Revised Ember Draconian statblock, now with hybriding shenanigans added, yay!
Ember Draconian
The most recent addition to the Ember Brood, bred with intent of leading the less intelligent Broods. The few traits shared between one Draconian and another is their innate physical might, glowing blood and draco-demonic heritage. With looks ranging from demi-human to monstrous, they are a varied breed. With bodies and minds as varied as they are scarce in numbers, and with the young age of even the oldest among them, they are eager to explore the world, and to possibly carve out a name or territory, if not both, for themselves and their kind.
'Half-Blood' is a name given to the offspring that doesn't fully manifest themselves as one of the Ember Brood, instead ending up a hybrid between a Draconian and the race of their non-Brood parent, and while they are seen and accepted as part of the extended family, they are at the very bottom of the hierarchy, unlike the Pure Draconians that are at the very top of it.
Stat Adjustments: +12 Body, +6 Mind, +6 Spirit
Racial Talents: Grapple Expert*, (Focus in Fire OR Dragonfire Adept)
Racial Flaws: Sluggish*, Obvious, Mutated, Weakness(Cold Damage), Fetish(Warmth/Heat)
Racial Mutations: Supernatural, Corruptive, Demon, Ember Blooded, Immunity(Fire), Natural Attack, Wings, Tail, Glowing Skin
Optional Mutations: Serpentine Body*, Egg Layer, Night Eyes, Whip Tongue, Odd Skin, Armored Hide, Horns, Claws, Glowy Fluids
Special: Grapple Expert and Flawed are only gained if the character pick Serpentine Body as optional mutation during creation.
Hybriding: A Half-breed/hybrid Ember Draconian character do not get the Dragonfire Adept Talent choice, Corruptive and Immunity(Fire) special mutations, but they get Fire Damage Reduction ½ special mutation instead of the latter. A Hybrid Ember Draconian may optionally forego the Focus in Fire talent and Weakness(Cold) flaw.
All Mutations chosen have to be draconic, volcanic or demonic in appearance. These flavor requirements are slightly less strict when hybriding. Picking the Mutated flaw does not count towards additional Talent selection.
And a ritual I've been puttering about with, yay!
Ember Transformation
Ritual Cost: N/A
Ritual Time: 3 Hours
Ritual Requirements: 1 subject who has the Supernatural or Naturally Supernatural mutation but who is not of the Ember Draconian race, either in part or in full, can only be performed by a Non-Hybrid Ember Draconian.
Description: The caster transforms a subject into an Ember Draconian Hybrid. Their racial traits are reworked to fit the new Hybrid Race of Ember Draconian/Former Race, as per the Half-Blood rules of the Ember Draconian race. They get optional mutations at the GMs discretion, or by choice if a PC.
I mentioned this a while ago in the shoutbox but apparently never remembered to post it: Enchant Weapon is a little bit underpowered, especially with the availability of channel spell. The only advantage that combining it and martial magician have currently is that you don't have to spend a round to cast enchant weapon, otherwise a straight body buff is better than both combined. My current suggestion is to just make it a Mind/2 damage bonus, change its EP cost to 4, and maybe reduce the upkeep to 1 EP.
Also, bolster power could probably do with an EP cost reduction to 4 and a change to Mind/2 damage, maybe even allow it to be maintained for future power uses in subsequent rounds for 1 EP upkeep. For this reason:
Math done while half asleep below:
10 EP Hellfire Blast (ranged single target option): 50-100 damage.
4 EP Hellfire Blast + 6 EP Bolster Power (ranged single target option and 60 mind) 40-60.
10 EP Starbeam (150 foot line option) 30-100.
4 EP Starbeam + 6 EP Bolster Power (150 foot line option and 60 mind) 32-60.
If it's reduced to 4 then it runs more along these lines:
6 EP Hellfire Blast + 4 EP Bolster Power (As above) 50-80.
6 EP Hellfire Blast + 4 EP Bolster Power (As above but 40 mind) 43-73.
6 EP Starbeam + 4 EP Bolster Power (As above) 38-80.
6 EP Starbeam + 4 EP Bolster Power (As above but 40 mind) 31-73.
If it's reduced to 4 and granted Mind/2 damage then it becomes this:
6 EP Hellfire Blast + 4 EP Mind/2 Bolster Power (As above) 60-90.
6 EP Hellfire Blast + 4 EP Mind/2 Bolster Power (As above but 40 mind) 50-80
6 EP Starbeam + 4 EP Mind/2 Bolster Power (As above) 48-90.
6 EP Starbeam + 4 EP Mind/2 Bolster Power (As above but 40 mind) 38-80.
Note that, if you include the 1 EP upkeep thing, the 40 mind versions look a bit less pitiful thanks to subsequent casts at that damage only costing 7 EP.
Basically, it becomes something of a cross classing mage's version of harmful spirit, ensuring better averages when dealing with powers that have lower base damage in exchange for less overall damage potential, which was sorta supposed to be one of the biggest differences between mages and spirit wielders in the first place, I think.
I know, I know, double post. I figured it was an easier way to draw attention to newer suggestions that I'm making.
Suggested Changes:
Roll Unrelenting Fury and Bloodbath together.
Unrelenting Fury is kinda lackluster on its own as it runs into the same problem that most resistance check abilities do. Namely, it will almost always work against mooks that most characters will never need it against, and it will almost never work against bosses where you might need it. Bloodbath is nice on its own but I think could use a bit more desirability. This would achieve that.
Bloodbath - While in a rage, a character can pay 4 EP in order to regain HP on successful attacks for that round. When active, any successful attack for the round heals the character for 2d6 + 6 HP. The +6 modifier is reduced by 2 for every additional attack on a round for all attacks on that round to a minimum of 2d6 + 0. In addition, as a passive effect during rage, if the character is hit by a blow that would knock the character unconscious or kill them, they may make a Resistance check against the creature that struck the blow. If they win, they transfer half of their current EP, rounded up, to their HP, but will automatically fall unconscious when their rage or the encounter ends. EP expended on this skill does not trigger a character's Spirit ceiling, and this skill can still be used while Sealed or wearing a Sealing collar. Requires Rage.
Make Defender a basic option for any character with a few additional options, exchange the current version with Teamwork.
It's a bit lackluster as is. It's also a bit odd to say that anybody can't help to defend another character without being idealistic. >.>
Add this to the combat rules:
-Defend yourself, giving up all other actions in exchange for a +30 bonus to Dodge and Resistance and a +15 bonus to Perception for that round. -Defend another character, giving up your move action and increasing the dodge of an adjacent ally by trading points of your own dodge or resistance (not both in a single round) on 1 per 1 basis up to maximum of 10 points, or you may give up your move action and instead intercept all hits intended for that ally by sacrificing your ability to dodge the intercepted attacks.
-Sit there looking silly.
Change Defender in General skills to this:
Teamwork (Passive) - When choosing to defend another (as per the combat rules) the character is given the option boost to boost their ally's attack, dodge, resistance, or armor by sacrificing the character's corresponding stat at a 1 to 1 ratio. Their maximum boost cap when defending another is raised to 20. They also gain +8 armor when intercepting blows for an ally. Finally, they may use their move action to charge at an allied character at 3x speed, taking a 10 dodge penalty when doing so, in order to meet the range requirements for defending another. Requires Idealistic.
Consider changing Battlemage to allow for Experienced Caster as a prerequisite. >.>
Consider giving Sturdy +2 armor and giving Strong Willed +2 resistance to EP damage. Not really necessary for skill power purposes but right now they're pretty niche skills, and it could be argued that Strong Willed is inferior to Untemptable in almost every way but granting a bonus against the dominated status.
Maybe roll Nose for Treasure's perception bonus when looking for Treasure into Thief?
They're both pretty niche skills. I realize that not everybody who is looking for treasure is also a thief, but they can always either just never use the lockpicking/trap-disarming utility or just go the Locke route and consider them the skills of a traveled treasure hunter. >.>
Thief (Passive) – The character gets a +3 bonus to Stealth, +8 bonus to perception when it's a check to find treasure or other valuables, and can pick locks and disarm traps.
Change Ranger to grant a bonus for fighting beasts.
Mini hatred against beasts, basically.
Ranger (Passive) – The character gets a +3 bonus to Perception, can track creatures so long as they have stayed on the ground, and gains a +3 bonus to attack, damage, dodge, and stealth while fighting beasts.
Allow characters with knight to use mini-challenges.
Iunno, just in the vein of making the Ranger/Thief/Knight stuff match up more or less.
Knight (Passive) – The character gets a +2 bonus to AV, Dodge, all attacks rolls, and damage rolls for all melee attacks. In addition, the character may use Challenge as per the skill but does not gain the damage and attack bonus and may only have it active against one target at a time. Requires: Honorable.
Consider rolling Disciplined Wielder and Armored Mage into each other.
It's a bit odd that, as of current, mages have to take two skills in order to cast effectively while in armor and spirit wielders only need one. Also, uh, could use some clarification text to determine whether or not it affects shields.
Suggesting replacing both with:
Untethered Mind and Soul- The EV of the character’s armor applies only ½ of its penalty to their Base Casting and Spirit Ceiling.
New Suggestions:
Skill:
Grandmaster (Passive) - The character gains +2 attack, +2 damage, +2 dodge, and ignores ½ of their target's AV when wielding a weapon that they have Specialized in.
Enchant:
- An item enchanted with a spell or spirit power may be enchanted with a trigger or a command word that will activate those spells in a set way (i.e. snapping a character's fingers will always produce a 4 EP lay on hands if set to do such, never a 2 EP etc.). If the item is non-sentient, the command must be a something simple such as a word, a whistle, drawing the item in question from its sheath or pouch (if it's something applicable), or a distinguishable noise. A non-sentient item cannot distinguish between commands or triggers given by its wielder or another character. A sentient item may be given more complex triggers, including reactionary ones, and can distinguish its wielder from others using the same command. Consult your GM for acceptable triggers. Anytime a trigger is used in as a means of making an enchanted spell or power a free action or free reaction, the associated costs are doubled (this may exceed 6 EP in the case of static cost spirit powers). Anytime a trigger is used as a means of making an enchanted spell or power a free action or reaction, any applicable resistance checks are instead rolled against the item's resistance, which will be considered a 20 DC and can't be buffed by temporary effects. This enchantment costs 50 denarii. An item with the trigger enchant on it may have its trigger modified by an enchanter for 5 denarii and additional triggers may be added alongside the first for 10 denarii.
- An item with a trigger enchantment may have its resistance DC increased by 3 for 30 denarii.
Yay suggestions! I agree with Hafnium's, though I'm not really sure Knight needs a boost since it's pretty good as is.
Also, I think Pain Resistant could use a buff - -4 damage is pretty insignificant overall unless you have other things that boost your AV(either actual armor or active buffs), considering the amount of damage enemies deal is around 20 at the low end. Maybe increase it to 5 or 6 AV.
New warrior talent suggestion:
Battle Hardened: The character has suffered through numerous battles, developing scarring and mental resistance to pain. The character gains +8 AV. This talent can only be taken once.
I suppose I was more looking at it as: "this would be a neat ability for knights to have as challenge doesn't get that much usage nor do many people bother to spend skills on it, but non-knights should still have access to a form of challenge."
Also, maybe pain resistance could offer, like, +5 HP alongside the 4 AV? Just an alternative if buffing its AV value isn't desirable. As is I think Hentaispider is correct, it's probably not worth taking over Healthy unless you're going to stack tons of armor. Iunno.
Also, more suggestions: magic edition:
Summons in general (spirit included) barring template ones ala alraunes, wolves, yetis, faeries, demons, etc. should probably be capped at 50 dodge and 25 speed across the board ala the Reaper. Combining empower, conjurer, and some of the +body to summon feats is pretty ridiculous. (I thought this had been discussed and happened before but am either imagining things or overlooking it in the rules thread)
Combine Controlled Spell and Widen Spell
Kinda unimpressive as is, and it sorta makes fluff sense in that if a person has the control to spare their allies in a fireball, they have the control to make the fireball bigger instead. Basically I'm working on the idea of bringing other things up to Empower and Quicken's level instead of the other way around. >.>
Spell Control - The character gains greater control over area of effect spells. Whenever the character would cast an area of effect spell, they may pay an additional X EP where X is the level of the spell in order to double the area of effect of that spell. The character also gains the ability to cause their Area of Effect spells to deal damage only to targets that they choose (sparing their allies from any harm) by taking a -6 penalty to casting for the round and causing the spell to deal damage as a spell one level lower.
Roll ye Trapspinner into It's a Trap!
Trapspinner is already pretty powerful, It's a Trap sorta has niche uses but is (understandably) limited so that the mage can't do completely ridiculous stuff with it. Putting the two together makes it more desirable overall without needing to tinker with the values for It's a Trap and possibly break everything.
It's a Trap! - The character may pay 2 additional EP in order to cast a Trap spell while in combat. The spell takes 2 rounds to cast, and the caster takes a -10 penalty to casting during both rounds. If the caster fails their casting check during either round, or the spell is interrupted (by the caster canceling the spell or failing a caster check), the spell fails and the caster loses the EP spent attempting the spell. In addition, the character may use any damage dealing spell of level 4 or lower as a Trap spell.
Already commented on Bolster Power and Enchant Weapon.
Smokefish suggested this but my take on buffing Martial Magician and Finely Tuned is to halve the HP damage casting penalty for Martial Magician and halve the EP damage casting penalty for Finely Tuned.
Reminder: Reaper should have Unarmed Fighter.
Maybe consider dropping the initial casting check for Channel Spell to 20, as right now it requires either 60 base mind or a few uses of concentrated to make use out of it, but make that 20 affected by a penalty for successive attacks. >.>
Channel Spell - The character may channel Spells with the Touch shape through melee attacks, adding their damage to whatever would be dealt by the attack. This feat costs 2 EP to activate in addition to the casting cost of the spell, and if a character gets multiple attacks per round they must make separate casting rolls (at a cumulative -6 penalty to casting for the whole round for each attack beyond the first) and pay separate casting costs for each attack, though they may choose how many times they use this. IE: A character may attack multiple times, but only add a spell to a selected number of attacks. Other Feats may not be used to alter the spells cast by the use of this Feat. In order to activate this Feat, the character must first make a DC20 casting check at the start of the round which increases by a cumulative +5 for each additional attack beyond the first, failure indicating that all of the attempted spells fail but costing no EP.
Consider changing Reanimator to make wraiths a little less ridiculous while still giving it a few neat options. The big thing is that the +6 body allows for some silliness with 5th level wraith summons.
Reanimator (Aether) - Animated corpses and summoned spirits from the Aether Element can be finally controlled by the character, allowing them to pass for living creatures if need be, and gain a bonus to +4 per spell level bonus to Body. The character may now use the Greater Undeath spell in order to raise up to three corpses as if they were animated by the Lesser Undeath spell by making the Greater Undeath casting check and paying the Greater undeath EP cost +2 per additional corpse raised.
Serious suggestions end here.
Stuff that is not actually ready as a suggestion but I was really considering putting out there so I'll mention them in case somebody thinks they're workable and wants to put a bit more effort into them than I can at this juncture (I'll try to polish them more by tomorrow):
Countermage (Arcane) – Resistance checks made to Dispel or Counter effects gain a +8 bonus. The characters own spells receive a +8 bonus against being dispelled or countered. Finally, when using Greater Counterspell any target successfully counterspelled gains the Sealed status as per the Alchemist Power where X = the amount of EP spent on the failed spell or power. Requires Focus in Arcane.
Physician (Body) – Healing spells are always treated as if they’d rolled max when determining the amount of HP they restore. Buffs from the Body element give an extra +1 bonus per spell level to the stat that they increase. The character may maintain regenerative aura as a free action, allowing them to perform other actions, by making a casting check as per normally maintaining emanations and paying 4 EP. Requires Focus in Body.
Stonecaller (Earth) - Earth spells that require that their targets make a grapple check have the DC of those checks increase by 10. Damage spells of the Earth Element ignore the first 4 points of a target's AV. Creatures summoned by Earth spells gain +10 Body and +4 AV. Entomb may be used to instead target up to three characters with the Earth Swallow spell by making the Entomb casting check and paying the Entomb cost along with +2 EP per additional character targeted. Requires Focus in Earth.
Wielder of Chaos (Entropy) – Luck spells are treated as if they always rolled at least one above the minimum. Spells of the Entropy school deal an additional +2 damage per spell level and any that would require that their target make a Resistance check give the caster a +8 bonus to their check. When using any Luck Manipulation spell the character may choose to pay an additional 1 x spell level EP and make a resistance check against their target, if they win then their target gains 1dspell level instances of Weakened, if they lose then they gain 1dspell level instances of Weakened. Requires Focus in Entropy.
Holder of the Secret Fire (Fire) – Spells that deal Fire damage ignore the first 10 points of a target’s AV, and any time that a Fire spell would deal more than half of any target’s max HP in damage, that target becomes Weakened. When using spells that deal fire damage, the character may choose to pay an additional 2 x spell level EP, in which case characters who take damage will receive character's mind/10 x spell level damage for three rounds, which refreshes if they take damage from a fire spell again. Requires Focus in Fire.
Why is it worded in this way? In the odd event that somebody has a spell or something that activates on unconsciousness and will save their life, I guess.
Metaphysical Hammer (Force) – Force spells that would move a target push them an additional 5 feet. All Force spells gain a +8 bonus to their Resistance checks. If a character deals more than half their target's HP with implosion or implosion trap, they may make a resistance check against their target. On success, Implosion deals double damage. Requires Focus in Force.
I've got nothin' for Light or anything past it at the moment. Maybe later.
Just skimmed, only one thing popped out at me. Mages get more feats than spirits get aptitudes (too lazy to look up the exact ratio), so an aptitude doing the same thing as two feats is not necessarily a reason to combine feats. it all depends on that ratio though, so im not sure how valid either side is.
I'm not really sure where you're getting that I'm combining feats in order to bring them up to the level of an aptitude. If you're talking about the Empower and Quicken comment, both are feats. I haven't actually even considered aptitudes in any form yet.
Consider rolling Disciplined Wielder and Armored Mage into each other.
It's a bit odd that, as of current, mages have to take two skills in order to cast effectively while in armor and spirit wielders only need one. Also, uh, could use some clarification text to determine whether or not it affects shields.
Suggesting replacing both with:
Untethered Mind and Soul- The EV of the character’s armor applies only ½ of its penalty to their Base Casting and Spirit Ceiling.
Formatting:
-Moved the Special Mutations down to the same post as Equipment.
Rules:
-Minor changes were made to defensive fighting.
Races:
-Full Blooded Demon was changed to allow them to have Soul Eater.
-Added Oni.
-Changed Vampires such that half breeds only get DR 3/4.
-Altered Ember Draconians.
-Added Spectral Daemon to Templates.
Talents and Flaws:
-Added Antagonizing to Flaws.
-Pain Resistant was changed.
-Added Battle Hardened.
Skills:
-Turned Defender into Teamwork. Rolled Unrelenting Fury and Bloodbath together. Combined Armored Mage and Disciplined Wielder into Untethered.
-Changed Battlemage, Sturdy, Strong Willed, Head over Heals, and Sudden Strike.
-Added Grandmaster, Carrot and Stick, Dedicated Witch Hunt, Iron Body, Spell Resistance, Banishing Strike.
-Added the Witch Hunting skill set, and moved some existing stuff into it.
Magic:
-The highest level summons in Aether, Fire, Water, Wind, Entropy, and Nature were fiddled with a bit.
-Changed it so that all summoned creatures had caps on their Dodge. This is in the first post about magic that covers the basic rules about it.
-A fuckton of Feats were changed. These include: Reanimator, Martial Magician, Finely Tuned, Channel Spell, Physician, Enchant Weapon, and Bolster Power. Trapspinner and It's a Trap! were rolled into Trapspinner. Combined Widen Spell and Controlled Spell into Spell Control.
Spirit Wielders:
-Vampiric Futanari has received a much needed update.
-Black Dragon was changed a bit.
-Overlord and Energy Shaper were fiddled with.
Mutations:
-Added Spectral Form, Snug/Stretching, Fettered, and Oni Alcoholism.
-Changed Malleable Form.
Enchanting:
-Did ye recommended change to items that give powers and stuff.
I hereby suggest an alteration to the Dragonkin race, to have Pain Resistant switched out for Dragonfire Adept. Maybe give them Fire Damage Reduction ½ or something too, because those guys are pretty dang weighted down by their Easy-to-Hit flaw, and even the new shinier Pain Resistant ain't making life easier for them.
This is my opinion. I was also coerced by Spider. That is all.
