosis (Wis)
Electricity: Balance (Dex), Tumble (Dex)
Fire: Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str)
Sonic: Listen (Wis), Perform (Cha)

Class features:
All of the following are class features of the Dromite Paragon prestige class.

Weapon and armor proficiency: Dromite Paragons are proficient with all simple weapons and with shields

Powers known: At 2nd and 3rd level, a Dromite Paragon gains additional power points per day and access to new powers as if she had also gained a level in Wilder. They do not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (bonus feats, metapsionic or item creation feats, psicrystal special abilities, and so on). This essentially means that they add their level of Dromite Paragon to their level in wilder, then determines power points per day, powers known, and manifester level accordingly.

If a Dromite Paragon has no levels in Wilder, this class feature has no effect.

Psychokinesis aptitude (Ex): A Dromite Paragon may add their class level to their manifester level to determine the effects of psychokinesis powers they manifest, including those gained as innate powers of the Dromite race. This bonus stacks with the extra manifesting levels gained from the Dromite Paragon's powers known entry (see above).

This increased manifester level affects only powers that the character can cast; it does not give them access to higher-level powers or more power points per day.

Track (Ex): A Dromite Paragon gains Track as a bonus feat

Improved Chitin (Ex): At 2nd level, a Dromite Paragon's natural armor bonus increases by one and their energy resistance increases to 10.

Ability Boost (Ex): At 3rd level, a Dromite Paragon's Charisma score increases by 2.

---

I'll note the Simple weapon proficiency is actually redundant because they're Monstrous Humanoids, and armor's not included because they'll be at +4 Natural Armor so they might as well have a Chain Shirt for skin. You could easily justify Energy Stun or Energy Missile, like how Gnome Paragon gains Mirror Image, or directly roll the PLA into Powers Known for a more "lasting" side-load of Psychokinesis specialty. Some class skills based on energy type are because it's a "soft" caste structure tied to pre-existing mechanical modality, feel free to ignore that part if you want.

And yes, the Natural Armor and Energy Resistance are bundled into a single "Chitin" entry in the racial abilities, so improving both at once is an easy way to ease the table, while Track is one of the few things to interact with Scent. These Paragon classes don't really do interesting things, they just boost what the race is already doing, occasionally cut back a crippling detriment like Drow "downgrading" Light Blindness to Light Sensitivity.

As for your old homebrew race, full BAB and Turn Undead uses would be extremely appropriate to allow Paladin 2/Illumináre Paragon 3/Lightbearer 10. Speaking of, is Purifying Aura in the feat prerequisites supposed to be Purifying Light or Unyielding Aura? And was there ever a plan for the last five levels?

[ngilop]

C1214

Purifying Aura is supposed to be Purifying Light. Wow years and I've never noticed that before. I guess since I knew what it was supposed to correctly say that is how my brain told my eyes to see it.

I am not sure what you mean by the last 5 levels?

Thanks for the help, my imagination took a vacation yesterday and the base you gave me is very solid.

[Morphic tide]

I am not sure what you mean by the last 5 levels?

"Basic" entry is Paladin 5, then the PRC is 10 levels, leaving 5 to level 20 as a big question mark to the character build. Since the casting is its own table it doesn't progress with other prestige classes, and its features don't seem to scale with any class feature outside itself. Heck, it doesn't actually scale Turn Undead because it doesn't stack levels nor is the Competence bonus on Turning checks specified, and the Celestial Companion doesn't specify whether it's scaling off class level or character level. There's also a number of typos, it really just needs an editing pass in general.

Mentioning it here because the thread is LONG past the necro cutoff, though if you do want to give it another pass you could "revive" the thread.

[Jervis]

R 1215

This is a bit of a weird request but i’m having major writers block for a organization specific PrC for a setting I’ve been working on and if anyone wants to throw in their hat I’d greatly appreciate it. I’m trying to make a Shrike rider, without going too much into the lore shrikes in the setting are basically (magical)beast wyverns that look like giant birds loose the poison tail. Some people in setting found a way to train them and ride them around. Ideally I’d like it to be a uncanny trickster or legacy champion style PrC that can progress anything to a limited degree since i’m trying to avoid making the organization locked to casters and have features mostly focused on gaining a Wyvern (shrike) mount.

[Just to Browse]

R 1215

This is a bit of a weird request but iÂ’m having major writers block for a organization specific PrC for a setting IÂ’ve been working on and if anyone wants to throw in their hat IÂ’d greatly appreciate it. IÂ’m trying to make a Shrike rider, without going too much into the lore shrikes in the setting are basically (magical)beast wyverns that look like giant birds loose the poison tail. Some people in setting found a way to train them and ride them around. Ideally IÂ’d like it to be a uncanny trickster or legacy champion style PrC that can progress anything to a limited degree since iÂ’m trying to avoid making the organization locked to casters and have features mostly focused on gaining a Wyvern (shrike) mount.

C 1215

It has been 600 years since I last emerged from the depths of Playing Other Games to write some D&D homebrew. I'd love to remove some of my rust and give this a shot. Some questions for you:

• What level of entry are you aiming for? Removing poison & stinger tail arguably drops the Wyvern to CR 5, which means this is suitable for a level 7 entry at the absolute minimum (and at that point, we'd still have to do something to nerf grapple tactics). If you're looking for something earlier, do you have a weaker statblock for the shrike that I can use?
• Alternatively, should I also write a shrike statblock here?
• How far are you expecting to take this class? I'm considering 5 or 10 levels, which helps with the next question:
• How much are you okay with me pushing the envelope on power here? Advancing existing class features sucks up a ton of power budget, and the only way to get more power is a combination of (a) skipping advancement levels, (b) stringent prereqs, and (c) just accepting that the class will be a tiny bit OP. Legacy Champ and Uncanny Trickster handle this by offering very niche features, but a free wyvern is pretty awesome comparatively, so I feel like I'll probably have to dial up the weird prereqs or just accept that this will be a Tier +1 PrC. I just want to get your thoughts on those options.
• Is this PrC intended to be for any of the following:
  
  • Boss monsters: If so, we should ensure they have exploitable weaknesses)
  • Player options: If so, we should encourage experimentation / customization
  • Allied cohorts / fodder monsters: If so, we should make them easy to run
  • Or some combination of those 3?

EDIT: Another thought. Something we could do here to get a little more power budget is write up a feat or two that allow you to ride shrikes, but those shrikes aren't capable of fighting and maybe they have worse flight capability. The class would use those feats as prereqs and expand on your shrike-riding capabilities.

[Jervis]

C 1215

It has been 600 years since I last emerged from the depths of Playing Other Games to write some D&D homebrew. I'd love to remove some of my rust and give this a shot. Some questions for you:

• What level of entry are you aiming for? Removing poison & stinger tail arguably drops the Wyvern to CR 5, which means this is suitable for a level 7 entry at the absolute minimum (and at that point, we'd still have to do something to nerf grapple tactics). If you're looking for something earlier, do you have a weaker statblock for the shrike that I can use?
• Alternatively, should I also write a shrike statblock here?
• How far are you expecting to take this class? I'm considering 5 or 10 levels, which helps with the next question:
• How much are you okay with me pushing the envelope on power here? Advancing existing class features sucks up a ton of power budget, and the only way to get more power is a combination of (a) skipping advancement levels, (b) stringent prereqs, and (c) just accepting that the class will be a tiny bit OP. Legacy Champ and Uncanny Trickster handle this by offering very niche features, but a free wyvern is pretty awesome comparatively, so I feel like I'll probably have to dial up the weird prereqs or just accept that this will be a Tier +1 PrC. I just want to get your thoughts on those options.
• Is this PrC intended to be for any of the following:
  
  • Boss monsters: If so, we should ensure they have exploitable weaknesses)
  • Player options: If so, we should encourage experimentation / customization
  • Allied cohorts / fodder monsters: If so, we should make them easy to run
  • Or some combination of those 3?

EDIT: Another thought. Something we could do here to get a little more power budget is write up a feat or two that allow you to ride shrikes, but those shrikes aren't capable of fighting and maybe they have worse flight capability. The class would use those feats as prereqs and expand on your shrike-riding capabilities.

C 1215
I have a couple statblocks for them, one for wild shrikes and one thats very rough for domesticated ones. I made the domestic one during the aforementioned writers block. These are pretty shaky but this is what's done.

Spoiler: Wild Shrike

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Shrikes are some of the most dangerous skyborn predators known in the world. They hunt in flocks and prey on any number of creatures. They hunt primarily by swooping down and grabbing creatures before flying up and droping them on hazardous terrain, usually Hazrak tree which fills their territory. They appear as large black or dark brown predatory birds with sharp talons pointed beaks.

Shrike
Large Magical Beast
Hit Dice: 7d10 + 7 (45)
Initiative: +6
Speed: 20ft (4 squares), fly 60 ft (average)
Armor Class 17 (-1 size, +2 dex, +6 natural armor), 10 touch, 15 flat footed
Base Attack/grapple: +7/+15
Attack: talon +10 melee (2d6+4) or bite +10 melee (2d8+4)
Full Attack: Bite +8 melee (2d8+4) and 2 wings +8 melee (1d8+2) and 2 talons +8 melee (2d6+4)
Space/Reach: 10 ft/5 ft
Special Attacks: Improved Grab
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft, Low light vision, Strong Build
Saves: Fort +6, Ref +7, Will +3
Abilities: Str 19, Dex 15, Con 12, Int 8, Wis 12, Cha 9
Skills Move silently +2 (+12 flying), Spot 16
Feats: Improved Initiative, Flyby Attack, Multiattack
Environment: Steps, planes, and mountains
Organization: Solitary, pair, or murder (5–7)
Challenge Rating: 5(?)
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Unaligned
Level Adjustment: --

Improved Grab (EX): To use this ability, a Shrike must hit with its talons. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and bites.
Strong Build: Shrikes count as one size category larger for calculating their light, meadium, and heavy loads as well as how much weight they can drag or lift.
Skills: A Shrike has a racial +5 to spot checks and a racial +10 to move silently checks made while flying.

Special Environmental Hazard: Hazrak Tree
The Hazrack tree is a type of fast growing tree that produces a bitter fruit all year round and is capable of growing in nearly any environment. Shrike next in these trees as well as eating their fruit whos seeds they spread throughout their territory through natural processes. Shrikes will go out of their way to drop prey on any nearby Hazrak tree when given the chance, they also apparently attempt to spread the seeds of the tree throughout as much of their territory as they can. The branches of these trees grow outward, covered in spines that grow from 1 to 3 feet in length at their maximum size. The spikes can be removed to serve as makeshift rapiers or spears, these are never masterwork and are largely without value but never the less work well in battle. Any creature that moves at least 30 feet before entering a space adjacent to the tree, or falls into a the trees space or a space adjacent to the tree, risks becoming trapped in the spiked, twisted limbs of the tree. Shrike are adapted to move through the branches safely without any risk to their body.

A creature that falls onto or adjacent to the tree or moves into a adjacent space after moving at least thirty feet must make a strength check or escape artist check with a dc of 10 + 1 for every 5 feet the creature moved or fell the round before coming into contact with the tree. On a failure the creature becomes entangled and takes 1d6 piercing damage. Any creature which falls into the trees space also takes maximum falling damage instead of rolling. Each time a entangled creature attempts to move or attempt to take an action they must make a strength or escape artist check with the same DC as the check to avoid becoming entangled or take an additional 1d6 piercing damage and have their speed reduced to 0 until the end of the turn. A creature with a weapon capable of dealing slashing damage can use a full round action to cut themselves or another creature free.

Spoiler: Domestic Shrike

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Shrikes are dangerous and unruly by nature meaning very few people can tame them. However, some Shrikes have been selectively bred over the generations to make them more obedient and docile as well as more colorful. While wild shrikes are mostly black or brown domestic breeds can be shades of yellow, blue, or red with some breeds having much more elaborate patterns. These rarely make it to the open market as the people that bred them see them as an important aspect of their culture, while those outside of the cultures that first bred hem see them as a important asset and strategic advantage. So buying one, especially one with strong visual appeal will be prohibitively expensive for most people. (Legit i don't know how i would price them, so eh. Closest i can find is dragon mag riding bird and thats 2k but this is a step up)

Domestic Shrike
Large Magical Beast
Hit Dice: 5d10 + 7 (35)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 20ft (4 squares), fly 60 ft (good)
Armor Class 15 (-1 size, +3 dex, +3 natural armor), 13 touch, 12 flat footed
Base Attack/grapple: +5/+11
Attack: talon +7 melee (1d10+2) or bite +7 melee (2d6+2)
Full Attack: Bite +5 melee (2d6+2) and 2 talons +5 melee (1d10+2)
Space/Reach: 10 ft/5 ft
Special Attacks: na
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft, Low light vision, Strong Build
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +7, Will +2
Abilities: Str 15, Dex 17, Con 12, Int 9, Wis 12, Cha 11
Skills Move silently +2 (+12 flying), Spot 16
Feats: Flyby Attack, Multiattack, Run^b
Environment: Cities
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 3(?)
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Unaligned
Level Adjustment: --

Strong Build: Shrikes count as one size category larger for calculating their light, meadium, and heavy loads as well as how much weight they can drag or lift.
Skills: A Shrike has a racial +5 to spot checks and a racial +10 to move silently checks made while flying.

Like i said these are both rough so feel free to make any change you want to them. Theres also a third Shrike statblock i have somewhere thats basically a Roc but thats unlikely to be a player thing. When i was making these i considered maybe making the class itself just something that boosting riding abilities with domestic being the default with some way to maybe get a wild one. As for questions in order

Ideally level 6ish, somewhere in the 5-7 range wherever you think it fits.

Any level spread you would like. I would like 5+ just because that gives a lot of room for features but feel free to take it in any direction obviously.

I'm ok with it being a bit above curve in power. I'm use to some decently high optimization in my games and this "faction" for lack of a better word generates some good hooks. (For context this group of people are partially based on mongolia and horse archery with the bond between rider and shrike being a big deal. Though for a couple reasons i wanted it to be more flexible than just martial prc or caster prc or what have you.)

As for the last bit i would like it be mostly for Pcs or somewhat powerful enemies. Though feel free obviously to take it in whatever direction you want to.

And thanks for the reply.

[Just to Browse]

C 1215

Appreciate the answers. I'll chew on this.

With your blessing, I'd like to bring the domesticated shrike down to CR 2 (I'll adjust damage / hp / saves / etc). I can use that to write a shrike cohort feat that players can pick up at level 3, and then use the extra power budget from the feat to make this PrC a 6th-level option.

[Jervis]

C 1215

Appreciate the answers. I'll chew on this.

With your blessing, I'd like to bring the domesticated shrike down to CR 2 (I'll adjust damage / hp / saves / etc). I can use that to write a shrike cohort feat that players can pick up at level 3, and then use the extra power budget from the feat to make this PrC a 6th-level option.

C 1215

That sounds good and thanks. Like I said the stat blocks are WIP anyway so feel free to make any chan free s you want.

[Just to Browse]

C1215

Okay get ready cause this is a big one.

While I was hammering away, I decided I needed to make up some flavor in order to draw a distinction between the various features, otherwise the names got all confusing. Here's what I'm using, so you can cut it out & replace as needed:

• Shrike Rider: Anyone with ride and handle animal (or money to pay a guy with handle animal) can ride a domesticated shrike like your average riding horse. These are just called riders.
• Shakwa: If you're good at riding and caring for shrikes, and you're at least level 3, you can take the Shakwa feat. People with the Shakwa feat are called Shakwas. This is your middle-tier mook, operating on the battlefield as scouts or archers or whatever.
• Bonded Shakwa: This is where the PrC comes in. You form a stronger bond with your shrike, and that gives you various abilities through the power of friendship.

I'm also using The Kossyr as the culture that domesticated shrikes. I just took some Assyrian words and messed with them (Assyrian => Kossyrian, Rakwa => Shakwa, Lilis => Liliz). want to emphasize that throwing away all of this flavor is 100% okay.

H1215: Shrikes and Shakwas

“Among the Kossyr, bonded shrikes are considered the perfect companion. When bonded to a great warrior, they are ferocious. When bonded to a skilled hunter like myself, they learn to move with a deadly silence. When—”

“KRRREEEEAAAAAAA KA KA KA KA KA GHLGHLGHLGHL HREEEEEEEEEE”

“Shush, you!”

~ Liliz the Silent, and her bonded shrike Quickfeather

H1215a: Creature – Domesticated Shrike
Size/Type: Large Magical Beast
Hit Dice: 3d10 + 3 (19 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 20 ft., fly 60 ft. (poor)
Armor Class: 15 (-1 size, +3 Dex, +3 natural), 12 touch, 12 flat-footed
Base Attack/Grapple: +3/+9
Attack: Bite +6 melee (1d10+2)
Full Attack: Bite +6 melee (1d10+2) and 2 talons +1 (1d8+2)
Space/Reach: 10 ft. / 5 ft.
Special Attacks: —
Saves: Fort +4, Ref +6, Will +1
Abilities: Str 15, Dex 17, Con 12, Int 9, Wis 12, Cha 11
Skills: Move Silently +3 (+13), Spot +12
Feats: Endurance, Run
CR: 2

Strong Build (Ex): Shrikes count as one size category larger for calculating their light, medium, and heavy loads as well as how much weight they can drag or lift.

Skills: A shrike has a racial +5 bonus to Spot checks, and a racial +10 bonus to Move Silently checks made while flying.

Domestication

As their name implies, these shrikes are bred specifically by the Kossyr for domestication. They can be trained using Handle Animal as though they were animals. The wild nature of a shrike makes them difficult to raise, so they must be reared as a wild animal with a DC 18 Handle Animal check. Once a shrike has been raised and domesticated, they can be handled by anyone with ranks in Handle Animal.

The greater intelligence of a shrike compared to other animals has its benefits and its detriments. Due to their increased intelligence, shrikes can learn up to 9 tricks. Alternatively, they can be trained for 2 different purposes. Most Kossyr train their shrikes for some mixture of heavy labor, riding, guarding, or hunting.

However, shrikes aren't willing to throw themselves into the mouth of danger. If a shrike has 9 or fewer hit points, instructing it requires "pushing" it (see the Handle Animal skill), and if a shrike is uninstructed, it will attempt to flee from danger.

Spoiler: Thoughts

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You don't need a feat to raise a shrike, but you need some experts with high Handle Animal bonuses, so this society probably relies on a group of expert grooms. This also makes low-level shrikes and riders less dangerous (easier to scare off), in case you want to throw them at the PCs in groups.

H1215b: Feat – Shakwa

Prerequisites: Ride 6 ranks, Handle Animal 6 ranks

Benefit: You can raise a domesticated shrike which serves as your companion. You can take 10 on checks made to ride, handle, push, teach, or train your shrike, and on checks made to rear a shrike if it will serve as your companion afterwards.

You can dismount your shrike without using an action during your turn or its turn, and if your shrike flees combat, it will stay nearby and return to you after the combat ends.

Special: If you have a feature that provides you an allied companion of at least medium size, such as the class features animal companion and special mount, feat Wild Cohort feat, or the Summon Familiar feature with the Improved Familiar feat, you can make your domesticated shrike one of those companions. If you do, your feature does not suffer any scaling penalty (such as the reduced effective druid level of an animal companion) and your shrike will not flee from danger.

Spoiler: Thoughts

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To expand our power budget, I'm adding a special prereq feat. To avoid this just being a dead feat called "Qualify for the Cool Prestige Class", I'm tying it into some benefits for riding a shrike.

The lowest level you can get this is at level 3. At that point, a CR 2 creature is still too strong to be worth just a feat & skills, so I've kept the fleeing behavior. To make that penalty a little less bad, you can jump off the shrike for free if it chooses to dip out.

Your shrike does not scale at all, which means it's performance will drop off a cliff starting at around level 5. Shakwas can avoid this by tying their shrike to a scaling feature like Animal Companion, or by taking our convenient prestige class!

H1215b: Class – Bonded Shakwa
Deadly assassins, powerful berserkers, clever magesÂ… heroes of all walks of life can become bonded shakwas.

Entry Requirements:

• Feats: Mounted Combat, Shakwa
• Skills: Ride 8 ranks, Handle Animal 8 ranks
• One of the following:
  
  • Spot 8 ranks
  • Base Attack Bonus +5
• Special: You have formed a close bond with a shrike from your Shakwa feat.

Hit Dice: d8
BAB: 3/4
Good Saves: Reflex
Skill Points per Level: 4 + Int
Class Skills: Balance, Handle Animal, Hide, Listen, Move Silently, Perform, Ride, Spot, Survival

Level	Special	Class Features
1	Bonded Shrike	–
2	Shakwa Training	+1 level of existing class features
3	Extended Tricks (1)	+1 level of existing class features
4	Improved Flight (Average)	+1 level of existing class features
5	Extended Tricks (2)	+1 level of existing class features
6	Greater Shrike	–
7	Improved Flight (Good)	+1 level of existing class features
8	Extended Tricks (3), Name a Better Duo	+1 level of existing class features
9	Improved Flight (Perfect)	+1 level of existing class features
10	Extended Tricks (4), Singular Will	+1 level of existing class features

Bonded Shrike Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: The bonded shakwa gains no new weapon or armor proficiencies.

Class Features: At each level except 1st and 6th, you gain class features and an increase in effective level as if you had also gained a level in a class to which you belonged before adding the prestige class level. The specific class features you gain include spells per day (and spells known, if applicable), improved change of turning or destroying undead, metamagic or item creation feats, monk special abilities, sneak attack progressions, and so on, depending on the class. You do not, however, gain the benefit of your previous class's Hit Dice, attack progression, skill points, or saving throws. If you had more than one class before becoming a legacy champion, you must decide to which class to add each level for the purpose of determine class abilities.

Bonded Shrike: At level 1, the shrike from your Shakwa feat becomes your bonded shrike. A bonded shrike receives the following benefits:

• You received a +6 competence bonus on Ride and Handle Animal checks made with your bonded shrike
• Your bonded shrike will not flee from combat, regardless of its hit points. Many bonded shrikes are even willing to defend their shakwa to the death.
• Your bonded shrike gains 1 additional magical beast hit die for every level in this class. It can only invest skill points from these hit dice in a skill from the Bonded Shakwa class list.
• You choose all feats for your bonded shrike. You may also retrain your shrike's default feats.

Shakwa Training (Ex): At level 2, you become better at fighting while riding your shrike. Choose one of the 4 tactics below. You gain its benefits while riding your bonded shrike:

• In the Fray: If your bonded shrike moves more than 5 feet, you can still make a full attack with melee weapons.
• Strafe from Afar: You suffer no penalty to ranged attacks while your shrike is moving, regardless of speed.
• Cast at Distance: You do not need to make Concentration checks for vigorous or violent motion caused by riding your bonded shrike.
• Silent as Death: When you and your shrike make Hide and Move Silently checks, you may share the results of your rolls with each other. This effectively allows both of you to roll twice, and take the higher of each other's rolls.

Extended Tricks: At level 3, you can teach your bonded shrike additional combat tricks that are not available to other creatures. You can teach your bonded shrike one of these tricks at level 3, and an additional trick at levels 5, 8, and 10.

These tricks require a DC 10 Handle Animal check to teach, and may be performed while the shrike is ridden. Using a trick requires your bonded shrike to spend their standard action:

• Aid Another (Attack): Your bonded shrike makes an aid another attempt, but can only grant the +2 bonus to an attack roll.
• Aid Another (Defend): Your bonded shrike makes an aid another attempt, but can only grant the +2 bonus to AC.
• Bull Rush: Your bonded shrike makes a bull rush attempt without provoking an attack of opportunity.
• Disarm: Your bonded shrike makes a disarm attempt without provoking an attack of opportunity.
• Feint: Your bonded shrike makes a feint attempt.
• Grapple: Your bonded shrike attempts to grapple a creature without provoking an attack of opportunity. At level 6, you can retrain this trick.
• Gust: Your bonded shrike flaps its wings, generating a moderate wind in a line 20 feet long and 10 feet wide which lasts 1 round.
• Gust, Greater: You can only teach your shrike this trick if it already knows gust. Your bonded shrike can flap its wings, generating a strong wind in a line 40 feet long and 10 feet wide which lasts 1 round.
• Hold Attack: Your bonded shrike takes a readied action to make an attack.
• Douse: Your bonded shrike puts out flames, or neutralizes persistent acid affecting a creature or object (such as the acid from acid arrow).
• Overrun: Your bonded shrike makes an overrun attempt without provoking an attack of opportunity.
• Trip: Your bonded shrike makes a trip attempt without provoking an attack of opportunity.

Improved Flight: At level 4, you and shrike working together makes you better at maneuvering in the air. Your shrike's flight maneuverability improves by 1 step while you are riding it (usually from poor to average). At levels 7 and 9, its maneuverability improves again.

Greater Shrike: At level 6, your bonded shrike gains the statblock of a wild shrike. It is still loyal to you, and retains other improvements such as the hit dice from bonded shrike.

Name a Better Duo (Su): At level 8, your bond with your shrike leaves imprints in the great weave of the universe. While you are both on the same plane, you and your shrike can feel each others emotions. You also both know what direction the other is in, and you can form a vague idea of what the other is doing at any given time: fighting, eating, sleeping, hiding, etc.

Singular Will (Ex): At level 10, you and your bonded shrike are so closely aligned that you can operate without any speech or line of sight. You can instruct your shrike without actions and without communicating in any way, even if you are in different locations or different planes. Your bonded shrike simply knows what you would want it to do in any given situation, and does that.

Spoiler: Thoughts

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Hopefully this hits all the high notes. Right off the bat, we give the shrike some much-needed scaling and hopefully ensure that you never fail a ride check for the rest of your life. Feat retraining is explicit so you can bump up the power level of your shrike with (presumably) Multiattack + Flyby Attack, justifying the dead class feature level.

I've added 2 different places for customization, so players get a little more agency over their builds and high-level bosses hopefully feel unique.

[Jervis]

C 1215 Seriously thanks. This is amazing, fantastic work! I love the flavor you gave it and all the class features work amazingly together.

[Just to Browse]

C 1215

Always happy to help a fellow Sha'ir enthusiast :)

[Just to Browse]

C1213

Let's go double post! I keep seeing Tzardok's unanswered request at the top of this page. Tzardok, if you're still hanging around, here's a master path for ya. I'm putting this in mid-high power level for a master path. Think closer to Dark Metamorphosis / Shadow Calling as opposed to Breath of Twilight.

H1213: Master Path - Void Shadow

hadow magic is inherently reflective of other components of other worlds. Shadow evocation copies evocation spells, steel shadow takes the form of a shield, and even the plane of shadow itself is a copy of the prime material. But with great willpower and much study, shadowcasters can create false imprints of objects, concepts, or incantations in the weave of the universe, and then entice the shadow weave to imitate those imprints. In essence, they bend reality to cast shadows of things that do not exist.

The power to envision anything and create it gives shadowcasters who walk the Void Shadow path incredible flexibility in their magic. But the shadow weave pushes back on this form of incursion. It corrodes and consumes false mimicries, and if a shadowcaster is not careful, it can consume them as well.

7. Sphere of Will - Alter reality in a bubble around you
8. Mockery of Sentience - Create intelligent creatures from shadowstuff
9. Void Genesis - Create a temporary demiplane that constantly degenerates

Sphere of Will
Master / Void Shadow
Level / School: 7th / Conjuration (Creation)
Casting Time: Standard action
Range: 20 feet
Duration: 10 minutes (see text) (D)
Saving Throw: No
Spell Resistance: No

The space around you contorts and bends to your will. As you move, this sphere moves with you and previous areas return to their natural form.

You have near-total control over the space in a sphere with this mystery's range, centered on you. This sphere moves with you.

While in this sphere, you can spend a standard action or swift action to alter reality in the sphere in one of the following ways. You can only have one alteration of each type active at a time:

• Create: You create objects of shadowstuff, as though you had cast the spell major creation. Unlike the spell, these objects persist forever while they are in the area of this mystery, and disappear the moment they leave its range.
• Harden: You can create or dismiss a barrier at the edge of the sphere which does not allow anything in, as though you had cast resilient sphere on yourself.
• Hide: Each creature in the sphere becomes invisible (as the spell). If a creature breaks invisibility, they only do so for themselves, and retain it at start of their next turn. Any creature that leaves the sphere loses invisibility, and any creature that enters the sphere gains it. Choosing this again ends the effect.
• Manipulate Element: You can alter the elemental or energy traits of the sphere as though it were a different plane from the area around it.
• Manipulate Alignment: You can alter the alignment trait of the sphere as though it were a different plane from the area around it.
• Manipulate Gravity: You can alter the gravity trait of the sphere as though it were a different plane from the area around it. (This effectively allows you to fly -- that is intentional)
• Reveal: Each creature within the sphere becomes able to see each other creature within the sphere, regardless of magical effect or circumstance. Creatures can be seen if they are ethereal, invisible, shrouded in magical darkness, hiding, or even behind solid objects. Choosing this again ends the effect.
• Smother: The area nullifies all magic except for this mystery, as though under the effects of an antimagic field. Choosing this again ends the effect.

At the end of this spell's duration, you can choose to extend its effect by the same duration. Each time you do, the shadow weave deals you Xd6 untyped damage and you must make a Will Save with a DC of 10 + X or become incapacitated for X rounds as the weave ravages your mind. X is the number of times you have extended this effect. This mystery will automatically end if you become incapacitated in any way.

In the rare scenario where your sphere overlaps with another shadowcaster's sphere of will, you must make contested shadowcaster level checks. The shadowcaster with the lower result's mystery immediately ends as though they had failed their fortitude save.

Mockery of Sentience
Master / Void Shadow
Level / School: 8th / Conjuration (Summoning)
Casting Time: 1 round
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Effect: One summoned creature
Duration: 10 minutes (see text) (D)
Saving Throw: No
Spell Resistance: No

Sinuous strands of shadows twist and knot together, writhing atop each other to form a shape that fits the shape of the creature you envision.

This mystery functions as summon monster I, except as noted here. You summon any creature with a CR equal to your shadowcaster level - 3. In addition to its original types and subtypes, this summoned creature is an Extraplanar creature aligned with the plane of shadow. That creature has 2 fewer available uses of all of its daily abilities, which may mean some abilities have no uses available.

At the end of each of your turns (recall that this summon appears at the start of your turn, because using this mystery is a 1-round action), you must make a shadowcaster level check against a DC of 8 + the CR of the summoned creature. A result of a 1 on this check always fails. If you fail this check, the creature becomes a vessel of shadow, which applies the following changes:

• The creature is no longer tied to this mystery. You cannot dismiss the summon, it is not affected by the mystery's duration.
• The creature begins to disappear, consumed by the shadow weave. It takes 20 untyped damage at the end of each of its turns. If it falls to 0 or fewer HP, it completely disintegrates into harmless strands of shadowstuff.
• The forces of shadow control this creature's sentience and sapience entirly. Effects that control, rebuke, or otherwise compel the creature to act in accordance with another's will always end at the end of that creature's next turn. Effects that do not involve an imposed will, such as turning or frightening, do not end early.
• The creature's only goal becomes to kill you. It is bestowed with an unnatural intelligence, which it uses to reach you as quickly and efficiently as it can, and harm you as much as possible. The creature is aware of the fact that it is degrading, and optimizes its behavior accordingly.

Void Genesis
Master / Void Shadow
Level / School: 9th / Conjuration (Creation)
Casting Time: 1 week (8 hours/day)
Range: 180 ft. (see text)
Effect: A demiplane coterminous with the Shadow Plane, centered on your location
Duration: Permanent (see text) (D)
Saving Throw: No
Spell Resistance: No

A hole appears in the shadows around you. With a great groan, as though you were pushing on the very foundations of the universe itself, this hole grows into a portal to a new world of your creation.

You can only cast this mystery while on the Shadow Plane. When you cast the spell, you form a blister in the shadow plane, a demiplane of your design. This operates as the spell genesis, except as noted here. This mystery requires no material or XP components. While at least one demiplane is active, you can choose to bring creatures or objects into it as though you could cast the spell plane shift twice per day.

Using this mystery extracts a constant toll upon you, and the shadow weave will inexorably erode it. Each time you cast this mystery, choose a mystery that you know. You become incapable of using that mystery so long as this demiplane exists.

This demiplane is a world that should not exist. It is a shadow of nothing, given form only through your will and expertise. As a result, its border is not truly real. Though this mystery operates as the spell genesis for the purposes of growth radius, the distance that your demiplane extends from its centerpoint fluctuates by 50% (For a single casting of void genesis, it would fluctuate between 90 feet and 270 feet. For 2 castings, it fluctuates between 180 feet and 540 feet).

For simplicity, any creature within this range rolls a d2 at the end of their turn. On a result of 1, it is real and can move through the space normally. On a result of 2, that creature briefly winks out of existence entirely. A creature that does not exist continues to track its turn, and rolls a d2 each turn as if they did exist. Once they roll a 1, they reappear in this partially-real space with a number of negative levels equal to the number of rounds that they did not exist. A creature that dies of negative levels this way is converted into the same shadowstuff that composes the demiplane. A facsimile of them may still exist within these shadowy boundaries after they die, but this fascimile cannot be used to revive them. They are gone, both physically and in spirit, and not even a wish can bring them back.

Objects also appear and disappear from reality this way. If necessary for tracking, treat the object as a creature with an initiative roll of 0. If a nonmagical object disappears, it is turned into the same shadowstuff that your demiplane's terrain is made of, degrading into uselessness. Most magical objects last 1 hour (or 10 consecutive rounds of nonexistence). Magical objects imbued with shadow magic or light magic last 150 years (or 20 consecutive rounds of nonexistence). Artifacts can last indefinitely, and some artifacts may even be empowered by the destruction of nearby creatures and objects on a demiplane, at the DM's discretion.

If a demiplane created this way does not grow, this false edge will begin to grow inwards at a rate of 1 foot per day, until there is another casting of void genesis, at which point the false edge returns to its original form. If the edge ever completely covers the demiplane, this extraplanar blister collapses, destroying the demiplane entirely and restoring "natural order" to the plane of shadow. Anything caught inside the demiplane during this collapse is removed from existence forever.

Spoiler

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No idea if anyone's even gonna see this homebrew, but I had a lot of fun writing it.

Sphere of Will is a toolbox effect. You get mediocre flight, kinda-useful-invisibility, limited range anti-invis, random items, and a limited anti-magic field. None of those are individually worth learning or using, but alltogether they should be good. The duration is pretty short in order to encourage you to hurt yourself for more power.

Mockery of Sentience is (surprise!) another toolbox effect, but for creatures. I'm sure there's still something abusive you can do with a flexible Lvl - 3 summon, but ideally that daily restriction skims off most of the fat: no efreeti wishes are high-level spell slots. You can dismiss the summon and the DC scales with CR, so you have multiple ways to preemptively mitigate the risk of getting murdered.

Void Genesis was tough to write, and I'm still not sure if I'm happy with it. The tough thing about that description is that it describes a (literal) edge case, and genesis can avoid that by just putting all your cool stuff at the edge of your planar kingdom. So we end up with a mystery that's a bunch of paragraphs long, and your average shadowcaster can just ignore all of it by never walking more than 90 feet away from their extraplanar house. To add a little drama, I've changed the cost on the effect (indefinite loss of one mystery) and made the demiplane contract over time. So a shadowcaster never gets to have a permanent base in the way a wizard would, but their base is easier to set up (no XP) and easier to get into / out of (2 free plane shifts per day).

[Morphic tide]

C1215: With regard to what Just To Browse 'brewed up, I would suggest having the feat require and input the level of one of the mentioned progressions into a version of Special Mount rather than direct application, then the PRC do the same for an appropriately modified Animal Companion progression, so that it directly "cans" the usual Supermount path instead of stacking with it. "Transforming" other progressions into tailored ones also nullifies all the progression weirdness like divergent RHD, accidentally losing BAB from original RHD, and lowered Intelligence from set-to values.

...Also have the higher-level "gap" in prior-class progression be 7th or 8th, as it's still low enough to "spike" to Bonded Shakwa 10 at ECL 13 off Legacy Champion 2 (and net Legacy Champion 6 and a leftover +1 existing class level in the process). Or have it be mandatorily base classes to cut that out entirely, which would go with avoiding unwanted stacking by excluding Halfling Outrider or Arcane Hirophant double-dipping.

[Tzardok]

C1213

This is delightful. Thank you so much, Just to Browse!

[togapika]

R 1216

I need an Exalted item/Vestige of Divergence (Critical Role) appropriate for a level 20 Giff Monster Slayer Ranger
My character is a gourmand who hunts exotic monsters to see what they taste like.
Stats are 10/20/16/12/18/10, with feats being Tough (Background), Piercer, Sharpshooter, Resilient: Wisdom, Lucky, and Chef
For a weapon, I'll be using an Ascendant Dragon's Wrath Hunting Rifle
This is for a oneshot where we'll be fighting a modified version of the Tarrasque

Any other character info that would be helpful can be provided upon request

[Just to Browse]

C 1216

Your character sounds like they have a bit of an aristocrat vibe. How would you feel about a monocle?

[togapika]

C 1216

Your character sounds like they have a bit of an aristocrat vibe. How would you feel about a monocle?

Sure! I think he'd be rather gentlemanly, apart from y'know hunting stuff just to see how it tastes

I don't currently have flight or darkvision, and my gun was steeped in the horde of a solar dragon if you need something to play off of

[Just to Browse]

Let me know what you think!

H 1216: Explorer's Monocle
Wondrous item, legendary (requires attunement)

This gold-rimmed monocle has a lens cut from a flawless diamond. It was crafted by one of the greatest efreeti nobles of the City of Brass, as part of a wish granted to a rather pernicious gentleman-explorer.

The wisher's name is lost to time, but the myth goes that the he captured the efreeti and traded a wish in exchange for the genie's freedom. His wish was for a monocle, hand-crafted by the efreeti itself, into which he could invest all his impeccable sight and instant comprehension abilities, so that he could never lose those talents as he aged. But as efreeti are wont to do, the great smith twisted this wish and used the explorer's soul as a component of the monocle.

Dormant. While wearing the monocle in a dormant state, you can use your Object Interaction or Bonus Action to adjust the monocle and peer through it, or stop peering. While you peer through the monocle, you gain the following effects:

• You have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight, but disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that do not rely on sight.
• You have Darkvision out to 120 feet.
• When you view writing, you understand it as though you were under the effects of comprehend languages.

Awakened. While peering through the monocle in its awakened state, you gain the following benefits:

• You can see through all types of darkness, including magical darkness, out to 120 feet.
• Whenever you make an Intelligence (Arcana), Intelligence (History), Intelligence (Nature), or Intelligence (Religion) check, you may make a second roll of 1d20 + 10. This second roll does not use advantage of disadvantage. Use the higher of the 2 results.
• If you examine a creature or object for 10 minutes, you can cast the spell identify on it.

Exalted. While peering through the monocle in its exalted state, you gain the following benefits:

• Your weapon attacks score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20.
• You can see magical effects out to 120 feet as though you were permanently under the effects of the spell detect magic. This effect does not require concentration.
• You can cast the spells scrying, locate creature, and find the path. Once one of these spells has been cast using the monocle, it can't be used to cast that spell again until the next dawn.

Spoiler: Thoughts

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Since your combat strategy already seems well-defined, I looked at designs that fit better with a secondary item. Something more akin to danoth's visor or infiltrator's key than hide of the feral guardian or stormgirdle. I used that along w/your note about Darkvision to make an item that helps you with everything just before the hunt. The spells allow you to find clues, identify macguffins, and hunt the beast down. Then the various sight effects allow you to see it (I threw detect magic in there in case this modified tarrasque is magical) so you can shoot it from afar. Combat-adjacent effects only get you so far, so you also get an expanded crit range for murdering the thing once it is in the sights of your rifle.

All of this keys off of peering through the monocle, which is mostly not going to matter since the only downside is disadvantage on non-sight Perception checks. But on the other hand, it's also not a critical part of the item's identity. If you want to just get rid of that restriction then I'm on board with that.

The more I thought about the gentleman / aristocrat thing, the more it felt better as the tool of someone evil. I put a little flavor if you care for it, but obviously flavor is mutable and you shouldn't feel bad throwing all of it out if you want.

[animorte]

R 1217

I have a homebrew request! It's not what I had originally thought of (not even close) but the other thing will require some more detail and I'll bring it along here. Anyway...

I would like a Spriggan from Skyrim, please!

I've done comparisons and it's not really a dryad or a treant. It kind of reminds me of a Druid, but they don't have shield or invisibility.

Basically just a 5e stat block for a Spriggan as a monster. It would probably be around CR 10. Stats/spells/details/etc. are in the link if that's ok. If you need, I will just type in that information here. Thank you!

[Just to Browse]

C 1217

This is a pretty cool idea. Are you in love with the CR target, or would you be okay with me bringing it down? With Call of the Wild it feels it would make a fun Tier 1 boss fight, before players have access to strong minion-clearing effects like fireball. That would mean putting it in the CR 5-7 range, though.

[animorte]

C 1217

Actually the CR range doesn’t matter at all for me. I was just looking at number of abilities and it’s HP amount from the link, comparing it to existing monsters. Just thought it might help in the creative process, but you’re much better at this than myself.

Yeah, to be fair it didn’t feel like a particularly difficult encounter, just a creative monster setup I greatly appreciated.

[Morphic tide]

C 1217: While I can never seem to pin down a sensible source for the ad-hoc guideline to do this to completion myself, I'll mention that the Spriggan is just TES's direct equivalent to Dryads. Notable features:

1. Weakness to Fire, or Vulnerability in 5e terminology, in all mainline appearances but the incredibly limited Daggerfall
2. Calls nearby animals to assist in battle, from LONG distances, Skyrim version gets Invisibility when using it
3. Self-healing is a "standard" use-case, becomes near-immune to damage if it kicks off in Skyrim while it's an outright self-res in Bloodmoon
4. Frequent use of Poison, via claws and some manner of glowing insect swarm, the latter of which SEEMS to be part of what animates them
5. Oblivion version has a Luck-reducing curse, perfect reason to force Disadvantage broadly and thus negate anything Advantage based
6. Actually a low-level "base" enemy in Skyrim, but this same game introduces the Matron and Earth Mother labels for stronger versions like Bloodmoon's

Have the UESP link on Spriggans in general, game articles linked at the bottom give WAY more detail than the Fandom site.

Also, never take stats from one game directly into another, "top level" in Skyrim terms entails the likes of Karstaag with 4,000 health at a nominal level of 90, but in the Bloodmoon expansion of Morrowind he had 1,500 health at a nominal level of 40. And player-side damage is an absolute nightmare to compare because the two have nearly totally different scaling systems due to Skyrim abolishing primary stats for a pure skill system and both being unstable jankfests absolutely riddled with exploits and bugs and numerous ways to end up with an abominably inefficient character or one so efficient as to run over the entire game with no need for a skill above 30.

[animorte]

C 1217

C 1217:-snip-

I did some direct comparisons to the Dryad before making this request and wasn't particularly satisfied. I noticed quite a few differences and just prefer what the Spriggan offers. You bring up a good point about not comparing stats directly, makes a lot of sense as everything has a different standard and baseline. I hadn't thought of that directly, but seems pretty obvious.

I only really was looking to put together the Skyrim specific Spriggan, but I appreciate the link so I can learn more about my favorite Elder Scrolls monster!

On another note, a low level summon would work well for call of the wild. That's one note from other games' Spriggans.

[Just to Browse]

C 1217

Sounds great. I'll get to work on it! Gonna be a little longer than some of my other stuff because I really wanted to channel my effort into the base class contest for this month.

[animorte]

C 1217

Sounds great. I'll get to work on it! Gonna be a little longer than some of my other stuff because I really wanted to channel my effort into the base class contest for this month.

C 1217

Yea, we love the additional entries on both contests. Yes, please. That’s fine with me!

[togapika]

R1218

I need a weaker version of the Bulette monster that would be suitable for summoning by a Paladin using Find Greater Steed.
For clarification, I'm using Giant Badger stats to represent a "Baby Bulette" from Find Steed, but the normal one is CR 5

[MutantDragon]

R1218

I need a weaker version of the Bulette monster that would be suitable for summoning by a Paladin using Find Greater Steed.
For clarification, I'm using Giant Badger stats to represent a "Baby Bulette" from Find Steed, but the normal one is CR 5

Ask and you shall receive.

Weaker Bulette

Large monstrosity, unaligned
AC 15 (natural armor)
HP 76 (8d10 + 32)
Speed 40ft., burrow 40ft.
STR 18 DEX 10 CON 19 INT 2 WIS 10 CHA 5
Skills Perception +2
Senses Darkvision 60ft., tremorsense 30ft.
Languages –
CR 2

Standing Leap. The bulette's long jump is up to 30 feet and its high jump is up to 15 feet, with or without a running start.

Actions
Bite: Melee weapon attack: +6 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit: 2d6 +4 piercing damage.

[togapika]

Ask and you shall receive.

Thanks for this!