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Calyn
2004-07-14, 05:15 PM
Here's my entry into this contest. Let me know what you all think. This is also my first attempt at making a prestige class.

Uzarius laughed at his predicament. These silly city-dwellers obviously underestimated him greatly. He looked around the cell, nominally called “the hole” by local townsfolk, that he found himself currently in. Burning down the building housing town records was a feat he had already managed. However, making it seem like a random act, and on top of that doing so without getting caught had apparently been a little beyond even his abilities. The fire had not been discovered until too late to save their census and tax information, but his own desire to watch the flames had given him away.

No matter. Now they had thrown him in the hole, the place where they stuck any criminal deemed “too dangerous to be in the general population”. Here there was a murderer who slew an entire family and reveled in their blood; over there a notorious pair of thieves talked quietly of what they would steal when they finally broke out. This dank room was full of the vicious, the monstrous and the criminal. Not just evil ones were stuck here though. Cowering near one wall was a man Uzarius recognized as having once given a speech in the town square. He spoke of his discovery that the Baron made deals with a demon, and had been dabbling in forbidden necromancies. He nearly had the peasantry ready to storm the keep before the guards showed up and defused the situation. Rumor says he was discredited as a liar and sent packing from town. Apparently rumor was wrong, and the Baron had him locked up before him could give away any more dirty secrets.

Either way, the city fools didn’t realize what a mistake they’d made by throwing Uzarius in their most important cell. It was a rough lot in here, and it took the cracking of a few heads before the more belligerent were willing to leave him alone. As night fell he crept over to a set of hand-holds that had been poorly carven into the stone wall by a previous occupant. He hoisted himself up to where he could touch the large, steel plate they covered the top with to prevent escape, Uzarius placed his hands directly upon it. A glance back saw a few weary faces, mostly scoffing at the man who would try to open such a heavy blockade.

Uzarius closed his eyes, and let his senses permeate the metal. He could feel the strange energies that constantly surrounded him now, slowly pouring into the plate. Whatever strange bonds held the metal in one piece, began to snap and shift through the intervention of this power. After a few moments, he removed his hands and looked at his work. The metal seemed to shift and sway in places, as though it could barely hold itself together.. Three sharp blows from his hands and the plate shattered into fragments, tinkling down to the floor beneath.

“So, lads, who’s up for a jailbreak?”

Calynite – Warrior of Entropy

This PrC is a based off of a base class that a friend and I came up with, and I played in his world. The basic idea is that of a modified paladin, this one devoted purely to increasing chaos. The original character worshipped a god of entropy, and saw it as his duty to bring the bastions of order crashing down. The first man to take up this duty is known only as “Calyn”. Legends tell that he was born a petty thief. One day, he came upon a jewel in an old ruined temple. He quickly discovered that the jewel was in fact a prison for a powerful god of entropy who had been trapped there by an even greater god of law for an act he had committed against the law god’s temples. Together, Calyn and his entrapped god were able to bring down the law god’s entire religion. Since then all who follow in his footsteps have taken his name up as their own.

Calynites are known for their ability to wreak great havoc in whatever situation they find themselves in (combat, diplomacy, etc); while at the same time their own chaotic natures make them inherently frail. This accounts for the lowered hit dice, and altered favorite save over a paladin or blackguard.

It’s important to note that this character is *not* chaotic evil. Calynites are rarely just interested in wanton destruction. Rather, they are the elite focused warriors of chaos. They’re the ones that figure out which stone you can pull out that will make the entire wall tumble over, not the ones beating their fists against the wall. They’re frequently anarchists, devoting themselves to tearing down governments, religious institutions, guilds, or any organization they feel needs to be broken. They are the Tyler Durden’s, the elite hackers, the crazed revolutionaries of the D&D world.

Hit Die: d6.

Requirements
To qualify to become a Calynite, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Base Attack Bonus: +6.

Skills: Bluff 5 ranks, Disguise 3 ranks, and
Forgery 3 ranks.

Feats: Cleave, Improved Sunder, Power Attack.

Special: Must have had contact with a powerful being or deity of chaos, and been appointed to the position.

Class Skills
The Calynite’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Bluff (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Forgery (Int), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Knowledge (the planes) (Int), Profession (Wis), and Ride (Dex).
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

{table]


Level

BAB

Fort

Ref

Will
Special



1

+1

+0

+2

+0
Aura of chaos, detect chaos, increased damage



2

+2

+0

+3

+0
Zone of chaos +1



3

+3

+1

+3

+1
Entropic shield 1/day



4

+4

+1

+4

+1
Increased damage +4



5

+5

+1

+4

+1
Broken chains



6

+6

+2

+5

+2
Zone of chaos +2



7

+7

+2

+5

+2
Structural decay



8

+8

+2

+6

+2
Increased damage +6



9

+9

+3

+6

+3
Entropic field



10

+10

+3

+7

+3
Calyn's cloak 1/day
[/table]

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Calynites are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, with all types of armor, and with shields.

Class Skills
Aura of Chaos (Ex): The power of a Calynite’s aura of chaos (see the detect chaos spell) is equal to his class level plus his cleric level, if any.

Detect Law (Sp): At will, a Calynite can use detect law as a spell-like ability, duplicating the effect of the detect good spell.

Increased Damage (Su): As the Calynite learns to tap into the primal energies of chaos, he becomes able to direct these destructive forces at structures and creatures around him. Any damage he deals to a living creature or object is increased by 2 at level 1, two more at level 4 and ends up totaling 6 at level 7. This bonus damage bypasses damage reduction, but does not count towards the total damage needed to overcome it.

Zone of Chaos (Su): The chaotic energies surrounding a Calynite begin to affect the magical energies that he uses. At 2nd level, the Calynite gets +1 to all rolls to overcome SR, and +1 to the DC of all his spells. At 6th level, this increases to +2.

Spells: A Calynite has the ability to cast a small number of spells. Some are from the divine list, some from the arcane, but all are considered divine when he casts them. To cast a Calynite spell, a Calynite must have a Wisdom score of at least 10 + the spell’s level, so a Calynite with Wisdom of 10 or lower cannot cast these spells. Calynites have a very small selection of available spells, but may cast them all spontaneously, similar to how a sorcerer casts.

Entropic Shield (Sp): The Calynite has the ability to cast Entropic Shield, as the spell, once per day. His Calynite level is the caster level of the spell.

Broken Chains (Sp): At this point the Calynite has started to become a force of chaos. He now has the ability to break the magical control (“chains”) that one can have over another. This power takes effect in two ways. He can use this power as often as a cleric of two levels lower can turn undead. Any ability he has to turn undead from previous cleric levels are added to this total, and he can no longer use that ability to do so.
The first way it manifests is to disrupt turn/rebuke/command undead effects. The Calynite makes a roll as though he was attempting to turn the targeted undead, as though he were a cleric 2 levels lower. If he succeeds, the affected undead are now immune to any attempt to be turned/rebuked/commanded, and any current turn/rebuke/command in place ends immediately. This effect lasts for 1 round per Calynite level.
The second way this ability can take effect is to cancel mental compulsions. The Calynite can expend one use of this ability for the day to attempt to cancel any currently existing mental compulsion spell, and end the mental compulsion granted by summoning spells. These spells are: any Charm spell, any Geas spell, the Dominate Person spell, any Suggestion spell, any Summon spell, and any and all similar psionic abilities. Using this ability in this way has a touch range. At this point, a new will save is rolled, with a +2 bonus. This save is rolled using either the subjects will save, or the Calynite’s, whichever is higher. If the save is successful, the spell ends immediately. This may or may not cause the subject to attack the caster, it is DM’s discretion. Regardless, the subject no longer need follow the commands of the original caster.

Structural Decay (Su): A Calynite can now direct chaotic energy into large structures. Once per day equal to the Calynite’s charisma bonus, he may use this ability. To do so, he must spend at least 1 minute in concentration, and in physical contact with the targeted object or structure. Afterwards, the Calynite may make one full attack action at the designated target. This attack ignores hardness and damage reduction of the target.

Entropic Field (Su): The Calynite’s chaotic aura has become so strong at this point, that the ordered structure of magic begins to break down around him. Any magical effect which takes place within a 10 foot radius, centered on the Calynite, now has a 10% chance to fail as though all within the radius had successfully used SR. Note: This ability is not something that can be turned off, and it affects spells and spell-like abilities used by the Calynite as well as those cast by others.

Calyn’s Cloak (Sp): Once per day, the Calynite may use this ability to duplicate that of the spell Cloak of Chaos. This ability lasts for 1 round / level of Calynite. Unlike the spell, however, this effect only applies to the Calynite, not to others nearby.

Calynite Spell List
Calynites choose their spells from the following list:
1st Level: disguise self, lesser confusion, magic weapon, and silent image.
2nd Level: align weapon, invisibility, minor image, shatter
3rd Level: confusion, dispel magic, displacement, major image
4th Level: break enchantment, chaos hammer, dispel law, non-detection

Spells per day - 1st 2nd 3rd 4th
lvl 1 - 0, -, -, -
lvl 2 1, -, -, -
lvl 3 1, 0, -, -
lvl 4 1, 1, -, -
lvl 5 1, 1, 0, -
lvl 6 1, 1, 1, -
lvl 7 2, 1, 1, 0
lvl 8 2, 1, 1, 1
lvl 9 2, 2, 1, 1
lvl 10 2, 2, 2, 1


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Wahoo! Finally got it!

Alright, please read, review, and post suggestions. ;D

Gorbash Kazdar
2004-07-16, 10:52 AM
Interesting class concept, but I have to say overall its fairly weak. Low HD, middling number of skills, okay spells, and some okay and some weak class abilities.

Suggestions:
The Entropic Shield power is nice, but very weak. The spell itself is only of moderate utility - concealment versus ranged attacks - and its first level. I'd change it to gaining entropic shield 1/day at 1st level, and gaining an additional 1 per day every 2 levels, until 10th, where it's constantly active.
Aura of chaos is really an effect on the Calynite, rather than an ability. Keep it, it fits, but you should disregard it when deciding what abilities to grant. Detect law is very cool.
I'm really not sure about the rationale behind increased damage... With the low HD and some of the other powers, this strikes me as more of a caster style class, rather than a combat goon class. Given my other suggestions, I'd just drop it.
Zone of chaos is fine, but really seems to bring home the caster nature of the class. Between that and the last, I'd suggest making this a cleric class, with "+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class" at each level (except 5th and 10th, when he gets Broken Chains and Calyn's Cloak), and the Chaos domain as a prerequisite. The lower HD helps balance this nicely.
If you go with the above, you may want to redo the requirements further (fewer feats, perhaps, or a lower BAB?)
Structural decay seems interesting, but perhaps a bit weak. Maybe have it work as a stronger, non-combat shatter spell like ability (its significantly less powerful with a 1 minute activation)?
Broken Chains has some promise, but the first part simply doesn't make sense to me. Why should an agent of chaos affect undead? I'd suggest, instead, to further develop the second part of the power, as well as some form of resistance or immunity to mind-affecting compulsions for the Calynite as well.
To further the above, being so chaotic would probably further interfere with mind-affecting powers, so abilities like that would probably work quite well.
Entropic Field: Very interesting power... However, I think for one that the Calynite himself should be immune to it - after all, he's harnessing the forces of Chaos to use himself. Smart casters will simply stand outside his ring and cast, and combat types are unaffected, so I don't believe its overpowering, but it is quite powerful.
Calyn's Cloak is also quite cool :) However, Entropic Field may actually be more powerful... You may want to swap these two abilities. If so, you may want to add a very little to entropic field (maybe spells specifically targeting the Calynite may also fail. fireball would not be affected, but a scorching ray or a magic missile would), or increasing the failure chance, since as stated above smart casters would put as much distance between a Calynite and themselves as possible.
Something that occurred to me while reading this would perhaps be some form of "quirks" the Calynite acquires as he levels. I'm thinking along the lines of the taboos for Wu-Jen in Oriental Adventures or the drift experience by Geomancers. You'd have to be careful not to make them fit the "chaotic neutral means crazy" stereotype, but if they're more like the geomancer drift, it might be an interesting way to fit in more class mechanics and make each Calynite different - which makes sense for an agent of chaos ;)
I do really like the concept of the class, but it does need a little work. The main difficulty is the lack of focus - it seems to be a little combat, a little caster, and a little rogue. A class like that can work (I just described a bard, after all) but is difficult to balance. Also, PrCs are supposed to more specialized than normal classes.

Don't be afraid to overpower a PrC when you first make it - my grandfather always says "you can always cut a board shorter, but cutting it longer would take some work." I personally find toning down an overpowered class simpler than powering up an underpowered one - its easier to go too far and end up with an overpowered one anyways, and if you accidentally underpower an overpowered one, you already have some stuff to add back in to bring it back up to snuff.

All in all, great concept, and the beginnings of a very interesting PrC here. Good luck with the contest!

Zagaroth
2004-07-18, 02:52 PM
nitpcik: your ability list says 'detect Chaos', might want to edit that. :)

other than that, i think Gorbash has some good points.

Musrum
2004-07-20, 12:36 AM
Special: Must have had contact with a powerful being or deity of chaos, and been appointed to the position.
Being "appointed" to the position sounds a bit too formal for this class. You may just need to re-word it.

Ikkitosen
2004-07-20, 09:03 AM
Some of those abilities (okay, maybe one until I re-read) remind me of the Entropy spell sphere from Mage - always my favourite spells :) I have no idea whether you've played Mage, but it's worth a look (and it's really old now, so there's loads of stuff available).

Don't know about power - don't play enough DnD I'm afraid :'( Good job.

Ikki.

Zherog
2004-07-27, 02:21 PM
Here's my entry into this contest. Let me know what you all think. This is also my first attempt at making a prestige class.

It's your first time? I'll try to be gentle. :P


<<snipped flavor text>>

The flavor text is good. It held my attention and gives an overview of the class - both from a practical point of view (Uzarius using his Structural Decay ability) as well as a history.


Hit Die: d6.

Requirements
To qualify to become a Calynite, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Base Attack Bonus: +6.

Skills: Bluff 5 ranks, Disguise 3 ranks, and
Forgery 3 ranks.

Feats: Cleave, Improved Sunder, Power Attack.

Special: Must have had contact with a powerful being or deity of chaos, and been appointed to the position.

The hit die and skill requirements make me think Rogue; the feats, however, make me think fighter. A straight fighter would have a hard time getting into the class, because all those skills are cross-class. A straight rogue could do it, if he wanted to use his feats in a combat oriented manner. I'm thinking rogue 2/fighter 4 might be the best path to this class - at least off the top of my head.

I agree with Musrum that being "appointed" seems a bit too formal for this class.


Class Skills
The Calynite’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Bluff (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Forgery (Int), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Knowledge (the planes) (Int), Profession (Wis), and Ride (Dex).
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

I'd like to see Craft added to the list, just because I'm a believer that craft and profession should be class skills for every class. Also, Escape Artist seems like a skill that might fit this class nicely.



Class Skills

nitpick. Call this "Class Features" not "Class Skills"


Detect Law (Sp): At will, a Calynite can use detect law as a spell-like ability, duplicating the effect of the detect good spell.

As Zag pointed out, you have Detect Chaos on your table. Otherwise, this is a good ability.


Increased Damage (Su): As the Calynite learns to tap into the primal energies of chaos, he becomes able to direct these destructive forces at structures and creatures around him. Any damage he deals to a living creature or object is increased by 2 at level 1, two more at level 4 and ends up totaling 6 at level 7. This bonus damage bypasses damage reduction, but does not count towards the total damage needed to overcome it.

Does this bonus damage also bypass hardness? Does it have a type, or is it unnamed (and therefore stacks with everything)? Also, due to it's nature, be aware that by the rules, this damage multiplies on a critical hit.


Zone of Chaos (Su): The chaotic energies surrounding a Calynite begin to affect the magical energies that he uses. At 2nd level, the Calynite gets +1 to all rolls to overcome SR, and +1 to the DC of all his spells. At 6th level, this increases to +2.

Might be a bit strong, but other (weaker) abilities in the class may balance that out. I'd have to see how this ability played out during "playtesting."


Spells:

Spells don't appear on your table.


Entropic Shield (Sp): The Calynite has the ability to cast Entropic Shield, as the spell, once per day. His Calynite level is the caster level of the spell.

Entropic Shield is a first level spell. A character gaining this ability will be at least 9th level, meaning this is kinda weak as a once per day ability. I really don't think you'll break the game by making this an "always on" ability. At the minimum, I'd consider bumping the number of uses.


Broken Chains (Sp):

I don't know if the first way will see a lot of uses in most campaigns, but the second way certainly will. One spell you forget to mention was Dominate Monster. A nice ability. I recall seeing a similar ability somewhere, and it granted a +4 bonus to the will save. You may want to consider that.


Structural Decay (Su): A Calynite can now direct chaotic energy into large structures. Once per day equal to the Calynite’s charisma bonus, he may use this ability. To do so, he must spend at least 1 minute in concentration, and in physical contact with the targeted object or structure. Afterwards, the Calynite may make one full attack action at the designated target. This attack ignores hardness and damage reduction of the target.

Nice ability.


Entropic Field (Su): The Calynite’s chaotic aura has become so strong at this point, that the ordered structure of magic begins to break down around him. Any magical effect which takes place within a 10 foot radius, centered on the Calynite, now has a 10% chance to fail as though all within the radius had successfully used SR. Note: This ability is not something that can be turned off, and it affects spells and spell-like abilities used by the Calynite as well as those cast by others.

As worded, this ability will have no effect on spells that ignore SR. Is that what you intend?


Calyn’s Cloak (Sp): Once per day, the Calynite may use this ability to duplicate that of the spell Cloak of Chaos. This ability lasts for 1 round / level of Calynite. Unlike the spell, however, this effect only applies to the Calynite, not to others nearby.

This is a very good ability - duplicating an 8th level spell.


Calynite Spell List<<snipped list and spell progression table>>

Looks OK to me...

***

Overall, an interesting class. I don't know if I personally would play one, but I would certainly have little problems allowing it into any campaign I run.

Geethree
2004-07-27, 02:43 PM
Base Attack Bonus: +6.

Skills: Bluff 5 ranks, Disguise 3 ranks, and
Forgery 3 ranks.

Feats: Cleave, Improved Sunder, Power Attack. I might drop the skill ranks down to 3 (or 2) each, otherwise the character almost has to multiclass as a rogue or bard in order to take this PrC.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Calynites are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, with all types of armor, and with shields. Just a minor note, but you should clarify whether or not they are proficient with tower shields.

Your chart says "detect chaos" but the ability is "detect law."

Calynites have a very small selection of available spells, but may cast them all spontaneously, similar to how a sorcerer casts. This is confusing. A sorcerer has two charts: spells known and spells per day. The Calynite Warrior apparently only has a spells per day chart, which means he would cast like a cleric. Or are all of the CW's spells available to him at any time?

He can use this power as often as a cleric of two levels lower can turn undead.2 levels lower of what, the character's levels in the CW or the character's total class levels?

Overall I think it's a good class, though. I would be wary to allow a PC to take it, but it's still solid.

Invariel
2004-07-31, 07:22 PM
Personally, I like the ability to sever the connection between a cleric (or arcane caster) and their undead. It reflects the general chaoticness that the command aspect overrules. Furthermore,

Structural Decay (Su): A Calynite can now direct chaotic energy into large structures. Once per day equal to the Calynite’s charisma bonus, he may use this ability. To do so, he must spend at least 1 minute in concentration, and in physical contact with the targeted object or structure. Afterwards, the Calynite may make one full attack action at the designated target. This attack ignores hardness and damage reduction of the target.
that's worded rather confusingly. Once per day, the Calynite gets his Charisma as a bonus to the attack, or as many times per day as the Calynite has Charisma bonus, or ..?