Soul Weaver: Binder of Souls [3.5e] (PLEASE PEACH)

[Milo v3]

And now a few thoughts on the PRC: First, this class does not seem to increase EBL. This means that it is dependent on either having a binder in the party, or a friendly NPC binder willing to sacrifice a few of her pacts.

Added in Binding Progression.

Additionally, considering that the number of Invocations someone can have are keyed off of hit dice now, instead of will save, Soul Vessel now does nothing.

Fixed.

More important is the whole 'sacrifice your pacts' thing. Lets use a level 7 party with a Nomadic Soul and a Binder. The Nomadic Soul will want as many souls bound to it as possible, and he could, at the very least, hold 7 souls, assuming Soul Vessel isn't changed so that does something. If I do understand the Binder's pacts, this would take up all but two of the Binder's pacts from being level seven. While they exist to be used, and there is a feat to gain more, and you do get some pacts from having a high Int, this leaves very few for use with Deeds, Enchantment, or any other use of pacts*. This also assumes that there is indeed a Binder in the party willing and able to provide soul bindings. Without a Binder in the party, than it becomes much harder to gain more bound souls.

I'm planning on making it so you can pay an NPC binder to place invocations, bondings etc. I just need to figure out how to get costs right.

I recall that the prior version of Nomadic Soul required you to lack the ability to be able to bind souls, but you seem to have dropped that.

Yes I decided that not letting Binders take levels in a Geotia magic themed class would be annoying.

On an unrelated note, is the Anima portal supposed to be a one-way affair? Because from the wording of it, if you do not have alternative means to escape Anima, you will not be able to leave.

The portal is one way, but it is also the only way into the plane. But the magic of the plane has no restrictions on leaving. So the Binder could leave by: Plane Shift, Greater Plane Shift, or Gate.

On yet another note, it might a good idea to give Binders the ability to end their own pacts, preferably either for free, or at least less than the cost of breaking someone else's pact.

I'll add it in.

[Vauron]

I'm planning on making it so you can pay an NPC binder to place invocations, bondings etc. I just need to figure out how to get costs right.

See, my problem with the idea of getting pacts from NPCs, is that there is a limit to the total number of pacts a Binder can make. Relatively short term Deeds are reasonable ways for a Binder to make money. Thing is, long term pacts like Enchantments or Invocations are going to be a persistent drain on the Binder. At least with magic items this is just the one time cost, while using a pact to give a Druid and a Barbarian the Titanic Soul bond will permanently decrease the capabilities of the Binder. In that vein, what happens to a Binder's pacts when they die? Considering there is a max number of pacts a Binder can support at a given time, it seems that they need to do something to maintain them.

As it stands now, the best way to insure you don't suddenly lose your buffs is to kill the one who made the pact, before they need to free up some pacts to deal with a personal issue. With the original Binder dead, the only way you'd lose the buff is if a different Binder uses Sunder Binding on you.

The portal is one way, but it is also the only way into the plane. But the magic of the plane has no restrictions on leaving. So the Binder could leave by: Plane Shift, Greater Plane Shift, or Gate.

You might want to explicitly call out Anima Portal as the only way to reach Anima then, because it currently is not the only way into the plane.

Its occurred to me that I might sound more...belligerent than I intend. If that is the case, that was never my intention. I'm just trying to bring up possible issues that I see, as the only flavor of magic I like more than this one is the magic of words and names. Admittedly, I am not very hopeful about the hundreds of traits that need to be written up, but I do want to help where I can.

[Milo v3]

What if the "Willing" Binder Pacts count as only 0.5 or 0.2 of a pact. Each "willing" pact doesn't take a Pact Slot, but the Binder has 1 slot expended for every 2 or 5 willing pacts he currently has.

As it stands now, the best way to insure you don't suddenly lose your buffs is to kill the one who made the pact, before they need to free up some pacts to deal with a personal issue. With the original Binder dead, the only way you'd lose the buff is if a different Binder uses Sunder Binding on you.

You might want to explicitly call out Anima Portal as the only way to reach Anima then, because it currently is not the only way into the plane.

I'll add it in.

Its occurred to me that I might sound more...belligerent than I intend. If that is the case, that was never my intention. I'm just trying to bring up possible issues that I see, as the only flavor of magic I like more than this one is the magic of words and names. Admittedly, I am not very hopeful about the hundreds of traits that need to be written up, but I do want to help where I can.

No, its fine. Your showing me where the holes are so I can fill them in. Thats perfectly fine in my books.

[Vauron]

What if the "Willing" Binder Pacts count as only 0.5 or 0.2 of a pact. Each "willing" pact doesn't take a Pact Slot, but the Binder has 1 slot expended for every 2 or 5 willing pacts he currently has.

Increasing the number of pacts a Binder can make does help, but it feels like trying to address the problem of your car having bad miles per gallon by sticking more fuel in the tank. You will travel further, yes, but you haven't really addressed the issue. The issue as I see it is that the limit on pacts means that any time you make a pact it is a resource which is lost to you for the duration. In general that is fine. It is only when we begin asking about pacts that are intended to last for months, years, or perhaps even centuries that a problem arises. Imagine if a cleric had to forfeit the use of one of her highest level spell slots because she made a wand of Cure Light Wounds, and she wouldn't get said slot back until the wand was completely used up.

Speaking of 'Willing' pacts, how exactly do you get a non-intelligent being to agree? A beetle or a zombie wouldn't be intelligent enough for there to a 'willing' or 'unwilling' distinction.

Incidentally, I have two questions concerning the feats you can grab that increase the hit dice of you summoned creatures. First, who decides what feats the summoned creature gains though having a higher hit dice? Second, do they stack? To illustrate, Silent Bob has Entropic Binder, Demon Binder, and Binder of Evil. He than summons a Succubus, does the Succubus gain 2 or 6 hit dice?

[Milo v3]

Increasing the number of pacts a Binder can make does help, but it feels like trying to address the problem of your car having bad miles per gallon by sticking more fuel in the tank. You will travel further, yes, but you haven't really addressed the issue. The issue as I see it is that the limit on pacts means that any time you make a pact it is a resource which is lost to you for the duration. In general that is fine. It is only when we begin asking about pacts that are intended to last for months, years, or perhaps even centuries that a problem arises. Imagine if a cleric had to forfeit the use of one of her highest level spell slots because she made a wand of Cure Light Wounds, and she wouldn't get said slot back until the wand was completely used up.

Okay I took an idea from the Dread Emperor and made it so very weak bindings don't take any pacts if your high level. It doesn't fix the problem much. But it should help. That way if your a mid-high level character you wont be penalized for binding rats or ruling over weddings (Love Bond).

Speaking of 'Willing' pacts, how exactly do you get a non-intelligent being to agree? A beetle or a zombie wouldn't be intelligent enough for there to a 'willing' or 'unwilling' distinction.

That might require vermin empathy or something similiar, otherwise Mindless creatures are always unwilling.

Incidentally, I have two questions concerning the feats you can grab that increase the hit dice of you summoned creatures. First, who decides what feats the summoned creature gains though having a higher hit dice? Second, do they stack? To illustrate, Silent Bob has Entropic Binder, Demon Binder, and Binder of Evil. He than summons a Succubus, does the Succubus gain 2 or 6 hit dice?

I'll add in rules for stacking.