The Creator of Spheres of Power Here: Ask Me Anything

[Ironsides]

Does Life heal undead then?

If you give them temporary HP through Invigorate I think that you can give them temporary HP but Cure explicitly states that since Cure is a positive energy effect that it harms the undead.

[Milo v3]

Is there any chance of making a talent that does Heal undead in the future? Seems like dhampir would be screwed when it comes to healing.

[Thatwarforged]

Is there any chance of making a talent that does Heal undead in the future? Seems like dhampir would be screwed when it comes to healing.

There is one in the death sphere called manipulate undeath which you can spend a spell point to heal an undead 1d8 per 2 caster levels.

Edit:
So I have a question
If I have a staff or magic item that has a base sphere or magical talent can I use that for prerequisites when making magical items or with activating a part of another talent like Create demiplane? (Example I have a +2 staff of nature with the expanded geomancy talent (Water) and I cast create demiplane. Could I apply the bountiful trait?)

[Wrungch]

I have two questions.

1) When an illusion is disbelieved by one character, is the illusion dispelled, or does it remain in effect for other characters?
Meaning, every character would need to disbelieve individually?

2) Invisibility talent - does that remain in effect for the 1 min/lvl duration, or is it dispelled when the target performs
an action that would cancel an invisibility spell?

Thanks.

Wrungch

[AGrinningCat]

Does the False Focus feat apply to Rituals?

[Qc Storm]

You mentioned Mechamagic earlier. Are there any other potential Spheres you'd like to share as hype material?

[CowardlyPaladin]

I only heard about this form this this thread, and since I wasn't a backer, here I am curious about. Without giving too much away mechanically, how does your magic system differ from Vanician and any other D20 magic systems.

[Ironsides]

I looked around the forums but I couldn't find where someone did archetype conversions of all the casting classes to Spheres of Power (base classes, prestige classes, everything). Can someone link to that post? I dislike reinventing the wheel when someone else has done all the hard work.

[Vhaidara]

I only heard about this form this this thread, and since I wasn't a backer, here I am curious about. Without giving too much away mechanically, how does your magic system differ from Vanician and any other D20 magic systems.

Not really sure how you can describe that difference without talking mechanics...

Think Talent Tree instead of spell list, mixed with Warlock invocations and a pool of resources used to enhance your talents. When you run out of spell points, you can still do things, you just aren't operating at 100%.

As a note, something that, if it's in my copy of the PDF, I keep missing: What Creature type is the companion from Conjuration? I've been assuming Outsider, but cannot seem to confirm it.

[EldritchWeaver]

I looked around the forums but I couldn't find where someone did archetype conversions of all the casting classes to Spheres of Power (base classes, prestige classes, everything). Can someone link to that post? I dislike reinventing the wheel when someone else has done all the hard work.

Have a look at Spheres of Power All Class Conversions - except for the base classes, those are included in the book. There people are discussing ways to do so. Overall, most classes fit the magic system nicely.

[CowardlyPaladin]

Not really sure how you can describe that difference without talking mechanics...

Think Talent Tree instead of spell list, mixed with Warlock invocations and a pool of resources used to enhance your talents. When you run out of spell points, you can still do things, you just aren't operating at 100%.

As a note, something that, if it's in my copy of the PDF, I keep missing: What Creature type is the companion from Conjuration? I've been assuming Outsider, but cannot seem to confirm it.

I mean without writing up the actual spells and what not, just the basic system. Like for example

"Psionics don't use Vancian casting, you learn a certain number of spells per level, and you get a certain number of power points per level. A spell each level costs a certain amount of power points, but you can spend more to have a greater effect". Something like that.

[EldritchWeaver]

I mean without writing up the actual spells and what not, just the basic system. Like for example

"Psionics don't use Vancian casting, you learn a certain number of spells per level, and you get a certain number of power points per level. A spell each level costs a certain amount of power points, but you can spend more to have a greater effect". Something like that.

The answer to your question was in the second part:

Think Talent Tree instead of spell list, mixed with Warlock invocations and a pool of resources used to enhance your talents. When you run out of spell points, you can still do things, you just aren't operating at 100%.

Or my way:

You choose powers, which grant either a new ability or enhance an another chosen power. Using these powers can be done either at-will or require spell points. At-will abilities can be upgraded in effect by spending an additional spell point as well. The system is pretty malleable as well. It allows GMs and players to fit the magic system to the setting and characters, instead the other way around.

[Ironsides]

Silly question here. The Channel class feature for the Incantor and to a lesser extent for the Soul Weaver is a bit ambiguous to me in relation to the Command Undead channel feat. Do you use your class level for the DC for the feat? Such as 10 + 1/2 your Incantor/Soul Weaver level + your Charisma modifier for the DC of the feat.

Also the Soul Weaver explicitly states you qualify for all channeling feats, however the Incantor does not not have this wording. Does this mean that the Incantor can't take channeling feats?

I am asking these questions because I am building a gestalt Dread Necromancer using this system and I wanted to be clear on what my options are because Command Undead is a key feat for the build.

[Kaidinah]

Hello! I am a big big fan of Spheres of Power. All of my players love it too, and are excited to try it out. I have a few question about the upcoming expansion of Spheres of Power.

Will Spheres of Power's expansion get alternate racial traits for races that get bonuses to vancian magic?

[Adam Meyers]

@meemaas: I have, yeah. John's just particularly swamped and short on help at the moment.

@Thatwarforged: Yes.

@Wrungch:

1) The illusion stays in effect, but the character who disbelieves knows its fake and can make decisions accordingly. Every character would need to disbelieve it individually, but once one person disbelieves it they can often point the illusion out to everyone else.

2) Invisibility follows the same rules as an illusion: It has a duration of concentration unless combined with lingering illusion, and taking actions does not dispel the invisibility. It does have a lower bonus to Stealth checks, though.

@AGrinningCat: We didn't have that feat in mind when designing rituals, but so long as the GM allows it, I think it could apply, sure.

@Qc Storm: We're working on those ideas now, but for example, rather than including racial spells with Skybourne's new races, we're thinking of including racial talents and entire racial spheres.

@Keledrath: Extraplanar outsider, yeah.

@Ironsides: Use your class level as your effective Cleric level. Incanters do qualify for channeling feats; often when designing new classes we include redundancies (such as specifying Soul Weavers can get all feats) to help people get the intent. Not including that redundancy for the Incanter just means we probably were cutting space for the final PDF and didn't think we needed it.

@Kaidinah: It's on the list of expansions, but there's so many other things on the list of expansions that I can't say where or when it will happen.

[Kaidinah]

Someday is better than never!

Another question, is everything in Spheres of Power finalized, or can stuff change between the current PDF and the upcoming physical book? Basically, has it already been submitted to printers?

[Ezekiul]

You guys have done a great job with Spheres of Power, it is definitely a very cool system. I have a few questions:

In the update that happened in February you had mentioned with the conjuration school that you can only get 1 form talent for "free". Are there any plans to be able to add more talents with additional cost or are you guys settled with the 1 form talent per summon?

The weather sphere is one of my favorite spheres and I love how you guys created interactions between the different weather effects. My concern is that right now it takes a few rounds to get the minimal effects from the combinations (storm, heavy snow, boil/hail) but less rounds after that to go crazy (tornados, avalanches, typhoons). Can you provide any insight as to the design of this with more specifically on why the minimal effects of the combinations aren't lower on the severity level?

Thanks!

[gparali]

Would the system be viable if I just dropped it in 3.5 edition campaigns?

What kind of alterations would I need to do?

[EldritchWeaver]

Someday is better than never!

Another question, is everything in Spheres of Power finalized, or can stuff change between the current PDF and the upcoming physical book? Basically, has it already been submitted to printers?

Last I've heard was that it is already in the process of being printed.

Would the system be viable if I just dropped it in 3.5 edition campaigns?

What kind of alterations would I need to do?

Good question. I'd say that the spells are more broken in 3.5, so the effect of not using Vancian is a bit more pronounced. On the other hand, the base classes of 3.5 are weaker than the SoP ones. So here you would empower players. All in all, I'd say it should still work.

[Rasma]

Why do some classes have you able to select the casting stat well others are set? Is it thematic or mechanical in nature?

[EldritchWeaver]

Why do some classes have you able to select the casting stat well others are set? Is it thematic or mechanical in nature?

That question has been asked and answered already in this thread:

Why is the Armorist's casting stat Wisdom?

We gave her Wisdom as a casting stat because the concept of the class was someone who unlocked the potential of equipment through mediation; they aren't a wizard who limits themselves to equipment, but a warrior who unlocked the mystic capabilities of the tools of war, if that makes sense.

Why are some classes open to the choice of casting modifier and others are not? The big one where this came up in my group was Armorist, which is locked to Wisdom. Since the player in question was building a mad scientist who stored various inventions in his hammerspace, I let him swap it to Int, but it struck me as odd.

As for casting stats, we wanted to give people the freedom to pick their own stats, while not bogging down people who didn't care for extreme customization with too many choices (hence, why some classes can pick and some classes can't.) I see no problem in letting people change it up, though, and a mad scientist sounds fun.

An interesting tidbit about the Elementalist:

The concept behind the Elementalists was actually that of a magical monk: combatants who use magic instead of ki to enhance their combat capabilities. Think Avatar: The Last Airbender, if that helps.

I'd like to add that even if you don't do GM fiat, a player would only need to do a level-dip in another casting class and swap the casting stat. As the caster level stacks this is only sacrificing the 20th level cap stone, something most people don't achieve.

[stack]

I think the fey adept still gets two free form talents when using create reality to make a companion, though I need to see if this changed in the recent update. If not, should they? The wording made it sound as if it was just copying the default, but the default is one.

[Ezekiul]

I think the fey adept still gets two free form talents when using create reality to make a companion, though I need to see if this changed in the recent update. If not, should they? The wording made it sound as if it was just copying the default, but the default is one.

Yes it does, increasing to 3 & 4 as they level

[Azernak0]

I am going to agree with that dirty rotten bastard Ezekiul that y'all have made a great system. However, there seems to be a few concerns I have:

1. Are Spheres that are the same effectd as Spells equivalent to those spells? IE, will Desecrate allow a Reanimate to make more dudes?

2. Soul Weavers. These guys are bad at their jobs. Really bad. An Incanter with Death Specialization and Channel Energy does basically everything better.

They both get the same bad saves, BAB, weapon proficiency, and no Armor. However....
A. The Incanter gets Command/Turn Undead for free. It is also not tied to their channel so an Incanter can Channel Positive AND Command Undead.
B. Their Channel and Command/Turn are on separate ability pools. 3 + Casting stat for each ability versus 1+ Cha for both abilities for the Soul Weaver (and they need to take the feat).
C. More talents.

What the Soul Weaver gets instead is a fairly lackluster Blessing/Blight that burn their super limited resources and the ability to summon incorporeal undead for Cha mod rounds. That ability IS great but only by level 8 where it is shadows. By then, the Incanter has 5 more talents as well as having a +1 caster level.

Allowing people to reroll saves is great but the soul either has to be directed into the target, making the fact that it is an immediate action worthless, or be adjacent to the target.

What is so strange is that the incanter doesn't step on the other casters toes as badly. Symbiants have psionics, Fey Adepts are better at illusions, Armorists are better at combat. But the Soul Weaver seems just like a worse Death specialist Incanter.

My question is: what is the reason to choose a Soul Weaver over a Death / Channel Energy Incanter?

3. Conjuration has no ability that can be used for free. Do you have any ideas on what would be fair so that Conjuration has an at will ability?

[Vhaidara]

Conjuration only has one ability (Summon Companion), and it is probably one of the strongest in Spheres, because, for the cost of 2 talents, you get a 24 hour duration on the summon. Conjuration does not need any kind of a buff.

[Ironsides]

2. Soul Weavers. These guys are bad at their jobs. Really bad. An Incanter with Death Specialization and Channel Energy does basically everything better.

They both get the same bad saves, BAB, weapon proficiency, and no Armor. However....
A. The Incanter gets Command/Turn Undead for free. It is also not tied to their channel so an Incanter can Channel Positive AND Command Undead.
B. Their Channel and Command/Turn are on separate ability pools. 3 + Casting stat for each ability versus 1+ Cha for both abilities for the Soul Weaver (and they need to take the feat).
C. More talents.

What the Soul Weaver gets instead is a fairly lackluster Blessing/Blight that burn their super limited resources and the ability to summon incorporeal undead for Cha mod rounds. That ability IS great but only by level 8 where it is shadows. By then, the Incanter has 5 more talents as well as having a +1 caster level.

Allowing people to reroll saves is great but the soul either has to be directed into the target, making the fact that it is an immediate action worthless, or be adjacent to the target.

What is so strange is that the incanter doesn't step on the other casters toes as badly. Symbiants have psionics, Fey Adepts are better at illusions, Armorists are better at combat. But the Soul Weaver seems just like a worse Death specialist Incanter.

My question is: what is the reason to choose a Soul Weaver over a Death / Channel Energy Incanter?

I think that you have a point. Recently I looked over the Death Sphere and decided to make a Dread Necromancer for a gestalt game. Soul Weaver was my first choice but after looking at the Incanter I decided to go with it for my casting class because it provides more for an ambitious necromancer. Here are my 4 big reasons for choosing an Incanter instead of a Soul Weaver for my Necromancer.

• The Incanter has 32 magic talents compared to the Soul Weaver's 22 talents (I count the 2 bonus starting talents).
• The Incanter can Channel 3+casting mod compared to the Soul Weaver's 1+CHA mod.
• Blessing/Blight and Nexus class features of the Soul Weaver are not stronger than 10 more magic talents and +0-11 bonus feats.
• You can get all relevant Death Sphere talents for making the undead by level 5 with the Incanter vs level 8 with the Soul Weaver. Here are the 9 talents I base my necromancer on:

1. Death Sphere (because we need to start somewhere )
2. Expanded Necromancy (for better undead like bloody skeletons)
3. Lingering Necromancy (a prerequisite for Permanent Undeath)
4. Empowered Necromancy (+4 to STR and Dex)
5. Greater Reanimate (you control 3x your HD in undead with this)
6. Greater Reanimate (you control 4x your HD in undead with this)
7. Greater Reanimate (you control 5x your HD in undead with this)
8. Permanent Undeath advanced talent (because you want minions without the expiration date)
9. Summon Spirit advanced talent (you need to read this one carefully, this is a VERY powerful and flexible option)

Azernak0, the only point I disagree with you on is the need to take the Death Specialization I think the Incanter is stronger without it. A necromancer based Incanter does not need to take the Death Specialization just the Channel specialization. You get the channel specialization for 2 points that lets you get 6 extra bonus feats that you can spend on other things (yes you need to spend a feat on Command Undead but you still net 5 more bonus feats overall). I think that Death Specialization is a subpar choice compared to getting 5 more bonus feats that can be used for counterspell, metamagic, item creation feats etc.

I think that for a Soul Weaver to be a better necromancer class than the Incanter it needs better channeling, Command Undead as a free bonus feat, and bonus talents from the death sphere every odd level. Otherwise I am picking the Incanter for my necromancy needs every single time.

[Azernak0]

I think that you have a point. Recently I looked over the Death Sphere and decided to make a Dread Necromancer for a gestalt game. Soul Weaver was my first choice but after looking at the Incanter I decided to go with it for my casting class because it provides more for an ambitious necromancer. Here are my 4 big reasons for choosing an Incanter instead of a Soul Weaver for my Necromancer.

-snip to relevant part-

Azernak0, the only point I disagree with you on is the need to take the Death Specialization I think the Incanter is stronger without it. A necromancer based Incanter does not need to take the Death Specialization just the Channel specialization. You get the channel specialization for 2 points that lets you get 6 extra bonus feats that you can spend on other things (yes you need to spend a feat on Command Undead but you still net 5 more bonus feats overall). I think that Death Specialization is a subpar choice compared to getting 5 more bonus feats that can be used for counterspell, metamagic, item creation feats etc.

I agree with that as well, for the most part. I just took the Death Specialization to show that an Incanter pretending to be a Soul Weaver is flat out better than the Soul Weaver. It is like how a strictly "I buff myself to attack" Cleric without their other spells to greater effect is a weaker Cleric than the Cleric that buffs themselves AND uses magic for other stuff but the selfish buffer is still infinitely better than the Paladin.

Going Death Specialization / Channel Energy allows you to heal and Control Undead without needing Versatile Channeling. Potentially not worth it but as stated even an unoptimized Incanter does the same thing as Soul Weaver but with perks.

[Ezekiul]

Conjuration only has one ability (Summon Companion), and it is probably one of the strongest in Spheres, because, for the cost of 2 talents, you get a 24 hour duration on the summon. Conjuration does not need any kind of a buff.

That 24 hour duration is a form talent and since you can only have 1 on your companion at the moment you are giving up many strong and unique things just for duration, so alone it does not feel as strong.

I believe the biggest issue is the gap in power of many of the talents when you could take multiple talents per companion. Combinations like the 24 hour duration, the magical companion talent, and multiple companions far out pace many of the other combinations of talents. This specific one makes a mini-leadership feat for the conjuration sphere and opens up the 1-man parties after gaining a few extra companions.

I think multiple talent categories besides "form" (similar to destruction's type and shape) and limits on those categories could scale down the strong combinations while still leaving options open to the conjurer. That or imposing heavy costs (like multiplying the cost for every talent added) and tuning down or removing some of the strong talents like magical companion or extra companion.

[squab]

Will the book have the same art as the PDF? I have the PDF and I find some of the art rather... underwhelming. (However my primary concern in books is crunch and this has lots.)

[Azernak0]

Ezekiul, it doesn't say you can only have one form; it states "whenever you select a (form) talent... apply its effects to only a single companion. You may select (form) talents multiple times, but no more than once per companion." (On phone so no exact copy-paste)
So you can have multiple forms on a guy and have an army of those guys but you are paying X times the talents otherwise it would say "no more than one" rather than once.

Multiple dudes still isn't as bad as Leadership but that is an easy bar to slide under.