Dreamscarred Press Announces - Steelforge Playtest

[upho]

Ok, got a suggestion. A bit of a "patch" for what Paizo for some weird reason decided to leave out when transferring from 3.5, something I think this game has been sorely missing ever since:

Destabilizing Minor Modifier
This weapon is equipped with hooks or barbs that catch the target's skin, clothing or armor. A destabilizing weapon or piece of ammunition ignores the immunity to trip combat maneuvers flying creatures normally have. When successfully used to trip a flying target, the target takes a -2 penalty to AC and attack rolls. These effects remain until the target spends a move action to remove the them, which provokes attacks of opportunity, as normal. This is treated as a trip combat maneuver in all other respects (and is thus compatible with for example Greater Trip). If the weapon has the trip weapon quality, the wielder gains a +2 bonus to trip combat maneuver checks.
Cost: 500gp
Craft (Weapons) DC 15

This should have been included in the trip combat maneuver description to begin with, but since it's not, this option is at least an affordable fix even during low levels.

Improvement suggestions and comments appreciated!

[Extra Anchovies]

That's, well, kind of insane. Staggered is a much worse condition than prone. Just the AC/attack penalty would be fair, but only if it gets a typing (probably circumstance).

[upho]

Ooops! Copied from home brew stuff (a much more expensive magic enhancement)... You're absolutely right, staggered is completely over the top. I'll edit.

[upho]

Just the AC/attack penalty would be fair, but only if it gets a typing (probably circumstance).

Why do you say that? I mean, consider what the prone condition does to a target without special movement types:

The character is lying on the ground. A prone attacker has a –4 penalty on melee attack rolls and cannot use a ranged weapon (except for a crossbow). A prone defender gains a +4 bonus to Armor Class against ranged attacks, but takes a –4 penalty to AC against melee attacks.

Standing up is a move-equivalent action that provokes an attack of opportunity.

Not to mention the target's movement is also limited to crawling:

You can crawl 5 feet as a move action. Crawling incurs attacks of opportunity from any attackers who threaten you at any point of your crawl. A crawling character is considered prone and must take a move action to stand up, provoking an attack of opportunity.

Pretty damn devastating in many cases. Plenty of creatures might even prefer to be staggered in most situations, since that at least allows them to move further than 5 feet.

[upho]

New version:

Destabilizing Minor Modifier
This weapon is equipped with hooks or barbs designed to catch the target's skin, clothing or armor. A destabilizing weapon or piece of ammunition ignores the immunity to trip combat maneuvers flying creatures normally have. When successfully used to trip a flying target, the target takes a -2 penalty to AC and attack rolls, and its fly speed is halved. These effects remain until the target spends a move action to remove the them, which provokes attacks of opportunity. This is treated as a trip combat maneuver in all other respects, and it triggers any actions which are normally triggered by a creature falling prone (and is thus compatible with for example the Greater Trip, Wolf Trip or Vicious Stomp feats). If the destabilizing weapon has the trip weapon quality, the wielder also gains a +2 bonus to trip combat maneuver checks.
Cost: 500gp
Craft (Weapons) DC 15

The effects of being tripped when flying are now very close to those of being tripped while on the ground, and it now also allows for the various triggers depending on a creature falling prone.

[Abithrios]

New version:

Destabilizing Minor Modifier
This weapon is equipped with hooks or barbs designed to catch the target's skin, clothing or armor. A destabilizing weapon or piece of ammunition ignores the immunity to trip combat maneuvers flying creatures normally have. When successfully used to trip a flying target, the target takes a -2 penalty to AC and attack rolls, and its fly and land speed is reduced to 5 feet. These effects remain until the target spends a move action to remove the them, which provokes attacks of opportunity, as normal. This is treated as a trip combat maneuver in all other respects, and it triggers any actions which are normally triggered by a creature falling prone (and is thus compatible with for example the Greater Trip, Wolf Trip or Vicious Stomp feats). If the destabilizing weapon has the trip weapon quality, the wielder also gains a +2 bonus to trip combat maneuver checks.
Cost: 500gp
Craft (Weapons) DC 15

The effects of being tripped when flying are now very close to those of being tripped while on the ground, and it now also allows for the various triggers depending on a creature falling prone.

Sounds interesting, but the part I bolded should probably be removed. This new antidestabilization action does not automatically inherit attacks of opportunity from some other rules, such as those regarding standing from prone.

I am less certain of this, but you might want to just call it a trip, and give special rules for its effects.

[upho]

Sounds interesting, but the part I bolded should probably be removed. This new antidestabilization action does not automatically inherit attacks of opportunity from some other rules, such as those regarding standing from prone.

Fixed! Thanks.

I am less certain of this, but you might want to just call it a trip, and give special rules for its effects.

I thought that was exactly what I was doing? Or what do you mean?

EDIT: Oh, and I changed the speed reduction. Flying creatures are often a lot more dependent on their speed than land-based ones, after all. /EDIT

[Tuvarkz]

I presume the Power Charm of Phobia refers to the Aura of Fear (Dread Class Ability) rather than Aura of Terror (Which I can't seem to find), right?

[MilleniaAntares]

I have an item idea, but I'm not sure how to do most of the work for it.

It's a foot-slot item for mounts that copies the magic of their rider's foot-slot item. So someone with Boots of Striding and Springing can climb on a horse and give it +10 land speed, +5 competence to acrobatics, and then a second person can use the horse later in the day and grant it the benefits of Boots of the Enduring March.

[Ninjaxenomorph]

Hmm, that is interesting. Is the enchantment being transferred, i.e. boots of haste making the horse hasted instead of you, or does it copy it?

[Kiton2]

Any chance of getting Explosives of the other elements?
A Rainbow of AoE at the tip of your bullets.

[MilleniaAntares]

Hmm, that is interesting. Is the enchantment being transferred, i.e. boots of haste making the horse hasted instead of you, or does it copy it?

I figure it'd copy it, but - given that many of the magical effects are redundant on the rider and the mount - transferring it temporarily could make it more viable.

Or, heck, have two versions, one that transfers, and one that copies.

[Mehangel]

Because this book is going to include items that benefit those that use Spheres of Power, any thoughts on including items that allow stacking of both the Armorist (sphere of power) and the Soulknife (ultimate psionics)? Or perhaps a sidebar that mentions the possible interaction of these two classes? There are so many possibilities and while it is true that it would be better to be either an armorist or a soulknife (as opposed to both), having an item (or even a prestige class) that provides interaction between the two classes would be fascinating.

[Greenish]

I haven't read through the whole thread (yet), but my first thoughts on the new stuff:

Spoiler

Show

Girdle of Protection, Carapace of NA, Corset of Resistance: boring but practical, but I can't help but wonder why not reintroduce something like MIC's item slot affinities? That system was sweet.

Safety Belt: I assume that the spell turning only being active when you wear the belt across your chest is so that you can in practice toggle it on and off without losing the benefits. If that's the case, you might want to mention the action it takes to adjust the belt from one position to other (and whether it requires both hands). The penalty is a bit odd since you'd think you could just cover the belt with something less shiny.

Firesight Eyes: cool enough, though you might want to rephrase this bit: "donning them wreaths creatures in phantom fires which give away their location and highlight their weaknesses". I had to read it twice because at first I thought that the creature donning the goggles was wreathed in the fires.

Gloves of the Akashic Sphere: I'm not so up to date on SoP, or Akasha to be honest, but it seems to me that the purpose of Spell Points is to use them, while the purpose of Essence is to be invested for continuous bonuses. In that sense, the Essence to SP seems a lot more beneficial than the SP to Essence.

Steeltusk’s Punching Mitt: seems like a joke item. Even if you were immune to fire, you'd probably have better use for 10k gp.

Headless Helm: pretty affordable for the utility it grants. Can you actually talk without a head, though? It says you don't suffer any ill effects from not having a head, but also that you can't cast spells with verbal component. Can you be blinded while not having eyes? Does True Seeing reveal your head?

Helm of Lost Flesh: needing two sets of stats that you rapidly switch between might be annoying, but temporary undeath is probably worth it. Also sweet execution method.

Poison Inverting Mask: probably best for NPCs. PCs might appreciate a boost for a tough fight, but for the cost of the mask and a really potent poison, you could probably just get a potion instead. Unless you really, really want to be the man who broke the bat, I guess. Can characters who're immune to poison benefit from this?

Angelwing Cloak: much of the benefit for detecting as Lawful Good is probably lost when you walk around wearing a cloak still dripping with the blood of an angel. The DR is worth it, though.

Rings of Bound Loyalty: deliciously wicked.

Autoloader Magazine: this basically makes crossbows workable, potentially even better than bows. I won't lament the outcome, but that's a rather drastic effect for a single magic item (or, well, a set of them).

Endeca's gregarious gravity slime: never leave home without it. I mean it, this thing is probably on the must-have list for adventurers right after rope.

Glass House: I don't see people going out of their way to buy these, but should you get them in loot, you're going to use them.

Hate Seed: over 9k gold for a one-shot item with unpredictable results probably renders these more NPC/plot items than practical tools.

Horseshoe of Hearth and Home: the idea is great, but I'm not sure the minor bonuses justify the price tag, at least unless you know you're being targeted by, say, a group of mind-controlling fey. Though I guess if you can afford a fancy castle, you can probably afford a couple of these, just in case.

King's Gambit: does the illusion disappear when you stop concentrating, or does it just freeze? If the latter, does the illusion stay up forever? If the former, doesn't swapping places with the illusion end the illusion (since you're no longer concentrating, since you used your standard action for the transposition)?

Power Bomb: is there a limit on how much essence can be invested? Can several creatures invest essence in the same bomb (and if so, do they have separate caps, if any)? How long does the bomb hold the essence?

Power Charms & Refinement Charms: I like the idea that some effects are not worth a whole item item slot. Unless you're multiclassing or a soulknife, it doesn't seem like you can benefit from more than one Power Charm, though.

Slip Grenade: what does it mean for the effect to "otherwise function as a dimension door"? Are you prevented from taking actions after being teleported? If you prime the grenade to activate after three turns, does it do so on your initiative, and before or after you've acted on that turn?

Warsong Instrument: a must have for TWF bards. What happens if you have one-handed instrument (say, a castanet) that summons a two-handed weapon, though? Could you fight with the summoned two-hander and another weapon in your offhand? Could you have two Warsong Castanets, each of which summons a glaive, and TWF with them? You are, after all, in case of either of your Warsong Instruments, "able to wield the weapons normally". :P


Chaos Root Paste: has the potential to really slow down the combat with recalculating stuff, especially if several characters are affected. That's on the DM, though, the PCs probably aren't interested in burning 4k for one shot at switching one enemy's scores randomly.

Lead Paint: can you paint a person? Are there rules for lead poisoning? :P

Manabane Gel: cool. Also a cheap way to remove cursed items.

Soulvenom Infusion: the game needed a way to kill things so they stay dead. Bonus points for Gentle Repose turning a corpse into a macguffin.

Thundersand: functions as a trap, thus needs a search DC.


Dead man's winder: needs rules on the shots it makes.

Poisoner's Sheath: makes sense, and it's actually surprising this hadn't already been done.

Swiftshot's Winder: intriguing but impractical.

Glass Steel: since the description specifically mentions weapons being made of the stuff, it should probably have a price for such weapons. (You could go by weight, but that's not particularly fair.)

I might get into the rest later, but now I'll just add that I'm not a big fan of the major nonmagical weapon enhancements. The minor ones are cool though.

[Abithrios]

Safety Belt: I assume that the spell turning only being active when you wear the belt across your chest is so that you can in practice toggle it on and off without losing the benefits. If that's the case, you might want to mention the action it takes to adjust the belt from one position to other (and whether it requires both hands). The penalty is a bit odd since you'd think you could just cover the belt with something less shiny.

I think the way to prevent the covering problem is to specify that something even sillier happens if you try to cover it up.

Glass Steel: since the description specifically mentions weapons being made of the stuff, it should probably have a price for such weapons. (You could go by weight, but that's not particularly fair.)

The term glass steel is cool, but it kinda got my hopes up that this is what they were talking about: metallic glass.

Metallic elements, but formed into an amorphous glass instead of a crystal by rapid cooling. Just a quick read of the Wikipedia article suggests several ideas for properties that are less well explored than the "just like metal, but technically not" of the current version (listed right next to ironwood). Possible applications for metallic glass based vaguely on science:

1. Something involving implants.

2. Combining properties of multiple existing metals.

3. Something magnet related.

4. Different crafting methods, which would be a bit of a tradeoff.

5. Possibly having higher hardness, but lower hit points.

These are just some thoughts. Some of them modify existing metals. I think some of them could be cool, but they should probably not all be crammed into one thing.

[Eox]

I don't know if you guys are too keen on suggestions like this, but a Pearl/Runestone of Power-like item that can only be used as a spell slot to counter a spell (As dispel magic) would be really neat. Reduced cost ideally, it would make Counterspell-focused Arcanists a lot more viable.

[Nyaa]

it would make Counterspell-focused Arcanists a lot more viable.

What's not viable about current arcanist that has exploit to counterspell as immediate action?

[Eox]

Sorceror spell progression, universalist wizard spells per day.

[Greenish]

Sorceror spell progression, universalist wizard spells per day.

#FirstTierProblems

[Eox]

I'm all for giving first tiers improved toolkits for screwing over other first tiers, we need more caster battles rather than two of them disabling the bruisers on either side and occasionally taking potshots at each other.

[Mithril Leaf]

I would find it really neat if we could get an item that let's you convert potions into tattoos and vice versa. Maybe the potion becomes ink and you shave off the tattoo and dissolve it in a bottle. Preferably at an early-mid game price point.

[Ninjaxenomorph]

There's a spell that does that, but it kinda... sucks. A better one wouldn't hurt.

[upho]

I'm all for giving first tiers improved toolkits for screwing over other first tiers, we need more caster battles rather than two of them disabling the bruisers on either side and occasionally taking potshots at each other.

I actually agree, though I believe this is typically very tricky to do right (read: not simply giving the first tiers even more power). And I kinda like the idea of counterspell pearls, though I think they'd be even better if they somehow mostly improved the tier three 6/9 casters ability to counter spells from full casters. And I'm not sure this book is the right place for it anyhow, seeing the focus at least so far seems to be on items usable by non-casters. But I might very well be mistaken, so a dev should probably answer this.

[PsyBomb]

I actually agree, though I believe this is typically very tricky to do right (read: not simply giving the first tiers even more power). And I kinda like the idea of counterspell pearls, though I think they'd be even better if they somehow mostly improved the tier three 6/9 casters ability to counter spells from full casters. And I'm not sure this book is the right place for it anyhow, seeing the focus at least so far seems to be on items usable by non-casters. But I might very well be mistaken, so a dev should probably answer this.

The focus has just been on cool items. The fact that non-casters get a lot of it is just a byproduct of them needing the cool toys more.

Anyway, added another Location of Power (Walls of the Crashing Tempest Academy), doing proofing/formatting on a couple of weapon enhancements (including one nonmagical). Look for them tonight.

EDIT: Holy Burst and Unholy Burst added to the playtest

[Milo v3]

Was it ever explained why non-magical item enhancements used Craft (Traps) rather than the craft skill to make the item?

[MilleniaAntares]

Yay for the addition of Celesteel and Abyssium!

Glass Steel seems alright, to be honest, but I'm not quite sure if it is thematically different enough from mundane crystal, beyond not counting as metal. But it's a bit nitpicky on my part, so.. yeah.

Another idea I saw said in another thread... how about an enchantment to allow throwing weapons to be used underwater?

Does the "Walls of the Crashing Tempest Academy" effect only last for one week? Or does it reset? Is it limited to just one check, or is it to all the checks you pass in that week?

[Jurai]

We've got Good Burst and Evil Burst, so where're Lawful Burst and Chaotic Burst? Or Neutrality Burst (and by extension, an alignment enhancement for Neutrality, a la Holy, Unholy, Axiomatic, Anarchic?)

[Elricaltovilla]

A new alchemical (sort of) item has been added to Steelforge: Martial Elixirs. These potent creations contain the distilled knowledge of great warriors, allowing you limited access to their maneuvers for a short time.

Additionally, other elemental versions of the Exploding enchantment have been added (acid, cold and electricity) and the Exploding enchantment has been renamed to Fiery Explosion.

[ghanjrho]

I don't think that "creator must be good" was intended on Unholy Burst.

[Elricaltovilla]

I don't think that "creator must be good" was intended on Unholy Burst.

What, you don't think that good people can make evil weapons?

Thank you for catching that, I've gone ahead and fixed it.