Dreamscarred Press Introduces: Akashic Mysteries

[Craft (Cheese)]

I would say keep the rage powers and replace trap sense and/or uncanny dodge. Also, modify rage so they get temp essence while they use it, but it counts as rage for prereqs and other rules elements.

I'd worry about that being a bit *too* good, actually: If I could trade Trap Sense and Uncanny Dodge for veils, even from a limited list, I can't imagine myself ever building another Barbarian that *doesn't* take that archetype.

[PsyBomb]

I'd worry about that being a bit *too* good, actually: If I could trade Trap Sense and Uncanny Dodge for veils, even from a limited list, I can't imagine myself ever building another Barbarian that *doesn't* take that archetype.

This. The Veils can get mighty strong, and include things like straight Perception bonuses and potentially good boosts to all saves. I can only think of a few that I WOULDN'T take over Trap Sense... and one of them actually grants Uncanny Dodge if bound.

[Craft (Cheese)]

Also: Natural attack stacking.

[Psyren]

Without chakras or essence the veils aren't all that great. Tie both of those to raging and make them temporary, and your akashic barbarian is kept in line while still being good.

[PsyBomb]

Also: Natural attack stacking.

I've gotten to 9 on a pure Daevic, the DPR tests are earlier this thread. Had Claws, Bite, Tentacle, Talons, Gore, and a Tail Slap, can't think of any the Barbarian can give that will stack with that routine. Heck, the only things I can think of that will add to it at all are wing buffets and extra limbs. Speaking of, any easy way to get these attack styles?

[Milo v3]

Without chakras or essence the veils aren't all that great. Tie both of those to raging and make them temporary, and your akashic barbarian is kept in line while still being good.

Well, I was thinking that the Veils would only be when your raging to begin with, since otherwise it's not very barbarian-ey.

[Seerow]

Well, I was thinking that the Veils would only be when your raging to begin with, since otherwise it's not very barbarian-ey.

It'd actually be pretty interesting to see having veils but no essence at all at all times, and when raging get a big chunk of essence to empower those veils with, instead of the normal rage bonuses.

[Shinken]

It'd actually be pretty interesting to see having veils but no essence at all at all times, and when raging get a big chunk of essence to empower those veils with, instead of the normal rage bonuses.

I don't think abandoning the normal rage bonuses is a good thing... unless you also have a veil that might get you the same bonuses if it receives enough essence.

[PsyBomb]

I don't think abandoning the normal rage bonuses is a good thing... unless you also have a veil that might get you the same bonuses if it receives enough essence.

Nothing gives a CON bonus, but everything else from Rage can be accomplished from one veil and one feat. The one veil is the Stone Giant's Girdle, which gives temporary Hit Points and once bound to Waist gives Strength. The feat is Daevic Will, which just increases will saves.

Even without that, though, the class could be arranged around 3-4 essence-receptacle abilities, much like the Akashic Warrior is, with Rage giving +2/+2/+1 and a heaping helping of Essence.

[Milo v3]

Wasn't sure on if I should've put this in it's own thread in the homebrew section or what, so here is an akashic race based on Jinn, with serpentine forms because of the idea that Seraphim's flaming serpent forms were based upon the Jinn:

Spoiler

Show

Deo
The Deo are a race of humanoids descended from efreeti salamander hybrids, who appear as men with the scales and heads of serpents. They dwell within secret oases, filled with magic and a miniature jungle that shades them from the burning sun. Because of their heritage they have a strange vulnerability of being able to be conjured by mages, and then gain the memories of their summoned clone when they dream.
Physical Description: Deo have thin lithe humanoid bodies covered in smooth pale sandy scales. They have the heads of a desert snake, topped with thorny ridges above their reptilian eyes. In the gaps between scales you can see a faint but warm red glow, a sign of the fire that lies within the Deo’s body.
Society: Because of their history of being enslaved and bound by mages, deo have a very open society with very little in the way of laws. Otherwise, they’re culture is very similar to that of humans.
Relations: Deo are highly secretive and xenophobic as a result of their common enslavement at the hands of other species.
Alignment and Religion: Deo generally worship deities of fire because of their heritage and hot habitat. They can be of any alignment, though their is a fair amount of lawful evil Deo that follow Efreeti
Adventurers: Despite living most of their lives in their oases, most Deo possess training that would assist them in combat so that they have a smaller chance of experience the surreal feeling of dying after being summoned.

Deo Racial Traits

• +2 Strength, +2 Charisma, -2 Intelligence: Their heritage grants them strength despite their body and an innate gift, though the trauma of having tormenting dreams leads them to have impaired and muddled memories.
• Jinn: Deo are humanoids with the Jinn subtype. For all race-related effects a Jinn creature is considered a genie regardless of type.
• Medium: Deo are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
• Speed: Deo have a base land speed of 30 feet.
• Senses: Darkvision 60ft.
• Bonus Essence: Deo have a natural connection to the unique power of akasha and start play with 1 bonus Essence point in their pool.
• Conjuring Vulnerability: Deo can be summoned by spells of the Summon Monster line by casters with the Fire Subtype and Sorcerers with the Elemental (Fire) bloodline, with untemplated Deo's being added to each version of the spell with a CR equal to the spells level. Deo's do not disappear when Summoned, as they are not being Called, instead only gaining fragments of their experiences from being summoned during their dreams. As these experiences are mingled with dream, they generally cannot separate the real events that occured during summoning from the phantasmal imaginings.
• Heat (Su): The fire within a deo manifests through the glowing gaps between his scales and a heat that flows from his touch. When he makes an unarmed attack, or an attack with a metallic or natural weapon, he deals an additional point of fire damage. The Deo can invest Essence into this ability as though it were a veil; with the damage set to 1d4 per point of Essence (minimum 1).
• Scale Shine (Su): The deo generates light as a candle whenever he has at least one point of essence invested into his Heat ability.
• Shifting Scales (Su): Like Ghul’s a Deo can alter its shape into another form. This functions as Change Shape, except each deo can only take a single shape from the following list; dog, human, hyena, pony, venomous snake, or vulture. Once the choice is made, it cannot be changed.
• Languages: Deo begin play speaking Common and Ignan. Deo with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Auran, Dwarven, Giant, and Terran.

[PsyBomb]

Daevic guide is 90% complete, just waiting on the update to the Desire passion before putting it up.

[PsyBomb]

Entirely too quiet around here...

Anyway, going through the new feats from the ACG (and ones from PoW, since it got up onto the SRD now). Especially in the Teamwork section, things like Intercept Charge are game-changers. I'll be updating my previous guides, and the Daevic one is almost ready (will be up as soon as we get word on what Desire turns out to be)

[Vhaidara]

Very excited for this. Posting for subscription so that I can order when it becomes available.

[squiggit]

Very excited for this. Posting for subscription so that I can order when it becomes available.

seconded.

Still want an overpowered Pharaoh too.

[PsyBomb]

Generating ideas for the Pharaoh is actually why I recently made the T2+ Mundane thread. I would LOVE to see some of those ideas incorporated, and make a class that isn't a full caster be able to hang out with CODzillA.

[squiggit]

Generating ideas for the Pharaoh is actually why I recently made the T2+ Mundane thread. I would LOVE to see some of those ideas incorporated, and make a class that isn't a full caster be able to hang out with CODzillA.

There are definitely a ton of fun ideas. Too many ideas really. Ssalarn had me thinking about Binder based archetypes for the class after some earlier comments... and after playing around with a new character in League of Legends I'm imagining a fun archetype that'd play around with cohorts/eidolons/etc.... among a bajillion other things.

Would love to have a playtest ready version to try in a game sometime. Have a Sobek Pharaoh I really like almost entirely figured out.. except for all the mechanics. So I guess not really figured out at all.

[PsyBomb]

There are definitely a ton of fun ideas. Too many ideas really. Ssalarn had me thinking about Binder based archetypes for the class after some earlier comments... and after playing around with a new character in League of Legends I'm imagining a fun archetype that'd play around with cohorts/eidolons/etc.... among a bajillion other things.

Would love to have a playtest ready version to try in a game sometime. Have a Sobek Pharaoh I really like almost entirely figured out.. except for all the mechanics. So I guess not really figured out at all.

I have a Sobek Oradin who would love to accompany you :D

[Greenish]

I haven't gone this whole thread, but any word on what the two remaining races will be like?

(Also, "Gamla" sounds weird to me as a race, since it means "old" in Swedish.)

[PsyBomb]

Ssalarn mentioned that one of the new races would be a half-Daeva, with the ability to warp their own flesh in minor ways with Akasha. The example given was an extra arm, though that is not likely to make the final cut.

[stack]

Anyone want to run an Akashic pbp?

[Vhaidara]

I'd be down for that. Need to read over what there is first.

[squiggit]

Anyone want to run an Akashic pbp?

Sounds cool. Stalling for a working Pharaoh though! ... Though a Tyranny daevic is a good backup.

Guess that's not really running though.

[Taveena]

Woo! Okay. This is... not super helpful, given it's less 'feedback' and more 'me being a pedantic unpaid editor with no authority', but it might be of use. Maybe. I don't know.

Spoiler: PEDANTRY

Show

Essence Capacity uses Character Level in text, Class Level in table.
Bloody Shroud is a bit odd - Bleed Damage is normally described as 'takes X bleed damage at the start of their turn' or the like rather than just 'deals X bleed damage'.
Collar of Skilled Instruction is unclear as to what kind of levels - character or veil-shaping?
Hand Cannons - can they be used with Two-Weapon Fighting?
Light Whip - does it replace a normal weapon?

Chakra Strike doesn't work with Deadly Strike or other forms of precision damage. Not sure if that's intended.
Enhanced Capacity has two periods after 'or class feature'

Reforge The Soul is listed as both Su and Spell-Like. Standard action to cast either way.
Chakra Receptacles refers to feats as well as veils, presumably - change from 3.5e I'm okay with.
Guardian Sash currently lets you counter rays. Which is awesome. Just makin' sure it's intended.

Can Paramours be raised from the dead?
Breastplate of Bloody Conflict: "While clad in this Veil you thrive on bloody conflict and are empowered by the same" - 'the same' feels a bit awkward. Maybe just 'it'.
Hand Cannons - is it a RANGE of 20 feet or a RANGE INCREMENT of 20 feet?

The Daeva of the Caller is an outsider and already has Simple and Martial Weapon Proficiency - really more a problem with Summoner than anything, but still relevant here, given they get Weapon Training (Simple). No

Later addition that's less pedantry and more actual gameplay stuff. The Veil Lord has to completely spam gambits to gain any decent essence - and he needs those swift actions for counters and boosts. Combat isn't going to last long enough to build it up - unless you have a 10 charisma Bard following you around spamming Flare with Unbreakable Gambit to build it up out of combat. Maybe tying it to maneuvers works better than maneuver RECOVERY.

[Ssalarn]

Just wanted to touch bases guys:

There were 2 major accidents that have kind of kept me from checking in.

The first was an auto accident where I was rear-ended by a truck and hurt my back. All I can say is, please be aware that it is a really dumb idea to text, eat McDonald's, and drive all at the same time, and parents please don't buy your children trucks that they can't handle and really don't need for driving around Seattle anyway.

The second issue was that the Vizier is laid out, sexy, and a freaking capitalization error managed to sneak into literally every page of the final product, so we're fixing it. I own that, it was a miscommunication that has its roots in an error I made.

My back will be a while but the Vizier and subscription should be up shortly. Andreas and I are working on whether the Pharaoh is going to be part of Path of War 2, Akashic Mysteries, or a potential future supplement with its own .pdf release in the meanwhile, so I'll let you know what's going on there as soon as I know.

Thanks all!

I haven't gone this whole thread, but any word on what the two remaining races will be like?

(Also, "Gamla" sounds weird to me as a race, since it means "old" in Swedish.)

Gamla is Aramaic for camel, which is where the name comes from.

[Ssalarn]

Wasn't sure on if I should've put this in it's own thread in the homebrew section or what, so here is an akashic race based on Jinn, with serpentine forms because of the idea that Seraphim's flaming serpent forms were based upon the Jinn:

Spoiler

Show

Deo
The Deo are a race of humanoids descended from efreeti salamander hybrids, who appear as men with the scales and heads of serpents. They dwell within secret oases, filled with magic and a miniature jungle that shades them from the burning sun. Because of their heritage they have a strange vulnerability of being able to be conjured by mages, and then gain the memories of their summoned clone when they dream.
Physical Description: Deo have thin lithe humanoid bodies covered in smooth pale sandy scales. They have the heads of a desert snake, topped with thorny ridges above their reptilian eyes. In the gaps between scales you can see a faint but warm red glow, a sign of the fire that lies within the Deo’s body.
Society: Because of their history of being enslaved and bound by mages, deo have a very open society with very little in the way of laws. Otherwise, they’re culture is very similar to that of humans.
Relations: Deo are highly secretive and xenophobic as a result of their common enslavement at the hands of other species.
Alignment and Religion: Deo generally worship deities of fire because of their heritage and hot habitat. They can be of any alignment, though their is a fair amount of lawful evil Deo that follow Efreeti
Adventurers: Despite living most of their lives in their oases, most Deo possess training that would assist them in combat so that they have a smaller chance of experience the surreal feeling of dying after being summoned.

Deo Racial Traits

• +2 Strength, +2 Charisma, -2 Intelligence: Their heritage grants them strength despite their body and an innate gift, though the trauma of having tormenting dreams leads them to have impaired and muddled memories.
• Jinn: Deo are humanoids with the Jinn subtype. For all race-related effects a Jinn creature is considered a genie regardless of type.
• Medium: Deo are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
• Speed: Deo have a base land speed of 30 feet.
• Senses: Darkvision 60ft.
• Bonus Essence: Deo have a natural connection to the unique power of akasha and start play with 1 bonus Essence point in their pool.
• Conjuring Vulnerability: Deo can be summoned by spells of the Summon Monster line by casters with the Fire Subtype and Sorcerers with the Elemental (Fire) bloodline, with untemplated Deo's being added to each version of the spell with a CR equal to the spells level. Deo's do not disappear when Summoned, as they are not being Called, instead only gaining fragments of their experiences from being summoned during their dreams. As these experiences are mingled with dream, they generally cannot separate the real events that occured during summoning from the phantasmal imaginings.
• Heat (Su): The fire within a deo manifests through the glowing gaps between his scales and a heat that flows from his touch. When he makes an unarmed attack, or an attack with a metallic or natural weapon, he deals an additional point of fire damage. The Deo can invest Essence into this ability as though it were a veil; with the damage set to 1d4 per point of Essence (minimum 1).
• Scale Shine (Su): The deo generates light as a candle whenever he has at least one point of essence invested into his Heat ability.
• Shifting Scales (Su): Like Ghul’s a Deo can alter its shape into another form. This functions as Change Shape, except each deo can only take a single shape from the following list; dog, human, hyena, pony, venomous snake, or vulture. Once the choice is made, it cannot be changed.
• Languages: Deo begin play speaking Common and Ignan. Deo with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Auran, Dwarven, Giant, and Terran.

I really like the Deo!

[Anlashok]

Take it easy and I hope your back improves soon.

Gamla is Aramaic for camel, which is where the name comes from.

Well I'm glad you got really creative with your naming conventions. Before their PDF hits we should rename the Daevic "Punchy charisma guy".

[PsyBomb]

Glad you're back, Ssalarn! I was starting to get a bit worried. Heal quick, and I'll keep doing my tests any time you send out an update. Have a Vanara Sineater Guru (Akashic Rogue build) in a PbP at the moment, but it's moving slow and no dice have really been thrown.

[PsyBomb]

Just posting to say I have another character in a different game, this one an Akasin Guru. I will say this, given the right stat arrangement these guys are CRAZY hard to kill by damage. Then again, mine scraped up the 15 CON for Essence of the Immortal, and is a Human who took Extra Essence. 18 HP at level one is no joke, I've made guys as high as 4 without that much raw health (not even counting the temporary HP, if Undead are around he has 16 HP and 5 temp plus Veil).

Once you hit level 3, it starts getting rough punching out through saves, either.

[Ssalarn]

Take it easy and I hope your back improves soon.


Well I'm glad you got really creative with your naming conventions. Before their PDF hits we should rename the Daevic "Punchy charisma guy".

I made sure to add this to my list of community notes
I like that it has a certain bluntness to it. You know exactly what you're getting.

We're getting the issues we caught with the Vizier cleaned up and this guy should be ready to go out with the subscription soon. I want to apologize again, we might have caught this faster and been able to move on it quicker if I hadn't let my health issues keep me from reviewing the final version when Jeremy first got it to me.

Cleaning a few small things up for the Guru from its editing pass, and as soon as that's done I'll get the final version of the Daevic posted up here. Pharaoh caught a bit of a delay because I have a couple other DSP projects I'm assisting on, but I'm hoping that this 3 day weekend will allow some time to finally get the completed Pharaoh and Empty Pyramid disciplines out and into your hands. We're working on some plans to get him out in his own release separate from the subscription, and then incorporating him into a possible future release whose existence is a bit more dependent on the performance of Akashic Mysteries.

Thanks all!

[Psyren]

Get well soon Ssalarn!

So I'm a huge, huge fan of refluffing - I loved the "Rune Magic Variant" that was included in Ultimate Psionics. I was wondering if we could get a similar suggestion for Akasha, either to make it more palatable to DMs or to make it fit with a wider variety of settings and themes. In particular, Phelix-Mu had a great So over in a refluff suggestion for Incarnum that I think could apply well here - turning incarnum/akasha into nanites. It doesn't have to be exactly that one of course, but I think that fluff could work extremely well for this system and be a great contrast to its default fluff as being primal/primitive magic.

Can we get a few suggestions along these lines? Even if it doesn't make it into this book, it would be a nice thing to include either in an "Ultimate Akasha" consolidation product, as a blog post or something else.

Gamla is Aramaic for camel, which is where the name comes from.

I learn something every day