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Rei_Jin
2006-03-19, 03:49 AM
Someone needs to make a "Wizzard" PrC.

And at your request, I give you The Wizzzard!



The Wizzzard

There are heroes who seem to reappear time after time, at the moment when the battle seems lost. This is not one of them. This is the coward of a thousand battles, the one who runs from everything.

Moreover, he knows about spells, he has trained in spells, but is utterly unable to cast anything even resembling magic, whether it be a scroll, a wand, or even a magic item.

Some consider him to be a cursed soul, but all he really wants is a nice bowl of potatoes.

A Wizzzard is most readily recognisable by their hat and robe, which is often tattered, torn and singed. Embroidered on the hat must be the word "Wizzard" with as many Z's as the wearer feels necessary, but it must be at least 2.

Normally completely craven, a Wizzzard is loathe to fight and spends 95% of his life running from things. This gives him a somewhat unique perspective on life, as he is always on the move. You would be hardpressed to find a better or more knowledgable guide, regardless of the location.

Due to their uncanny luck, Wizzzards are often known to be the ones who find ancient ruins, unknown of tribes, and sites of ancient evil. They are also known to be running far away from them, as fast as possible.

Most Wizzzards are utter cowards, but on a rare occasion they will stand and fight when they decide that something else is more important than their own survival. Normally, this has to be something akin to saving the world, but there have been exceptions...

Wizzzard

Alignment
Any nonlawful.

Hit Die
d6.

Class Skills
The Wizzzarrd's skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Appraise (Int), Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Gather Information (Cha), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Knowledge (all skills, taken individually) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Speak Language (None), Spellcraft (Int), Survival (Wis), Swim (Str), and Tumble (Dex).

Skill Points at 1st Level
(6 + Int modifier) ×4.

Skill Points at Each Additional Level
6 + Int modifier.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency
Wizards are proficient with the club, dagger, light crossbow, quarterstaff, and the improvised weapon Half-brick in a Sock, but not with any type of armor or shield. Armor of any type interferes with a wizzzard’s movements, which can cause his speed to drop and he loses his bonus to Armor Class.


Base Attack Bonus
Worst

Saves
Strong Fort, Refl, Will

Class Abilities

Non-proficiency
A Wizzzard is not proficient in the use of any weapons or armor outside of his proficiency list, and can never become proficient even with multiclassing or the taking of feats.

A Wizzzard can not cast any spells, or use any spell completion/spell trigger based items. He can use potions, and regular magical items as long as they do not require one to be able to cast spells. Even if he multiclasses or takes levels in a PrC these restrictions still apply

He can never gain ranks in the skill Use Magic Device.

He can never take the feat Leadership.

He can never worship any deity other than The Lady, she is a jealous mistress.

Languages
All languages, including Druidic, are on the list of Languages that a Wizzzard can learn. Moreover, he gains a bonus language at every even level after 1st level.

Hand of the Lady
Starting at level 1, the Wizzzard may affect chance around him in a way that signifies the way that the Lady uses him in her games. The Wizzzard may reroll a roll that he has just made before it is declared whether the roll results in success or failure. He must take the result of the reroll, even if it’s worse than the original roll.

This ability is usable once per day at level 1, twice per day at level 5, and therafter for every five levels he gains in this class he can use it once more per day.

At 8th level he gains the ability to select which of the two rolls he will take, signifying his growing value to the Lady

At 14th level he gains the ability to inflict this ability on his foes, forcing them to reroll and allowing him to select which roll they can use.

Defence of the Lady
A Wizzzard gains his Wisdom as a Bonus to his armor class, he always knows the best time to turn and run, or to stand and fight.

Uncanny Dodge
At 2nd level, a Wizzzard retains his Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) even if he is caught flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker. However, he still loses his Dexterity bonus to AC if immobilized. If a Wizzzard already has uncanny dodge from a different class, he automatically gains improved uncanny dodge instead.

Trap Sense
Starting at 3rd level, a Wizzzard gains a +1 bonus on Reflex saves made to avoid traps and a +1 dodge bonus to AC against attacks made by traps. These bonuses rise by +1 every three Wizzzard levels thereafter (6th, 9th, 12th, 15th, and 18th level). Trap sense bonuses gained from multiple classes stack.

Speedy retreat
At third level and at every 3 levels therafter a Wizzzard gains a +10ft bonus to his speed. This is lost if he ever puts on any armor or goes over a light load.

Evasion
At 4th level or higher if a Wizzzard makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, he instead takes no damage. Evasion can be used only if a Wizzzard is wearing light armor or no armor. A helpless Wizzzard does not gain the benefit of evasion.

Improved Uncanny Dodge
At 5th level and higher, a Wizzzard can no longer be flanked. This defense denies a rogue the ability to sneak attack the Wizzzard by flanking him, unless the attacker has at least four more rogue levels than the target has Wizzzard levels. If a character already has uncanny dodge from a second class, the character automatically gains improved uncanny dodge instead, and the levels from the classes that grant uncanny dodge stack to determine the minimum level a rogue must be to flank the character.

Mettle
At 9th level, a Wizzzard's evasion ability extends to cover anything that requires a Fortitude or Will save. If he makes his save, he is not affected at all by the spell. If he fails, he takes the full effect. A helpless Wizzzard does not gain the benefit of Mettle.

Improved Evasion
At 11th level, a Wizzzard’s evasion ability improves. He still takes no damage on a successful Reflex saving throw against attacks, but henceforth he takes only half damage on a failed save. A helpless Wizzzard does not gain the benefit of improved evasion.

Soul of the Lady
At 13th level, a Wizzzard gains spell resistance equal to his current wizzzard level + 10. In order to affect the Wizzzard with a spell, a spellcaster must get a result on a caster level check (1d20 + caster level) that equals or exceeds the Wizzzard’s spell resistance.

Improved Mettle
At 15th level, a Wizzzard's ability to avoid spells improves. When he makes a successful Reflex, Fortitude or Will save, he isn't affected by the spell. If he fails, he is affected as if he had passed the save and didn't have Improved Mettle ability. For example, he takes only half damage from a Fireball spell, and Disingterate spell gives him 5d6 points of damage (instead of disingterating him) even if he fails his save. See the specific spell descriptions for details. A helpless Wizzzard does not benefit from Improved Mettle.

Thwart Death
At 17th level the Wizzzard can roll with a potentially lethal blow to take less damage from it than he otherwise would. Once per day, when he would be reduced to 0 or fewer hit points by damage in combat (from any source), the Wizzzard can attempt to roll with the damage. To use this ability, the Wizzzard must attempt a Reflex saving throw (DC = damage dealt). If the save succeeds, he takes only half damage from the blow; if it fails, he takes full damage. He must be aware of the attack and able to react to it in order to execute this ability—if he is denied his Dexterity bonus to AC, he can’t use this ability. Since this effect would not normally allow a character to make a Reflex save for half damage, the Wizzzard’s evasion ability does not apply to Thwart Death ability, although it may be applied prior to it.

Coward of the ages
At 20th level, a Wizzzard's journey is complete, and he is the embodiment of the Ladie's will. The Wizzard becomes a magical creature. He is forevermore treated as an outsider rather than as a humanoid (or whatever the Wizzzard’s creature type was) for the purpose of spells and magical effects. Additionally, the Wizzzard gains damage reduction 10/magic, which allows him to ignore the first 10 points of damage from any attack made by a nonmagical weapon or by any natural attack made by a creature that doesn’t have similar damage reduction. Unlike other outsiders, the Wizzzard can still be brought back from the dead as if he were a member of his previous creature type. He no longer ages, and cannot die of old age.

So guys, what do you think? *;D

Jarl
2006-03-19, 03:55 AM
Don't forget the AC!
Or the languages!

-What else was there? Oh yeah, the hat! Must have the hat, otherwise how will people know you're a wizard?

Single Shot Zombie
2006-03-19, 03:55 AM
Whoopee!

Can't wait, can't wait, can't wait, can't wait, can't wait, can't wait, can't wait, can't wait, can't wait, can't wait, can't wait, can't wait, can't wait, can't wait, can't wait, can't wait........

Guy needs to be somewhat more athletic. Rincewind needed to run away a lot, remember? Give him fast movement or something.

Oh yeah, you might want to read this 3.0 Edition article I found some time ago for some inspiration. ;D

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/cc/20020401a

Dhavaer
2006-03-19, 03:59 AM
There was a PrC like this a while ago. It was like the Warhulk, only Dex based rather than Str based.

Jarl
2006-03-19, 04:03 AM
And chaste. Rincewind thought the buxom Amazons were offering potatos (maybe they were, dunno, I never spoke with them). Rincewind constantly is meeting newer, prettier faces, but never acts.
Of course, those faces are usually trying to kill him.
And he was trained in the noble Unseen University, where sex isn't just a crime, it's a war.

-Also somehow bring up the fact that people like to harm Wizzards, and Wizzards are the most likely of any class to stumble upon something ancient and eldritch.

Dragonmuncher
2006-03-19, 04:22 AM
Def. some sort of chance-related abilities- remember, Rincewind is a hero of Lady Luck (or maybe she just likes him? Not sure). But the ability only works when you don't depend on it.

Not sure how that would translate to game terms, though...

Def. some sort of SLA of Expeditious Retreat.

Rei_Jin
2006-03-19, 04:44 AM
AAANND...

It's done.

Feedback?

Jarl
2006-03-19, 04:47 AM
Gorgeous.

-Is the Coward of the Ages ability a reference to the events of FaustEric?

Dhavaer
2006-03-19, 04:47 AM
I like it.

Rei_Jin
2006-03-19, 04:49 AM
Do you think it's balanced? I would actually like to play it, I think it could be a lot of fun...

And yes, there are refences to many books.

EDIT: I have thrown in Spell resistance and Defensive Roll, that should just about complete him.

Jarl
2006-03-19, 04:53 AM
I'd play it, if my Magic Enthusiast wasn't already pretty darn close on his own.

-If I knew the art of PrC making, I'd create a Magic Enthusiast PrC, except you already made this, so I am redundant in thought and action.

Rei_Jin
2006-03-19, 05:11 AM
No, you are not redundant in thought and action. It would be interesting to see, especially to compare the two together.

Jarl
2006-03-19, 05:16 AM
Huh. "I am redundant in thought and action" pretty well describes the Magic Enthusiast, come to think of it.
Whatever.
I remember what was bugging me. Rincewind's lack of magic was caused by the Octavio (though there's some problems with Rincewind himself that excaberate the matter), but I don't know how that could apply to Wizzards as a class.

-Maybe they know one Epic level spell, can prepare it, but can never cast it unless... something. I dunno.

Leon
2006-03-19, 05:20 AM
Nice work

Rei_Jin
2006-03-19, 05:20 AM
Yeah, but that only applied for the first two books, and at times it gave him some magic to use. If I threw that in, he'd have to lose it after the first 2 or 3 levels.

EDIT: Thanks Leon!

Jarl
2006-03-19, 06:13 AM
True...

-In fact, after the spell leaves, and he goes back to the University (Mort, I believe) shouldn't he have learned magic? Loser.

Gyrfalcon
2006-03-19, 06:28 AM
Note: Level 20, Coward of the Ages, you need to edit out the 'monk's and replace them with 'wizzzards'.

Otherwise, not a bad class at all if you aren't planning to dungeon-crawl extensively, or if you have an understanding and heavily-armed party to tag along with. Playing an abject coward and failure as a wizard would be amusing too.

Somehow you should throw in the idea of Rincewind's hourglass, which has so many twists, turns, loops and portions disappearing into other dimensions, its quite possible his sand is running backwards. Or sideways.

Rei_Jin
2006-03-19, 06:37 AM
Bugger, thanks Gyrfalcon, I thought I'd edited all the other names out. Fixed now.

In regards to his hourglass, that's why he's got the modified defensive roll ability, hence why I called it Thwart Death.

I see this guy as being just about impossible to kill, but also useless in combat. He gets the same kind of place that a Bard would in most parties - You wouldn't want him as one of the primary four, but he'd make a really fun fifth character, and he'd be very useful. He's got lots of skills, survival ability, lots of Languages, and he's not likely to take the thunder from the other characters.

In short, a great NPC to run. And you have the benefit of not needing to fudge his abilities, he gets them all as part of his class!


-In fact, after the spell leaves, and he goes back to the University (Mort, I believe) shouldn't he have learned magic? Loser.
In theory, yes. But it was far funnier to have him become the Librarian's Assistant. He already hated magic, and being bad at it was one of the few things he did well.

No one was quite so good at being bad at magic as Rincewind, especially on a planet that actually had magic in Physical form. For goodness sake, the average person had more magical ability than Rincewind, for whom it is assumed that he actually had a Negative ability with Magic.

Gyrfalcon
2006-03-19, 06:49 AM
I took 'Thwart Death' as all the times that Rincewind *should* have died when the over-armed amazon/barbarian/hero/horror/Death stand-in went for him and missed. :D

I just think it'd be a nifty item, maybe something that you can get at level 20 that casts Time Stop so you can get a head start on the bad guy. Given the Wizzard's complete inability to fight, he couldn't use it offensively without a lot of work.

Rei_Jin
2006-03-19, 06:54 AM
I'd use it as more of an in-game descriptive event...

Player: Uh oh, did you say he was armed, and coming for me? Come on feet, do your thing!

DM: Time seems to slow down for you, and you see a shadowed and cloaked figure swinging for you with his scythe. Time to make a reflex save

Player: Crap! I uh, roll a *rolls dice* 15! Add that to my base... ok a 25 with evasion!

DM: You manage to duck under the scythe, at which point the shadowed figure snaps his fingers in disgust. Time speeds back up, and you realise that you just managed to dodge a Fireball

Player: Phew! Close one there...

DM: So what do you do now?

Player: Run like hell!

Gyrfalcon
2006-03-19, 06:56 AM
Hehe, that works too. All your friends around you might be a little charred, but you're already out of the dungeon... and still accelerating. :)

Rei_Jin
2006-03-19, 07:04 AM
I would soooo love to play this guy in a campaign here. It would be mucho fun. Now, to find someone willing to let me play him...

Thiel
2006-03-19, 07:35 AM
What are the stats for the sand in a sock?

Dhavaer
2006-03-19, 07:41 AM
Shouldn't it be half-a-brick in a sock?

Single Shot Zombie
2006-03-19, 07:44 AM
Heh, nice one, Rei_Jin.

We should make more classes and items, and patch together a Discworld splatbook.

Rei_Jin
2006-03-19, 07:49 AM
Half-brick in a sock

Light weapon
Stats:
Small Damage 1d4
Medium Damage 1d6
Critical Range ×2
Weight 2 lb.
Damage Bludgeoning

Half-brick in a sock is an Improvised weapon usable only by a Wizzzard without penalty. Other characters may use it as an exotic weapon which incurs a -4 penalty to hit without the relevant feat.

You cannot magically imbue Half-brick in a sock, but you can double wield it as a light weapon. The term Half-brick in a sock is actually incorrect, it can be anything that has sufficient weight to be used to deal damage placed in the end of a sock, however, it must be one of the Wizzzard's own socks that he uses to be able to wield it.

If you manage to get a critical hit with Half-brick in a sock, the creature you just hit is stunned for one round. The drawback of this is that the sock breaks, dropping the Half-brick and making it useless until it is repaired. This ability is specific to Half-brick in a sock and cannot be emulated by any magical effect. Note that this ability also works regardless of the anatomy or make up of the enemy struck with it.

Rei_Jin
2006-03-19, 07:53 AM
Being at work I couldn't remember if it was a half brick or sand, but I do remember there being plenty of sand when he went to the Dungeon Dimensions.

And on the subject of a Discworld Splatbook, I'd love to do something like that. I have the GURPS Discworld book at home, and we can adapt things from that to D&D.

Dhavaer
2006-03-19, 07:54 AM
I know he defeated Coin with a half-brick-in-a-sock, but he might have used sand against the Things.

Single Shot Zombie
2006-03-19, 07:55 AM
(Imagines some guy swinging around two socks filled with sand, a sock in each hand.)

Ooh, that would be fun.

One problem is that the player would have to keep track of the socks and sand that he's carrying. Another problem would be that he'd have to carry a few around, in case of criticals.

And by saying "Note that this ability also works regardless of the anatomy or make up of the enemy struck with it.", are you implying that monsters normally immune to stunning or blinding (i.e. constructs, undead, mosnters without eyes etc.) are still affected by the Sand in a Sock?

(Or Half-brick in a Sock, whatever.)

Rei_Jin
2006-03-19, 07:57 AM
Yes, indeed I am. You can't tell me that the being from the Dungeon Dimensions had standard anatomy or should have been able to be stunned, yet he did it.

Yuki Akuma
2006-03-19, 07:59 AM
You left "defensive roll" in the description of the Thwart Death ability once, you used the female possessive pronoun before the first instance, and before the last instance you seem to think the ability belongs to a rogue.


Heh. I love it! I'd definitely play one. Not sure what use it would be, but...

Rei_Jin
2006-03-19, 08:03 AM
Ok, should all be fixed now.

Did I miss anything else?

I always envisioned Rincewind being used as a guide/diplomat. The perfect NPC for a group of Kick-in-the-door players. Not only does he do the stuff that they can't, he refuses to take part in combat, is impossible to kill, and refuses to do anything that he believes will take him somewhere more dangerous without significant convinicing.

Single Shot Zombie
2006-03-19, 08:18 AM
Point taken. :P

Not trying to steal your thunder or anything, but when I saw the Half-brick in a Sock, this feat idea came to mind:

Spinning Blow (General, Fighter)

Prerequisites: Strength 13, proficiency in selected weapon (see below), Weapon focus in selected weapon (see below).

When a character selects this feat, choose one of the following weapons: dire flail, flail, heavy flail, half-brick in a sock, nunchaku, sling, spiked chain, whip.

By spending a standard action that provokes attacks of opportunity, the character can swing the weapon around rapidly to deal extra damage on his next attack, using centrifugal force to magnify the force of the blow. The character can choose not to execute the attack on his next move, but he needs to spend a standard action (still provoking attacks of opportunity) each round maintaining the spin.

Such an attack deals 2x normal damage on a successful hit, rounded down. Calculate the normal damage done by the hit, and then double the damage done. Do not factor in the extra damage from weapon special abilities, enhancement bonuses or external sources; only the weapon's base damage and the user's Strength modifier are factored into the calculation. For double weapons (i.e. spiked chain, dire flail), the character only attack with one end of the weapon.

If the attack of opportunity is successful or the character performs his next attack, the character loses the benefits of Spinning Blow. If the character is stunned, paralyzed, asleep, knocked unconscious or is made oterwise incapable of action, he likewise loses the benefits of the feat.

This feat can be taken multiple times; each time, it applies to a different weapon on the list.

A fighter can take Spinning Blow as one of his fighter bonus feats.

Note: The DM can allow other weapons thematically similar to those in the above list to benefit from Spinning Blow, at his own discretion.

(Filled up loose ends, and increased the damage a bit as it seemed nerfed after editing.

EDIT 2: Also added the Strength req; one would think that you'd need to be strong enough to hold the spinning in check.)

Rei_Jin
2006-03-19, 08:22 AM
Not bad, not bad at all. I'm actually considering giving it a range increment of 10ft, allowing you to gather momentum and hurl it at an enemy.

Imagine the PrC: Sock of Doom!

Heh, just looked up what damage it would do if wielded by a Collosal Creature

4d6!

That's one heck of a sock!

Hoseki
2006-03-19, 08:28 AM
*Has been making stats for Luggages and humbly requests to take part in this splatbook idea 'cause Discworld PWNS*

Cool class, I can't see anything wrong with it.

Rei_Jin
2006-03-19, 08:33 AM
Cool! Another writer. Glad you like the class.

Most of the things that would be in the Discworld book would be campaign specific stuff. There would be a couple of new races, modifications to existing ones, Area Specific feats, a couple of new general feats, restrictions on classes and PrCs, some new items, and a few new classes and PrCs like this one.

Of course, it would have to be totally unofficial and only available on the net, without mentioning specific characters, otherwise we'd get sued to hell and back.

Yuki Akuma
2006-03-19, 08:42 AM
I'd love to take part in a Discworld splat book project.

Also, I'm sure that you can mention names in free publications under the fair use laws. After all, fanfiction writers get away with it.

Dhavaer
2006-03-19, 08:44 AM
I'm pretty sure Pratchett doesn't care as long as you don't try and make money out of it.
If you do, though, he sics the lawyers on you.

Rei_Jin
2006-03-19, 08:45 AM
I'm not entirely sure about that. Reason being is that the Online SRD can't give stats for things specifically owned by WoTC without being sued, even though it is free and not intended for profit.

Nonetheless, I could always email Terry Pratchett and ask him how he feels about it...

Yuki Akuma
2006-03-19, 08:46 AM
I doubt he'd mind if you were making no money from it.

Hey, he might even be interested in publishing the book. You never know...

Single Shot Zombie
2006-03-19, 09:03 AM
Well, yeah. Not sure if Terry Pratchett knows of this site's existence, though........

And speaking of feats, let's make Spinning Blow the start of a feat chain!

Burst Impact (General, Fighter)

Prerequisites: Strength 13, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Half-brick in a Sock), Weapon Focus (Half-brick in a Sock), Spinning Blow (Half-brick in a Sock).

A character with this feat can smash or hurl a half-brick in a sock with such force that it fragments on impact, heavily damaging anything that it hits.

On an attack with the half-brick in a sock that benefits from Spinning Blow, the character gains a +4 to confirm a critical threat with that attack, and can bypass up to 5 points of hardness with that attack.

A successful hit fragments the half-brick in a sock, irretrievably destroying it. The character can choose whether or not to apply the effects of Burst Impact to his attacks with the half-brick in a sock.

Anything that would disrupt the character from utilising Spinning Blow also prevents him from using Burst Impact.

A fighter can take Burst Impact as one of his fighter bonus feats.

Rei_Jin
2006-03-19, 09:08 AM
Nice one. Keep em coming.

I've sent an email off, hoping to get his contact details or at least those of his lawyers. I'll let you know how it goes. I doubt it will be a problem, but I don't want to get sued and I'd prefer to take the safe route.

Single Shot Zombie
2006-03-19, 09:47 AM
I'm thinking, I'm thinking........in the meantime, someone do the Sourcerer or something.

Between the Eyes (General, Fighter)

Prerequisites: Strength 13, proficiency with sling, Weapon Focus (sling), Spinning Blow (sling), Point Blank Shot.

With this feat, a character can blast an opponent within 30 ft. with a sling bullet, dealing heavy damage and blinding the enemy.

On a successful attack with a sling that benefits from Spinning Blow, the enemy must make a successful Fortitude save (DC equal to the total damage dealt) or be blinded for 1d3 rounds.

Enemies that are immune to being blinded (or have no eyes to speak of) are not affected by Between the Eyes.

Anything that would disrupt the character from utilising Spinning Blow also prevents him from using Between the Eyes.

A fighter can take Between the Eyes as one of his fighter bonus feats.

Ladoran
2006-03-19, 09:57 AM
I love this class Rei Jin! And all the other suggestions are great as well. Would definitely like to see a d20 book on Discworld :).

EDIT: Gah! My poor brain seemed to think that this was a PrC. That's what happens when your hangover is threatening to kill you :).

Rei_Jin
2006-03-19, 09:58 AM
Well, it's not a PrC Ladoran, more a full class.

The only question I have, which no-one has been able to answer for me is...

Is it balanced?

Hoseki
2006-03-19, 10:14 AM
If you made it combat-friendly, it wouldn't be true to the Wizzard, and as is, weapon non-proficiency, no magic items, deity limitations... it's rather underpowered, especially if RPed well. It reeks of an NPC class.

Ladoran
2006-03-19, 10:14 AM
Yes I was just correcting my previous post to say that it was a class and not a PrC, but you beat me to the punch :).

About balance. I think it depends on which kind of campaign this is run in. He is underpowered when it comes to dungeoncrawling I think. Mostly because of his inability to fight properly of course. However in a heavy roleplaying campaign without much combat this should be a very good class since he would most likely have high intelligence. Hard to answer actually, not that this has kept me from trying (without too much success I fear :)). All in all I think this class is balanced fine. And if he IS overpowered, at least it's not in the direction of combat brute like most other classes and prestige classes.

However I don't really see him as part of a normal adventuring party if he is played with the same personality as Rincewind. He has to be railroaded on adventures or have them dropped on his head, and this works better in a "single-player" setting. On the other hand Rincewind often ends up as part of a group and I guess the DM and the player could play on the "hero of The Lady" thing to get him involved.

Single Shot Zombie
2006-03-19, 10:14 AM
Plum out of feat ideas for the Spinning Blow chain........

As for the Wizzzzard, a friend of mine said it was imbalanced. He is totally sucky in terms of attacking, but........his capability to run away from just about everything is gay.

My 2cp on what I suggest to be changed:

Remove the damage reduction. I think the Wizzzzard is more the kind to prevent himself from being hit, rather than to actually take the blow.

Set a level on when Hand of the Lady comes into play; definitely not 1st as it'll be kinda overpowered at the start.

You might want to nerf Speedy Retreat a little, to be equivalent to the monk's speed increase with Fast Movement.

I don't see how there can be a partial effect for spells like dominate person on a failed save, so Improved Mettle needs reworking.

And as for dungeon-crawling........a Wizzzzard could be a scout.

Rei_Jin
2006-03-19, 10:41 AM
Ok, I've done as suggested.

Damage Reduction as Barbarian: Nerfed.

Speed Boost: Altered to match Monk.

Improved Mettle: Reworded to hopefully make more sense.

Hand of the Lady: Now has a level dependant power rating. It starts out the same as the Luck domain ability, and gets stronger as he levels up.

Do you think he should get something akin to Bardic Knowledge? It would make sense, he seems to know something about just about everything...

Single Shot Zombie
2006-03-19, 10:55 AM
Hmmm, I dunno about that one. There still seems to be something missing from the wording of Improved Mettle........

Gonna shift the Spinning Blow feat chain to the Splatbook thread (copy and paste!).

All future incidences of Spinning Blow feats (and other feats by me, for that matter) will be in the following thread:

http://www.giantitp.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=gaming;action=display;num=1142781558 ;start=0#0

endoperez
2006-03-19, 01:12 PM
Improved Mettle
At 15th level, a Wizzzard's ability to avoid spells improves. When he makes a successful Reflex, Fortitude or Will save, he isn't affected by the spell. If he fails, he is affected as if he had passed the save and didn't have Improved Mettle ability. For example, he takes only half damage from a Fireball spell, and Disingterate spell gives him 5d6 points of damage (instead of disingterating him) even if he fails his save. See the spesific spell's description for details. A helpless Wizzzard does not benefit from Improved Mettle.

I know English, but I'm not very good in Legalese. Does that look good?

Also, it isn't a Wizard that is proficient with the Half-Brick-in-a-Sock.


Hand of the Lady seems like a very flavourful ability. I think it should be useable more often. Maybe change it so that if you use the Hand more than once per day (or twice at 20th), you gain Negative Karma, which the GM has to use to force you to reroll any one roll.

Rei_Jin
2006-03-19, 01:16 PM
Yep, thats looks just about fine. I'll be forced to steal that now.

*Yoink!*

Oh, and in regards to the Hand of the Lady? I'm not sure about the negative Karma idea. Dms already have enough fun with the players, they don't need another way to screw with them.

On the other hand, maybe increasing it to Usable 1+Charisma Modifier/day (minimum 1) would be a good idea?

And then ignore the level 20 boost?

Dragonmuncher
2006-03-19, 02:14 PM
Yep, thats looks just about fine. I'll be forced to steal that now.

*Yoink!*

Oh, and in regards to the Hand of the Lady? I'm not sure about the negative Karma idea. Dms already have enough fun with the players, they don't need another way to screw with them.

On the other hand, maybe increasing it to Usable 1+Charisma Modifier/day (minimum 1) would be a good idea?

And then ignore the level 20 boost?

Yeah, considering this is one of the key abilities of the Wizzard, I'd say it should be useable more than once a day. Don't know if making Cha the modifier seems right (Rincewind doesn't really have high Cha, does he?) but 1+something would be good.

Maybe something as simple as he gets another use once every 4 levels, or something.

Illsbane
2006-03-19, 07:54 PM
This is getting really good ... Though it might be interesting to make a quality that reflects Rincewind's / the Wizzard's ability to find allies and/or friends in the most unlikely locations. He'll never have Leadership, but he might have contacts from all his travels.

Jarl
2006-03-19, 08:51 PM
Nonetheless, I could always email Terry Pratchett and ask him how he feels about it...
As I recall, the only problem he has with fan stuff is that he can't read it, for fear of becoming "tainted" or whatever, as he then can't use whatever little things may be in the story as his own without worrying that his tabula isn't as raza as it needs to be.

-He had to scrape an entire storyline because of a fan fic once.

Rei_Jin
2006-03-19, 09:40 PM
Well, the email has been passed on to him now, so I'm eagerly awaiting a reply.

The_Werebear
2006-03-19, 09:56 PM
If you do get one, put it up on the board. That would be too cool.

Rei_Jin
2006-03-19, 09:59 PM
Regardless of what it says, I will put it up at the start of the Splatbook thread.

Gralamin
2006-03-20, 01:11 AM
It seems good to me just a few suggestions:
make run a free feat at level 1 (why would a wizzard not have it?), and perhaps give it some abilities to help a group run away.

Rei_Jin
2006-03-20, 01:18 AM
But doing so would assume that the Wizzzard cares about other people... he's only interested in his own hide. Sometimes he gets a bee in his bonnet about the greater good, but that's fairly rare and doesn't normally include those he travels with.

Free run feat though, I might have to consider that one...

Gralamin
2006-03-20, 01:21 AM
Didn't he make twoflower run away from things with him in the first two books? I think that qualifies as good.

...Oh wait he was being paid quite well. nevermind then

Rei_Jin
2006-03-20, 01:23 AM
Yeah, being paid a huge sum of money AND being promised that the Patrician WILL kill you if harm befalls your party will make any Wizzzard care a little more about his companion.

Leperflesh
2006-03-20, 08:42 PM
This isn't a character class.

It's a character: Rincewind. The more you customize the class to fit Rincewind's abilities (as they appear in the book), the less flexible the class will be to play it as anything else.

I think you should just stat out Rincewind (as an NPC).. he'd probably be some form of multi-class character, with some unique feats.

I'd be pretty dismayed to play a game where Wizzzard characters popped up here and there - it wouldn't really feel like Discworld to me...

Having said that, you guys have done a great job statting him out!

-Lep