[3.5 Magic System] The Codices of Spellshaping

[DonQuixote]

Also, to be fair, you can be a living rockslam, take levels in lavamancer, and be a humanoid made of rock and stone that spits magma. Possibly cooler.

[DonQuixote]

Stoichen and spellsoul armor racial feats are up, and I'm toying with some other ideas for racial feats. Probably won't be too many of these, but I really, really wanted to let stoichen be descended from Paracelsus' elementals.

Incidentally, the erdom, salamander, sylph, and undine are totally going to be among the spellshaping monsters that get written, under the header "Primeval Elementals." The only one of those that isn't one of Paracelsus' elementals is the erdom, and that's because "gnome" was taken. ("Salamander" is technically also taken, but I'm going to deal with that by defining the Monster Manual salamanders as imperfect descendents of the original elemental salamander.)

New material is going to be generally slow for the next couple of weeks, though. End of the semester and finals. So it goes.


Edit: Also changed the living spellshape slightly, since it's supposed to actually be blind. Also futzed around with its ability score adjustments to compensate more for its size.


Edit Edit: Played around with the blindness some more, since I realized that normal blindness left the living spellshapes completely immune to all illusions forever.


Edit The Third!: Fixed an oversight that allowed you to benefit from multiple lamens at once. New Codex II PDF has the errata.

[DonQuixote]

New Codex I PDF, fixing a few typos. More notably, adjusted spellshape channeling so that it actually allows you to shape formulae with your hands full. Yeah, previously? Nothing actually let you use your weapon for the somatic components. Oops.

Incidentally, I am totally still alive. The recent drought has a lot to do with a horrendous history research paper that I've been having to work on. The to-do list still stands, and new material will resume as soon as I have time again.

[DonQuixote]

My desire to not write final papers has led to racial feats for masked ones. Spoo-ooky.

Edit: It's also worth noting that masked ones qualify for a good number of the darkness-related feats in Drow of the Underdark, since said feats don't actually require you to be a drow.

[vasharanpaladin]

Hm... does removing the mask from a masked one Darkened One 10 trigger a San check?

[Arbitrarious]

This is some amazing stuff, I love it. The amount of work you put in and the content you made is absolutely amazing. Thank you so much for continuing to work on this!

I am a little concerned about the balance of some of the formula. Wrath of Stone is a solid blast of damage and an AoE stun. Even a guaranteed 1 round aoe stun is awesome. Throw on a possible 2-5 turn stun and it is amazing, possibly too amazing. I compare it the the 9th level searing flame formula and I am a little underwhelmed. Is it just me?

[DonQuixote]

Hm... does removing the mask from a masked one Darkened One 10 trigger a San check?

"YEARGH OH GODS IT DOESN'T HAVE A FACE! Oh, wait, it's just a mask. And, underneath it, we find...YEARGH OH GODS IT DOESN'T HAVE A FACE! WHAT IS EVEN THE PURPOSE OF THE MASK?"

This is some amazing stuff, I love it. The amount of work you put in and the content you made is absolutely amazing. Thank you so much for continuing to work on this!

I am a little concerned about the balance of some of the formula. Wrath of Stone is a solid blast of damage and an AoE stun. Even a guaranteed 1 round aoe stun is awesome. Throw on a possible 2-5 turn stun and it is amazing, possibly too amazing. I compare it the the 9th level searing flame formula and I am a little underwhelmed. Is it just me?

Wrath of Stone is very difficult to use in situations in which your party members are anywhere near your target. Plus, a decent number of things are flat-out immune to stunning.

Not to say that my balance is perfect and that any objection is incorrect, of course. Just that I'm not sure in this case. If you want to test it out and give me the results in play, I'll happily change it if the results lean that way.

[radmelon]

"YEARGH OH GODS IT DOESN'T HAVE A FACE! Oh, wait, it's just a mask. And, underneath it, we find...YEARGH OH GODS IT DOESN'T HAVE A FACE! WHAT IS EVEN THE PURPOSE OF THE MASK?"

That was pretty much what I thought when I read the decription, and that combo came to mind. Then I thought of a humerous scooby-doo ripoff where they spend 15 minutes straight taking the mask off the villain, and there's another one always underneath.

[Arbitrarious]

Wrath of Stone is very difficult to use in situations in which your party members are anywhere near your target. Plus, a decent number of things are flat-out immune to stunning.

Not to say that my balance is perfect and that any objection is incorrect, of course. Just that I'm not sure in this case. If you want to test it out and give me the results in play, I'll happily change it if the results lean that way.

It's true that it isn't exactly melee friendly, but it's a heck of an opening move depending on what's on the field. I was actually running the PDFs by my DM when he noted the AoE incapacitate moves. It'll be a while before we are high enough level to see it, but I will happy to give you any feedback from the play sessions. Keep up the excellent work!

[DonQuixote]

The question of whether spellsoul armor might be too powerful has been raised. It hinges upon the fact that, as they cannot be tripped, they completely ignore most lockdown builds. Does this actually feel like a tool that is too powerful for players to have? I don't tend to think of DMs throwing lockdown builds at players, but I'm also fairly new to the game.

Incidentally, I AM still alive, but I've had a busy week. New material should be back in production soon.

[DonQuixote]

Added the Ashbound Oracle. Not exactly new, but it hadn't actually been officially posted and it probably hasn't been seen by everyone.

[DonQuixote]

So, I expected that, over the summer, I'd have a lot of free time to work on the spellshapers. I projected finishing my to-do list by the beginning of August, and that I'd have the third PDF finished by the time I headed back for my last year of college.

I'm having to re-evaluate this time scale. I'm working for a PR firm, which is taking up a decent amount of my time during the week. I'm still playing D&D Thursday nights--we're doing the D&D Next playtest this week--which also eats up a sizeable chunk of time. On top of that, being home means that I'm exposed to all manner of distractions. I can finally play Skyward Sword, for example. For another example, I'm currently in the middle of finally watching Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Finally, I was having issues with some of the new material even when I did have time. The Anchorite character options are tough, since one of them needs to replace the auras--meaning a new effect for every circle. I've done some poking at it, but it's still pretty daunting. If you take a daunting task, then factor in less free time and a myriad of distractions, you end up with a lot of difficulty in getting things done.

I am not, however, abandoning the spellshapers by any means. I'm planning to review and heavily modify the Ashbound Oracle sometime in the vaguely near future, as editing will take less work and time than actually writing from scratch. Hopefully, that will start getting my head back in the game, and I'll be able to get to work on that to-do list. I apologize for the delay in new material, and thank you all for your patience.

[DonQuixote]

Reduced the Sublime Shaper's Formulae and Maneuvers known and prepared.

Edit: Also, modified the Ashbound Oracle slightly. Swapped out the gaze attack for an AC bonus, increased the base attack bonus to full, and doubled the number of rounds per day you can use Fire Sight.

----

I am planning to update the Codex II PDF with clarification changes to the savant, but work this summer has been playing hob with my schedule. I still have a list of things to add to the body of work--I just need to figure out how to find time to do them.

[DonQuixote]

So, new Codex PDFs are going to be going up tonight, as I've found a handful of errors and loopholes that need to be fixed.

More importantly, I finally wrote that ranged weapon spellshaper. So, you know, that's nice.

Spoiler

Show

Command Projectile (Su): When you reach 4th level, you gain the ability to exert your will on projectiles that you fire. As a free action following a ranged attack, you can choose to command your projectile, keeping it aloft and allowing it to follow impossible trajectories.

A commanded projectile is not destroyed, even if it hits its target. Instead, it remains in the air under your command. You can make attacks and channel spellshape attacks and formulae through the projectile as though you were firing it normally, except that you determine range, cover, and other combat modifiers as though you were firing the projectile from any square adjacent to the projectile's most recent target.

You may only command one projectile at a time, and you can only maintain control for a number of rounds equal to your Charisma modifier. Maintaining control of a commanded projectile is a free action. You can abandon a commanded projectile at any time as a free action, destroying the projectile in the process.

Here's hoping it's not terrible.

Edit: New PDFs, containing typo fixes and clarity errata for the Anchorite, the Savant, and the Spellshape Champion. Also, a minor change to the Sculpt Spellshape feat and a not-so-minor change to the Inescapable Slumber formula, which is now called Inescapable Nightmares.

[DonQuixote]

Finally wrote an anchorite alternative class feature. Let me tell you, coming up with a setup to replace the auras was obnoxious, given that they're tied to the recovery mechanic.

I am slightly worried that I shot all semblance of balance in the face this time, so anyone with a better sense of these things is invited to tell me exactly how horribly I screwed the pooch on this one.

Edit: Posted a new Codex I PDF. Turns out that spell-like abilities aren't subject to damage reduction, even if they deal damage normally associated with physical weapons. I fixed it so that lashing zephyr, rockslam, thornspike, and surging jet are noted as being subject to damage reduction, as they were always intended to be.

In addition, I got up the other anchorite alternative class feature, for everyone who loves animal companions.

Finally, sirpercival took a stab at a spellshaping/meldshaping combination prestige class. I have a very tenuous understanding of how incarnum works, but it certainly looks interesting to me!

[DonQuixote]

Things are starting to get moving over here again. We have two new alternative class features for the Savant, as well as updates to both Codices, fixing some shenanigans with Circle Focus letting you get a spellshape aura from a circle from which you knew no formulae. Shenanigans, I tell you.

More to the point, I'm building up steam on working in general. After this week of writing alternative class features, I'm already starting work on new prestige classes, the first of which is going to bring a spellshaping analogue to the prismatic spells. Hurrah for new things!

[DonQuixote]

That new prestige class I mentioned is up.

[vasharanpaladin]

Aww, I was hoping for a full circle...

EDIT: Love it, though. Now I just need a slaad-like race to go with it~

[DonQuixote]

Aww, I was hoping for a full circle...

EDIT: Love it, though. Now I just need a slaad-like race to go with it~

I did try that, briefly. The problem was that every formula had to have seven components, which meant that the prismatic circle would essentially consist of seven other circles--or 147 formulae.

Given that I had already written all of the fire (red), acid (orange), and electricity (yellow) effects that I could think of...well, let's just say that the prismatic circle would basically just have pre-generated prismatic formulae, rather than letting you choose your own.

Most of the ideas that I had for the circle made it in, anyway. Iridescent Curse and Chromatic Veil were both originally going to be minor formulae--and, hey, they still are! I think the only thing that I left out was the ability to choose the color of your prismatic blast for one round--which would have been pretty crazy.

Edit: Some changes have already been made to the Chromatic Initiate. Most notably, Opalescent Body was moved to 10th level, with Chromatic Wall being added to take its place.

[DonQuixote]

There's a new Codex I PDF, with big news for any elemental adepts in the audience. I completely rehauled elementals (and paraelementals), and elemental adepts (and paraelemental adepts, if you're using that web material) now use the revised elementals for companions, summoning, and anything else.

In addition, elemental shapers are no longer valid elemental companions. There will later be a feat that allows you to have an elemental shaper for your elemental companion. I just haven't figured out all the logistics of that yet.

Edit: There's a new Codex I PDF, containing a bit of clarification on the non-touch-attack spellshape attacks, as well as a change to the elemental adept capstone. And a fix to the Searing Blast formula, which was supposed to be a swift action all along.

Edit Again: New PDFs of both codices. That once-per-encounter swift action that most spellshaper could take to change their prepared formulae now leaves all formulae expended, rather than recovering all of them. You still have to deal with recovery mechanics, people!

Also, the physical damage spellshape attacks now grant you a bonus on your attack rolls equal to 1/2 your shaper level, rather than just letting you use your shaper level in place of your base attack bonus.

[DonQuixote]

The-Mage-King wrote a beautiful prestige class.

Also, I finally remembered to put things written by other people into the "Materials Only Available Online" index in the first post.


Also also, general subsystem news! Once I finish my current to-do list--which consists of one base class, racial feats for three races, feats geared specifically towards the anchorite and the savant, two prestige classes, and about sixteen monsters--a reckoning will come. During this reckoning, I will scour my brain for anything that has been forgotten. Any ideas that remain unwritten.

If I find that there is nothing more to write, I will then go over all the material, revising it. The anchorite will be switched to spellshape aspects, the magic items introduced in Codex I will be changed such that they are crafted with the Craft Spellshape Items feat, and a myriad of other changes will be made. I suspect that some existing alternative class features might be abolished or made unrecognizable during this process. During this revision process, I'm also going to be going over spellshaping material written by other people, vetting it, and editing it for inclusion. I'll probably try to work closely with the original creators on this one, and credit will be given on that "Credits" page that exists at the front of every codex.

Once this revision is complete, the revised materials will be combined into a single PDF:

• Chapter One - Fundamentals of Magic
• Chapter Two - Races
• Chapter Three - Base Classes
• Chapter Four - Character Options
• Chapter Five - Spellshaping
• Chapter Six - Circles and Formulae
• Chapter Seven - Prestige Classes
• Chapter Eight - Spellshape Items
• Chapter Nine - Monsters

[DonQuixote]

Bauglir wrote a thing.

Also, I'm putting the existing to-do list on hold to work on some non-combat abilities for spellshapers. A feat will allow you to take the incantations associated with one circle. I've come up with about 7/8 of the abilities, so we'll hopefully get somewhere soon!

[DonQuixote]

Spellshaping now includes incantations! Hooray!

Current plan is to evaluate things, then dive into the revision and the rest of the To-Do List simultaneously.

[DonQuixote]

Okay, I've officially begun the revision process. I've currently revised the caymir, the stoichen, the anchorite, the elemental adept, and the spellshape champion. All racial substitution levels, class-or-race-specific feats, and alternative class features have also been revised. Here, have them in list form:

• Races
  
  • Caymir
  • Stoichen
• Classes
  
  • Anchorite
  • Elemental Adept
  • Spellshape Champion

Now, why have I provided links, rather than PDFs? Well, this revision is going to culminate in me making one, massive Spellshaping PDF. As such, it would be pretty inefficient of me to stop what I was doing every five minutes to update the old PDFs.

As a result, I will no longer be updating the Codex I and Codex II PDFs. I will instead be focusing on revising and updating the material, so that I can present the giant PDF all the sooner.

Once I decide on a format, I'll be posting an index of the revised material in the first post of this thread.

[NineThePuma]

If I may ask, why the revision?

(You might have said already, but I've only been tangentially paying attention to this thread.))

[DonQuixote]

Well, it has a lot to do with my decision to compile all the existing spellshaping material into one PDF. That's actually at the heart of the decision to go forward with the revision. In bringing all this stuff together, I get the opportunity to change things about the earlier material to suit later developments. For example, I folded the Choice of the Devoted alternative class feature into the base elemental adept. I couldn't do that before because the Screeching Roc circle wasn't in Codex I. Another example would be the anchorite revision, which swaps out the spellshape auras for a more monk-like feel. I couldn't do that before because a lot of material referenced the anchorite's auras. However, by revising the system, I can do things like install numena (the new name for spellshape auras) right into the core rules.

Also, it has historically been the case that August is just the month of revision. Last August, I rewrote most of the formulae. This August, I'm bringing all the material together and rewriting the bits that need to be rewritten.

[DonQuixote]

Updated cambian, living spellshape, impulse mage, and spellsage. Now, I just need to do masked one and savant, and the races and base classes will be complete.

Then, I just need to do feats, system fluff, circles, prestige classes, items, and monsters.

Hoh, boy, it's going to be a busy fall.


Oh, I added an index of links to the revised material to the first post. Technically, all the old links still work, so I'm keeping them up for now. The revised material is simply flagged as such.

[DonQuixote]

All the races and base classes are done, as are the feats. First post has been updated accordingly.

Next up, I'm going to clarify the core rules chapter, as well as clean up some spotty bits of fluff. I'm basically trying to get everything possible done before moving into actually revising the individual circles, since I know that's going to be one of the longer parts of the process.

Apologies for the sporadic updates. My final year at college is proving to be...rather work-intensive.

[DonQuixote]

CRISIS MODE ENGAGED!

So, for those of you who weren't aware, MinMax recently...imploded. That means that there are a lot of dead links in my first post, especially to revised material. Well, I can't help with the online material that hasn't yet been revised, but I am going to be a swell guy and pass out the .docx file of my revisions. Find it here. I recommend downloading it, rather than viewing online, since it takes a while to load on Dropbox and the text gets mangled.

Since I haven't actually posted a progress update in a while, the rules chapter has been completed and I'm almost halfway done with circle revisions. I make no promises about my productivity in the coming semester. While I only have class twice a week, I am a college senior on the way to graduation. So I might still be dealing with a massive workload and what have you.

Edit: Have another Dropbox link. Yep, caches of not-yet-revised web enhancement materials. Don't forget to download both the .html file and the file folders for each page that you need.

[NineThePuma]

That's irritating.

Hope we can get Minmax back up.