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Umbra_Ex_Sol
2010-02-13, 03:54 PM
So, I haven't really ever played DnD seriously(have played DnD before, just never really got into it), but my friends have. So now I am joining their upcoming 3.5 campaign, and wanted to do something completely new. I came up with some homebrew ideas that need fleshing out concerning a class/race combination.
Race: The Minelos are a combination of Grand Turos (think the Tauren, but much more sophisticated and with a slightly more humanoid cast-available for viewing at dandwiki for references) and the Eilu ( a race of celestial people who manipulate the fundamental essence of astral powers. Long lost, the art of astral magic is legendary- this is a race i just made up from a custom Oblivion mod, and then created a huge backstory for). Basically, the Eilus show up, befriend the Grand Turos, and a section of the Grand Turos and the Eilus break off to go fight a war. They discover instead, a God by the name of Cernnunos, who changes their nature. Eventually, the Eilu and Grand Turos merge into one people, leaving no trace of the other Eilu and fading from the memory of the Grand Turos.
They basically look like this: grey, ashen skin, larger than human (much more muscular and standing from 7-8 feet tall), with solid color eyes resembling gems or stones. They have natural tattoos on their bodies, traced in fur as well, which depict their element and sub-element. They have horns as well, not huge and sweeping, but still formidable. Their horns, eyes,a nd tattoos are all colored after their elemental alignment.
The Minelos worship the living essence of all Nature, which is divided into 6 categories (wind, water, earth, fire, light, dark. Stereotypical, I know)- and each one worships a different essence within an element- smoke, ash, heat, and fire all fall under Primal Fire. As the essence is seen as a living thing, they are technically "Mancer" types- ashmancer, smokemancer, awakening the spirit of each to control/shape it to their bidding by linking their spirits to those of the element.
Class: The class I wanted to make was a crystalmancer. The idea was a Minelos who can manipulate crystals and gems- growing them rapidly, transmuting them from stone, shaping a familiar out of crystal, making battle minions.
The basic abilities for the class would be manipulating crystals (like crystal only telekinesis) in any area within a certain range, shaping crystals and rapidly growing them (need to have sculpting skill to shape them),and being able to imbue gems with elements to use them in casting elemental spells.
Take a weapon/arms crafting skill, and make crystalline weapons/armor.
Oh, and using light based, illusion style spells by controlling light through crystals.
Overall, I think it feels...druid-y. Which is fine, by me. Mostly, you use your natural affinity to fight, but in the end (given the large size of the Minelos) you can get in close and swing a sword if need be. Especially since many of the spells require close range. But the differences come in bonuses and special abilities- crystalline mind gives resistance to telepathy and mind control, crystal skin gives toughness type bonuses, etc.

Overall though, I need some help creating the spell ideas - I need things to fall back on besides crystal powers and gemstones- if I'm fighting a sonic creature, I need to still be able to fight if it crunches my crystals. I also need more ways to use my abilities- I have things like crystal mask (covers the face to cause suffocation/silence) and Crystal Maiden (encases in crystal and creates an Iron maiden type stabbing effect), but I just need more ways to get things done. I have a nice list, but any insight is helpful.

I also need help coming up with proficiencies. As well as racial stats and bonuses (I have and idea on +Str/Constitution, Climate resistance , gore, and a penalty to charisma, but any input is very welcome).

I have plenty of ideas, however it's the nuts and bolts that I have very little experience with that I need help on. There's alot more to this than I have stated, I have a bunch of ideas, I just tried to stay as condensed as possible. Ask me to elaborate on something, and I will be happy to. Overall, my DM likes the idea, has helped me with it, but he's busy lately and hasn't been able to help with it. He isn't too worried about the mechanics (like having limits on casted spells a day, etc) He's more into the Rp aspect, and likes to give us situations to defuse with our character's abilities.

I hope I haven't rambled on too much, and I hope some of you guys can help me out! Like I said, if you need elaboration, just ask about it!

Xallace
2010-02-13, 05:13 PM
Whoa wall of text. Why don't we take a moment to organize that blurb into neat, bite-sized chunks? Might get you more responses. Try the [spoiler] and [list] tags, might make it more manageable.

Which edition are we talking about here? Actually, are we even talking about Dungeons and Dragons? I assume so, but I can't see where you mention it.

Siosilvar
2010-02-13, 05:20 PM
Looking at it, your class wouldn't be very different from the 3.5 psion (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/classes/psion.htm).

Umbra_Ex_Sol
2010-02-13, 07:34 PM
Looking at it, your class wouldn't be very different from the 3.5 psion (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/classes/psion.htm).

Well, in some ways it seems similar, but the psionic seems sort of like a monk, in my head. The crystalmancer is more like a magicalwarrior type, with more of an emphasis on casting/manipulating crystals.

i wnet and added spoiler tags, hope that helps make the wall more manageable.

Scorpions__
2010-02-14, 10:40 PM
More like a monk than a magical warrior? I don't think so, where do you get monk from there? The monk has higher BAB, and flavourfully operates totally differently. That said warrior entails you might be better suited playing a psychic warrior with the psicrystal affinity feat, have you considered the psionic warrior?

Really, psionics has the whole crystal theme down, with powers like swarm of crystals and deepcrystal blades... What don't you like?

If this is your first time really getting into it, I suggest you just take it easy on the homebrew, there's already plenty of ways to be a 'crystalmancer.'





DM[F]R

erikun
2010-02-14, 11:43 PM
Psychic Warrior sounds like your most appropriate choice. Not only is it an excellent melee character, but psionics has the whole crystal theme. You can even pick up some fun Psion crystal powers, like Swarm of Crystals... although you won't be able to use them very much.

Outside of psionics, the Bard may be your best bet. It has several sonic-damage spells, and you can learn Perform(Harmonics) to "play" some kind of crystal instrument for bardic music. There are very, very few crystal-themed spells in D&D, though, so you'll probably need to design them yourself of find them and ask your DM to make them available for bards.

Lappy9000
2010-02-15, 01:31 PM
I can speak with experience when I say that coming up with crystal-based abilities can be quite difficult. If you need some inspiration, I made a crystalline race (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=6288470&postcount=8) a while back (3.5 stats near bottom of page) and Wizards has a Crystal Master (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20040625d) prestige class built for psionics.