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Sir_Chivalry
2010-05-10, 09:54 PM
Base thread for sanding out my ideas: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=149641

Hello all again. This time, I'm taking a walk on the good side, and doing a two-fold homebrew project. There are no angelic paragons, and due to certain restrictions, I can't use archangels, so I'm creating both angelic paragons and PrCs for those from whole cloth. This is the first of the bunch, the Commander of Isamukemen! Fluff for the angelic paragon coming soon, but I'll start with the basics now.

Isamukemen (Ee-saw-muu-kay-men) rules justly over his angelic bretheren in Arcadia from the Cathedral of the Honoured Vow, on a large floating citadel orbiting the Orb of Day and Night. The cathedral is a place of war, always preparing for the next incursion from the formians, or readying to send aid to the other celestial planes to stem the tide of demonic or infernal invasion.

Isamukemen is a tall figure, with emerald skin and a bald head. Like the warriors of some Material Plane barbarian tribes, he is covered in ritual scars. But unlike the Material warriors, his scars are not tokens of his victories, but of each warrior he has lost, mortal, angel or archon. His right arm, long ago lost to a pit fiend in battle, is now replaced by a mechanical arm, forged in one of the forge-creches of the inevitables as a gift in his war upon the formians. He is protected by a suit of brigandine armour, riveted with formian chitin on the inside. When joining combat, he often wields a halberd bearing a standard depicting a ring of celestial script enclosed by a square imbedded in a sun, his symbol. What the mortal versions of the script say vary depending on the order, but Isamukemen's merely outlines his three unbreakable laws: That innocents are to be unharmed, that the enemy must be captured alive unless innocents will be harmed, and that everything must be done to win, unless it would interfere with the previous two.

Though known for his never-ending readiness for war, Isamukemen is noted for his gentle nature. He never raises his voice outside of battle, and demands of those sworn to him to do that same. His followers usually consist of paladins, marshals, and anyone who must command, whether large armies or small groups. Though he believes first and formost that an action taken to right injustice is itself just, he places importance on showing mercy and honour in combat.

His order among mortals takes inspiration from his war against the formians. Much as they grind others beneath their many legs to bring the multiverse to order, so too will many mortal factions stop at nothing to gain control of their fellow mortals. The mortal Order of the Honoured Vow seeks out slavers, conquerers and usurpers to ensure they do not abuse power, putting a stop to these violations where they can. Among like-minded allies, the commanders of this order can push them to new heights of courage and resolve. These commanders become fonts of inspiration and courage in Isamukemen's name.

Commander of Isamukemen

Requirements
To qualify to become a commander of Isamukemen, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.
Alignment: Any good
Skills: Diplomacy 8 ranks, Knowledge (Religion) 8 ranks, Perform (oratory) 4 ranks, Speak Language (Celestial)
Feats: Acolyte of the Archangels (Isamukemen), Words of Creation
Class Features: Aura of Courage

Commander of Isamukemen
hit dice:d10
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Spellcaster

1st|
+1|
+2|
+0|
+2|Improved aura of courage|-

2nd|
+2|
+3|
+0|
+3|Celestial link +1|+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class

3rd|
+3|
+3|
+1|
+3|Angelic strategy (resistance)|-

4th|
+4|
+4|
+1|
+4| Celestial link +2|+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class

5th|
+5|
+4|
+1|
+4|Courage in battle, Isamukemen's training|-

6th|
+6|
+5|
+2|
+5|Angelic strategy (battle), celestial link +3|+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class

7th|
+7|
+5|
+2|
+5|Arcadia's readiness, scars of martyrdom|-

8th|
+8|
+6|
+2|
+6| Celestial link +4|+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class

9th|
+9|
+6|
+3|
+6|Angelic strategy (weakness)|-

10th|
+10|
+7|
+3|
+7| Celestial link +5, gift of law|+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class [/table]

Class Skills
The commander of Isamukemen’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (all) (Int), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), and Sense Motive (Wis).

Skill Points
2 + Int modifier per level

Improved Aura of Courage: A commander of Isamukemen’s aura of courage has a radius of 10 feet per class level and the bonus granted to allies within the radius becomes 4+half the commander of Isamukemen’s class level (rounded down).

Celestial Link: As a standard action, a 2nd level commander of Isamukemen can create a mental support network for his allies. While this effect is active, all allies within the commander’s aura of courage (including the commander himself) whose Hit Dice are equal to or less than his character level gain a +1 sacred bonus on Will saves and telepathy with all allies with the aura of courage. This bonus increases by 1 for every two additional commander of Isamukemen levels after the 2nd. The commander can affect one ally per point of Charisma modifier with this ability, but never himself.

Angelic Strategy: Once per day per point of charisma bonus, a 3rd level commander of Isamukemen can draw upon his expansive knowledge of monsters, granting his allies benefits against the creatures they face. Doing this counts as a move action. The secrets of angelic strategy pertain only to aberrations, elementals, magical beasts, outsiders, or undead.

A commander of Isamukemen unlocks new angelic strategy abilities as his level increases and can also call upon his angelic strategy more often, gaining one additional daily use for every three additional commander of Isamukemen levels (+1 at 6th level, +2 at 9th level).

Using angelic strategy requires a Knowledge check of a type appropriate to the creature faced. A Knowledge (arcana) check reveals secrets of magical beasts, Knowledge (dungeoneering) pertains to aberrations, Knowledge (religion) covers undead, and Knowledge (the planes) applies to outsiders and elementals. The DC of the check is 15.

Most of the commander of Isamukemen’s angelic strategy abilities increase
in effectiveness if he succeeds on his Knowledge check by 10 or more. Angelic strategy can only be used once against any given creature. The commander of Isamukemen’s angelic strategy can affect a single creature
or all creatures of the same race, depending on the effect used. A target creature must be within 60 feet, and the commander of Isamukemen must be aware of the creature’s presence, although he need not have a line of sight to it. The effects of angelic strategy last for 1 minute, unless stated otherwise.

Resistance: At 3rd level a commander of Isamukemen can use this ability to to help his allies fight off the corrupting influence of other creatures. Allies within 60 feet of the commander of Isamukemen gain a +1 bonus on saving throws against the affected creature’s abilities. If the commander of Isamukemen succeeds on his Knowledge check by 10 or more, this bonus increases to +2. If the commander of Isamukemen succeeds on his Knowledge check by 20 or more, this bonus increases to +3.

Battle: At 6th level a commander of Isamukemen can use this ability to aid in battle against certain foes, granting his allies a +1 bonus to AC and attack rolls made against the selected foes. If the commander of Isamukemen succeeds on his Knowledge check by 10 or more, then this bonus increases to +2. If the commander of Isamukemen succeeds on his Knowledge check by 20 or more, then this bonus increases to +3.

Weakness: At 9th level a commander of Isamukemen can use this ability to expose the weaknesses of his foes and even speak words of power to immobolize them. A commander of Isamukemen can direct his allies to attack vital spots of his enemies. On a successful Knowledge check, he grants them a bonus to weapon damage rolls made against the target creatures equal to 1d6 points of damage. If the commander of Isamukemen succeeds on his Knowledge check by 10 or more, then this bonus increases to 2d6. If the commander of Isamukemen succeeds on his Knowledge check by 20 or more, then this bonus increases to 3d6. Also the commander may select one target creature of the chosen type. By speaking aloud a dread secret of the target creature, a commander of Isamukemen can dazzle a target creature for 1 round. Unlike other angelic strategy, this ability can be used only against a single creature. If the commander of Isamukemen succeeds on his Knowledge check by 10 or more, then the target is dazed for 1 round. If the commander of Isamukemen succeeds on his Knowledge check by 20 or more, then the target is stunned for 1 round (if the target is immune to being stunned but not immune to being dazed, such as most undead, then the commander of Isamukemen can choose to daze the target instead of stunning it).

Note: This ability counts as Dark Knowledge for the purpose of feats and the like, such as Archivist of Nature and Draconic Archivist (which would allow the commander to use this ability on giants and fey, and constructs and dragons respectively.)

Courage in Battle: Allies within a 5th level commander of Isamukemen's aura of courage may make an aid another action once per round in place of a normal attack. A 12th level fighter could make two attacks and then an aid another action, for instance. The ally can still only aid another once per round.

Isamukemen's Training: At 5th level, Isamukemen begins sending instructional dreams to his commanders, training them while they sleep to defeat enemies they will encounter in their waking life. As long as a commander has rested his needed time the night before, he receives a bonus on Knowledge checks to identify creatures equal to his class level.

Arcadia's Readiness: All allies within the Aura of Courage of a 7th level commander of Isamukemen gain the effects of the Endurance feat, though it does not count as the feat for prerequisites. They are also able to undertake strenuous activity for 50% longer (see rules on Forced Marches) before having to make Constitution checks.

Scars of Martyrdom: Once per day, for 10 rounds, a 7th level commander of Isamukemen can cast shield other on one ally within his aura of courage per point of Charisma modifier, except that the commander takes all hit point damage from any attack on the targets of this ability. The commander also gains fast healing 5 for the duration of this effect. This effect cannot be ended prematurely.

Gift of Law: A 10th level commander of Isamukemen is given a mighty gift by his paragon. The night after obtaining 10th level in this class, Isamukemen visits the commander in a dream, bestowing upon him pieces of inevitable armour that he received from his allies in Mechanus. Part of the commander's body is transformed into metal and gears, giving the commander a 25% chance to negate critical hits and sneak attack damage. The commander ceases to age from this point on, though he can still die from damage. The commander also gains a weakening touch attack once per day. If the commander hits with the attack, it deals no damage, but if the target has DR, it loses up to 10 points of it for 1 minute. The commander can use this touch additional times per day, but must expend two turn undead attempts each time.

And the Acolyte of the Archangels feat
Acolyte of the Archangels (Isamukemen) [Exalted]
You swear fealty to Isamukemen, mighty general of celestial armies and bastion against the spread of unthinking law.
Benefit: Once per day, you may make a rousing speech as a full-round action. Make a Diplomacy check against a DC of 15. On a success, all allies within 60 ft gain a +(1 + 1 for every four points over 15 the result is, max +5) sacred bonus to attacks, saves and damage for one round per character level.

You may also immediately add one Knowledge skill of your choice to your list of class skills. Thereafter, you treat that skill as a class skill, regardless of which class you are advancing in. Whenever you fight an evil creature, you can make a Knowledge check based on its type, as described on page 78 of the Player's Handbook, provided that you have at least one rank in the appropriate Knowledge skill.

You then receive an insight bonus on attack rolls and damage rolls against evil creatures of that creature type for the remainder of the combat. The amount of the bonus depends on your Knowledge check result, as given on the following table.

{table=head]Check Result|Bonus Granted

15 or lower| +1

16-25| +2

26-30| +3

31-35| +4

36 or higher| +5[/table]

You can make only one Knowledge check per creature type per combat. If you fight evil creatures of multiple types during the same combat, you can make one Knowledge check per type, thereby possibly gaining different bonuses against different opponents. This benefit is an extraordinary ability.

Special: Once you take this feat, you may not take it again, nor can you take either the Servant of the Heavens feat, Knight of the Stars or the Favored of the Companions feat. Your allegiance is only yours to give once.

Tibbaerrohwen
2010-05-10, 10:37 PM
I can see the potential of the PrC. It is full of flavour for RPing, as I expect the following Angelic Paragons will. It has a good balance between its support role and combat role, which I think is essential!
I feel like it could use more, but the pacing of abilities and the balance of the class works fine as is, and I worry any change may take away from its current elegance. At the same time, however, it feels underpowered in comparison to your Disciple PrCs.

Mulletmanalive
2010-05-11, 08:08 AM
Hmmm.

I bardic gish-style class that acts as a front line leader. It has potential.

My usual thing of only really being able to link things to fluff is still a little sticky so here are my initial thoughts:

1) unless they work differently to the bard abilities, Inspire Greatness and Heroics are both Concentration effects, thereby removing the character from combat at his highest levels.
2) I'm not getting a strong "lawful" vibe of this. Somehow, i'd see the bardic abilities more along the lines of a Chaotic paragon, inspiring personal greatness from his allies.
3) To me, Law would include an ability that allows him to form a temporary information link with his formation commanders [a la Rary's Telepathic Bond], some abilities to allow for redeployment and some abilites that grant powers to allies when they're adjacent to other allies.
3b) Continuing from the above point, possibly the greatest capstone i can think of is that all allies within his courage aura should gain the effects of Shield Other when adjacent to an ally. The tricky part here is that you'd have to figure out how to deal with situations where three+ dudes are crammed together.
4) Possible tasty Lawful leader abilities:
Allies within the radius of effect treat Aid Another as an Attack action [so they can use their lamest iterative attack for it].
Personal Range divine spells stick to all characters touching you, a swift action, [within the aura] for a duration of 1 round [maybe more].
Ability to sacrifice spell slots to grant Fast Healing [probably 5] to all allies within the aura for rounds equal to the spell level.
The obvious bonuses to AC when forming Shield Walls
Sharing save bonuses with adjacent allies within the aura
Readied Actions to strike simultaneously with an ally deals damage as an Axiomatic weapon if both hit [or maybe a holy weapon because of unity]

Sir_Chivalry
2010-05-11, 10:06 AM
Added in a clause that makes the ability a free action, hardly game-breaking.

Also, inspiration can be lawful, just look at Purple Dragon Knight.

I would point out though, that the class doesn't require being lawful any further than needing aura of courage. I'm sure people can come up with ways to get that without being a paladin.

The point isn't lawful or chaotic for the overall feel of these PrCs, but good. Angels can be any good, so I'm going to try to not limit options. That being said, a few of your suggestions are going to be inserted.

Mulletmanalive
2010-05-11, 04:07 PM
i believe my point was intended to be that a non-Lawful Good character is unlikely to get much co-operation on Arcadia, hence, the paragon is going to be lawful [if only because he's taken up residence on a Lawful aligned plane and needs to successfully function as a leader] and the PrC's flavour should follow.

Bardic abilities tend to focus too much on individuals to work all that well with large groups [from experience], hence the suggestion that the abilities be more reliable and dependant on units and cooperation.

Making heroes more heroic is a Chaotic trait, bringing everyone home safe at the end of the day is Lawful. The latter is going to win favours for a class whose paragon lives on Arcadia [and you'll bear in mind, that's all there is to him thus far]

Temotei
2010-05-11, 04:34 PM
Skill requirements should be in ranks instead of bonuses. Someone with a decent Charisma and 4 ranks in a skill at first level will be able to have +6 - +7. Add racial bonuses and a good Charisma score and you might not even need 4 ranks to begin with.


Skill Points
2 + Int modifier

This should say "per level." I'd rather get 2 + Intelligence modifier per level than just plain 2 + Intelligence modifier. :smallamused:

Does improved aura of courage round levels down with a minimum of 1 or does it round up?

More later. :smalltongue:

Sir_Chivalry
2010-05-11, 10:55 PM
Skill requirements should be in ranks instead of bonuses. Someone with a decent Charisma and 4 ranks in a skill at first level will be able to have +6 - +7. Add racial bonuses and a good Charisma score and you might not even need 4 ranks to begin with.



This should say "per level." I'd rather get 2 + Intelligence modifier per level than just plain 2 + Intelligence modifier. :smallamused:

Does improved aura of courage round levels down with a minimum of 1 or does it round up?

More later. :smalltongue:

Okay, I am quite bewildered by my typos there.

Tibbaerrohwen
2010-05-15, 02:31 PM
Acolyte of the Archangels feat

You swear fealty to one of the heralds of the archangels, and gain power to act on their behalf.
Benefit: Once per day while performing an act of good, you may call upon your angelic patron to gain a +1 luck bonus on any one roll or check.
Special: Once you take this feat, you may nor take it again, nor can you take either the Servant of the Heavens feat, Knight of the Stars or the Favored of the Companions feat. Your allegiance is only yours to give once.


Not a big deal, but I think you meant "you may NOT take it again, nor..." not nor twice. Just a slight gramatical issue.

Sir_Chivalry
2010-05-24, 06:16 PM
So does anyone else have any notes?

Volthawk
2010-05-25, 11:09 AM
Well, maybe you should put a requirement of Good alignment for the feat, like the other versions of it. Or make it Exalted.

Sir_Chivalry
2010-05-25, 11:16 AM
Well, maybe you should put a requirement of Good alignment for the feat, like the other versions of it. Or make it Exalted.

Went with making it exalted, like the others. Meant to do that to begin with.

Sir_Chivalry
2010-07-04, 08:47 PM
I've updated the fluff for Isamukemen.

MythMage
2010-07-04, 09:27 PM
You're putting too many of your eggs in one basket with these abilities (specifically, saving throw boosting abilities, especially considering many of them stack with each other). At high levels, this class basically makes its allies immune to Will effects, not to mention fear effects.

My advice:
First, don't alter the type bonuses granted by bardic music. It doesn't stack for a reason.
Second, drop some of the save boosters in favor of other abilities.

Sir_Chivalry
2010-07-04, 10:20 PM
Got rid of Inspire Greatness and Heroics, and added Isamukemen's Training and Gift of Law, two abilities with mundo flavour I'd say!

Sir_Chivalry
2010-11-17, 03:40 PM
Reopening this so someone can PEACH it, doing a little PEACH exchange.

Note:
Homebrew (and only that poster) may revive a creation beyond the six-week threshold without prior Moderator approval.

Mulletmanalive
2010-11-17, 04:52 PM
Yay, dogged stupidity on my part prevailed.

You know what might be nice on the core feat which would have an interesting effect on the class:

Make the secondary effect mimic Knowledge Focus [the domain feat of much abuse] but only against evil creatures. This synergises nicely with the Acymunphgytgph's Training ability. In fact, perhaps simply replacing Inspire Courage with the Dark Knowledge feature from the Archivist might make for an interesting counterpoint to your Disciple of Bel?

Also, that DR negating strike is really nifty and it would be a shame for the class to not hand out some extra uses [and perhaps the feat would stand having "expend two uses of turn undead to gain another use" like the Devotion feats do...

Edit: Yes, i have a burning enthusiasm for the Leader design concept from 4e...i'm just not a fan of the game itself

blackjack217
2010-11-17, 05:01 PM
This feat is also better than a +1 luck bonus on a roll 1/day. Maybe you should brew some alternates for the loyalty feats. Or you could make it so that he considers himself a subordinate of the Hedobond and co. so there is no conflict of loyalty.

Mulletmanalive
2010-11-17, 05:05 PM
I'm not really seeing the need to be subordinate to the Hebdmonad, simply because he isn't based on the same plane. Arcadia is lawful as well and seems to get along fine without archons.

blackjack217
2010-11-17, 05:08 PM
I'm not really seeing the need to be subordinate to the Hebdmonad, simply because he isn't based on the same plane. Arcadia is lawful as well and seems to get along fine without archons.

My point was that the feats where you swear to the hedobond or the court or the companions have a +1 1/day luck bonus. Which is terrible in comparison.

Mulletmanalive
2010-11-17, 05:11 PM
Chivalry has been redoing basically every one of the loyalty feats to make them more in line with the Brand of the Nine Hells feat[s] from Fiendish Codex 2.

I think it came about after the idea was suggested to use the above in all of the redone Disciple of ... classes that he was making [and I made the Mephistophiles one (Proud)].

If he's redoing the Hedmonad for you, i'm pretty sure they'll get a sprucing too

blackjack217
2010-11-17, 05:32 PM
Chivalry has been redoing basically every one of the loyalty feats to make them more in line with the Brand of the Nine Hells feat[s] from Fiendish Codex 2.

I think it came about after the idea was suggested to use the above in all of the redone Disciple of ... classes that he was making [and I made the Mephistophiles one (Proud)].

If he's redoing the Hedmonad for you, i'm pretty sure they'll get a sprucing too

then I'm cool

Sir_Chivalry
2010-11-17, 11:56 PM
Yay, dogged stupidity on my part prevailed.

You know what might be nice on the core feat which would have an interesting effect on the class:

Make the secondary effect mimic Knowledge Focus [the domain feat of much abuse] but only against evil creatures. This synergises nicely with the Acymunphgytgph's Training ability. In fact, perhaps simply replacing Inspire Courage with the Dark Knowledge feature from the Archivist might make for an interesting counterpoint to your Disciple of Bel?

Also, that DR negating strike is really nifty and it would be a shame for the class to not hand out some extra uses [and perhaps the feat would stand having "expend two uses of turn undead to gain another use" like the Devotion feats do...

Edit: Yes, i have a burning enthusiasm for the Leader design concept from 4e...i'm just not a fan of the game itself

Did both those things there. Let me know what you think!


Chivalry has been redoing basically every one of the loyalty feats to make them more in line with the Brand of the Nine Hells feat[s] from Fiendish Codex 2.

I think it came about after the idea was suggested to use the above in all of the redone Disciple of ... classes that he was making [and I made the Mephistophiles one (Proud)].

If he's redoing the Hedmonad for you, i'm pretty sure they'll get a sprucing too

Aw, never knew you cared!:smallamused:

Jallorn
2010-12-08, 02:29 PM
Alright, not sure how much time I have, so I'm going to just critique the crunch.

Level 5 Paladin intro. Sounds good.

Improved Aura of Courage: A fine ability for the first level. Not sure it merits not getting a spellcasting boost at that level. Especially since it's probably juat paladin casting. A good idea might be to give just paladin casting a boost.

Celestial Link: Doesn't seem to stack with the Aura of Courage (If I'm remembering how it works right) when it seems like it should. Seems like it might be better if the telepathy just worked with all creatures affected by Celestial Link and the Commander. Not sure why he's excluded.

And I have to go, so I'll add more later.

Sir_Chivalry
2010-12-09, 03:12 PM
Alright, not sure how much time I have, so I'm going to just critique the crunch.

Level 5 Paladin intro. Sounds good.

Improved Aura of Courage: A fine ability for the first level. Not sure it merits not getting a spellcasting boost at that level. Especially since it's probably juat paladin casting. A good idea might be to give just paladin casting a boost.

Celestial Link: Doesn't seem to stack with the Aura of Courage (If I'm remembering how it works right) when it seems like it should. Seems like it might be better if the telepathy just worked with all creatures affected by Celestial Link and the Commander. Not sure why he's excluded.

And I have to go, so I'll add more later.

Changed the bonus to sacred.

Dragonslayers, tattooed monks and clerics with the Courage domain could all take this class, so would paladin only casting boost still be the best way to go?

Jallorn
2010-12-11, 04:05 PM
Changed the bonus to sacred.

Dragonslayers, tattooed monks and clerics with the Courage domain could all take this class, so would paladin only casting boost still be the best way to go?

Well, Tattooed Monks wouldn't have casting unless they multiclassed, Dragonslayers don't need spellcasting, but will most probably have a full casting class if they do, and Clerics are full casting classes, so they get more out of a boost in spellcasting level, and don't need as many.

Maybe make it every odd level gives a boost to any half-casting class, (so Paladin, Ranger, etc.) that may be the same or different from the other casting boost.

I'd do more critiquing, but I can't focus and I have a pretty bad headache.

Sir_Chivalry
2010-12-12, 04:16 PM
Well, Tattooed Monks wouldn't have casting unless they multiclassed, Dragonslayers don't need spellcasting, but will most probably have a full casting class if they do, and Clerics are full casting classes, so they get more out of a boost in spellcasting level, and don't need as many.

Maybe make it every odd level gives a boost to any half-casting class, (so Paladin, Ranger, etc.) that may be the same or different from the other casting boost.

I'd do more critiquing, but I can't focus and I have a pretty bad headache.

Get better soon.