[Forrestfire Studios] Playtest: The Avowed, a 3pp warlock with a psychic bent

[upho]

I'm a bit concerned with the low DC of the 16th level Flee ability of the Old One pact and the very large boost to save DCs the Embodiment of Aether feat may grant.

Flee Unlike all other pact empowerments AFAICT, Flee is stuck with a DC that isn't likely to work against anything of a CR equal to or higher than your level with a good Will save progression, even when you've increased the DC as far you realistically can (as single-classed). At 16th level, the typical default save DC for this ability when it's gained will be 27 (10 + 8 level + 9 Cha), while the supposedly average Will save of a CR 16 monster with good progression is +19, resulting in a 35% success chance. And against an average CR 19 monster (a challenging opponent according to guidelines), that success chance is instead only 25%. By taking the Ability Focus (pact abilities) feat, these success chances can be increased to 45% and 35% respectively, but after that it seems the only option to improve these chances is finding some reliable means to debuff your target(s) prior to using the ability. Note also that this does not account for the +3 bonus targets immune to mind-affecting receive, nor any of the many other abilities high CR monsters frequently have which may decrease the chances of success.

Let's say you're a 16th level avowed with this pact, and that you've invested substantial resources into your capability to demoralize your opponents in combat. For example, you could have the ability to demoralize an opponent you damage as a free action (Black Seraph's Glare gained via Martial Training) together with several highly accurate attacks/round (Spirited Swordsmanship, Aether Rounds, use guns, ranged combat feats), the ability to increase fear effects with multiple demoralize successes (Soulless Gaze, other damnation feat), a very high Intimidate skill bonus, and the ability to sicken scared opponents you hit (Cruel Weapon). If you spend your first turn attacking an "average" CR 16 enemy within 30', it's highly likely that enemy will be frightened and sickened when your turn ends and your Flee ability is activated. So if you also have the Ability Focus feat, the success probability of your Flee ability would be 65% at best (or max 55% vs a CR 19 monster).

In conclusion, unless I've missed something vital here, I find the default DC as and especially the sole in-class option to increase it to be lacking. Was this intentional, and if so, why?


Embodiment of Aether An avowed with this feat can boost all save DCs through the roof just by dipping a few levels into other classes, getting a few feats and/or an item or two, as Str is by far the most easily increased ability score. For example, by 18th level the Flee ability of the above avowed with the Old One pact could instead easily have a DC of at least 35 (10 + 8 level + 17 Str) in every round of most combats during a typical adventuring day, giving him at least a 70% success chance against an average CR 18 enemy (55% vs CR 21), or a maximum success chance of 100% (85%) if using the same demoralization combo as above. And this would most likely be the lowest DC ability this "muscle-vowed" has. (Now imagine if this was a grendle with the Imperious Bearing ART... )

In conclusion, I don't think the Embodiment of Aether feat should grant unrestricted and complete replacement of the default Cha dependence, since a Str mod can be boosted to be about twice as high as a Cha mod even for a PC with all but two levels in the avowed. Or was this difference between Cha and Str taken into account and deemed acceptable when you designed the feat, and if so, what was the rationale behind it?