3.5 Homebrew: Taking Requests

[Morphic tide]

I'd like to set a set of balanced base classes to serve as a total replacement to the PHB classes...

So we have... Rogue, Ranger, Bard, Wizard, Sorcerer, Cleric and... Druid. Almost forgot the Druid. Oh, and Paladin. Because ToB already covers Paladin, Fighter and Monk really well. Some tweaks to the ToB classes to make them better cover their respective core Martial would work, I suppose.

Of course, Hypermundane is also an option, but I kinda dislike the massive option list setups. Doesn't have enough power in the class, making it prone to breaking from a badly-though-out addition by the end user. Kinda like what happened with the core casters. Also prone to breakages from overlooked combos.

[Jormengand]

I'd like to set a set of balanced base classes to serve as a total replacement to the PHB classes...

This is almost exactly what Sword Vs Spell will be when it's released!

Okay, bonus, SvS is not one but three sets of balanced classes, one at the "Low power level", one at the "Medium power level" and one at the "High power level". These roughly correspond to T4-5, T3-4, and T1-2, though there are a couple of differences in the placement of classes (for example, expert is positioned in the "Too low to be low" box with the T6s because it will keep dying in combat no matter how T5 it insists it is to the encroaching orcs. Still, it doesn't go to the SGT's extreme of assuming that combat and the odd trap are the only kind of encounters that matter). Then, there's a bunch of new classes to fit some of the archetypes which were missed out at each of those power levels - there's no manifesters at the low power level, for example; there's no warriors at the high power level. There aren't even any non-blademagical warriors at the medium power level! And so forth.

Speaking of blademagical warriors, another thing SvS is going to do is revamp my momentum project, allowing you to have blade-magic which is actually dependent on your attack bonus and damage with a weapon, rather than the ToB-style "You automatically hit and deal damage which is barely based on your weapon damage at all" maneuvers. Oh, and I'm gonna make it properly support ranged combat (it sorta already does, but I think I need to remove the part where I gate ranged momentum-use away until level 5).

For now, though, if you want a set of balancedish classes around T3, you can get:

Barbarianlikes: Juggernaut or Outrider - I don't do barbarian clones very much, but these are probably the closest.
Bardlikes: Commander or Supporter. Or, you know, Bard. Xenobard of Love is weird but probably also works.
Clericlikes: Grand Vivimancer? Also possibly Devoted Specialist*.
Druidlikes: Gaia Disciple has a similar theme, I guess?
Fighterlikes: Honour Guard, Soldier, Avatar, Fencer, depending on what kind of fighter you want. Maybe Exemplar.
Monklikes: Ineffable Disciple, Avatar or Martial Artist.
Paladinlikes: Bladewing or Living Saint. Or just use paladin with SotAO, mystic fire knight, battle blessing...
Rangerlikes: Soldier is sorta this, though no look-at-me-so-natural and no racism-based bonuses.
Games with permadeath: Adventurer, Avatar, Hitman, Base Assasin, Charlatan, Sacred Assassin
Sorcererlikes: Devoted Specialist*, Cultist of the Apocalypse, Blastmage
Wizardlikes: Mostly as Sorcererlikes
Others: Spellslinger, Splitsoul, Traveller, Usurper, Nexus Caster, Spirit Host, Energist, Overloaded, Machine Cultist

*Ban people from taking Con or Tra.

Most of those should be fairly decent, and you can look through to see which ones you aren't so keen on (Devspec is a 9th-level caster off a decent list, supporter makes allies very hard to hit, spellslinger does technically get infinite spellcasting but it's not great, and martial artist does a bunch of damage, in particular, so you might want to scrutinise those)

[Westhart]

Just noticed ancestral relic requires a good alignment, so maybe requesting an evil version of that?

((Not sure what'd you do besides switch evil with good and require you to be in a unhallow or desecrated effect, but I'd be interested to see if you could think of anything ))

[noob]

You could also make it about scarifying the appropriate amount of gp of children,puppies and kittens instead of whatever it was before.

[Morphic tide]

You could also make it about scarifying the appropriate amount of gp of children,puppies and kittens instead of whatever it was before.

...BoVD Sacrifice rules as the basis? Some number fuzzing would be needed, but I can see a build focused on reliably capturing enemies to sacrifice them to their fiendish associate to improve said associate,thus improving their "magic item" by having a powerful possessor getting all over their loot.

So have it be a mix of a Cohort feat and Ancestral Relic, with necessary sacrifices to the fiendish associate for them to progress to more powerful forms and gain a higher magic item cap(the standard is 2,000 GP per HD of the possessing Fiend)

[Rizban]

Just noticed ancestral relic requires a good alignment, so maybe requesting an evil version of that?

((Not sure what'd you do besides switch evil with good and require you to be in a unhallow or desecrated effect, but I'd be interested to see if you could think of anything ))

Isn't that just a Fiend of Possession with a good Bluff check? [FF p204]

[Westhart]

Isn't that just a Fiend of Possession with a good Bluff check? [FF p204]

Hehe, I meant an actual feat though, not jumping through hoops to get a DM to let you have that

[Jormengand]

Just noticed ancestral relic requires a good alignment, so maybe requesting an evil version of that?

((Not sure what'd you do besides switch evil with good and require you to be in a unhallow or desecrated effect, but I'd be interested to see if you could think of anything ))

Enjoy your, uh, feat for sunder builds I guess. I dunno, maybe I took the fact that you have to destroy loot as an incentive to make it good with sundering.

EDIT: Incidentally, I've been working a bunch on SvS. Do people want a dedicated hype train thread, or just me generally stating how much progress is being made, or for me to shut up about it until it's finished?

[ShiningStarling]

Alright, I'll bite. How about some material for wielding weapons telekinetically? Thinking of Penny from RWBY, Irelia from League of Legends, Yondu from Guardians of the Galaxy, and such.

[brian 333]

I have toyed with a non-evil, (or at least not required to be evil,) alternate to the Assassin PrC.

I'm stuck in 3.5 rules, mostly because that was the latest system in use as of the disbanding of my tabletop group. What I came up with is the Sniper PrC, and some vague guidelines which I've toyed with from time to time. But I'm thinking the Sniper might be a viable choice for solo or small group adventures, and someone out there may be looking for such a character in their game world.

Sniper (PrC)

Requirements: Fighter, Ranger, or Paladin. Must have background as member of an organized military. Chaotic alignments prohibited. Weapon Of Choice: Crossbow

Feats: Sniper Shot, (similar to assassination attempt.) Long Range Shot, (reduces range penalties.) Disabling Shot, (potentially immobilizes victim.) Accurate Shot: (improved to hit, including versus damage reduction.) Legendary Shot: (doubles range of crossbow and allows any one of the Sniper feats to be used with this single shot.)

Sneak Attack: When using a crossbow from surprise the Sniper gains bonus damage. A 1D6 sneak attack bonus advances to 2D6 at Level 3 Sniper, to 3D6 at Level 6, and to 4D6 at Sniper Level 9. When using any Sniper Feat there is no maximum range at which the bonus damages cease to apply, other than the absolute range of the crossbow itself.
Rogues or other characters with a sneak attack may use either version of the feat but they never combine. Use of the bonus damage of other classes must adhere to the rules of that class, and Sniper feats cannot be used in conjunction with bonus damage from any class other than the class chosen as the qualifying class, so that a Ranger/Sniper can add his Favored Enemy bonus damage, a Paladin can add his Smiting bonus damage to Sniper Shots, and Fighters can add bonus damage from Fighter Feats, but sorcerers, clerics, rogues, or any other class must choose between normal mode and Sniper mode when calculating attacks and damage.

Edit: I forgot to include long arms such as black powder muskets and rifles along with crossbows, and I forgot to include the sniper's ability to camouflage and to hide in plain sight after creating a 'nest.'

[Dusk Raven]

I don't know if this'll be acceptable, but there's an old class feature that I felt could use some improvement or retooling...

The Oriental Adventures Samurai had an ability that caught my eye - the Ancestral Daisho ability. For those not in the know, the main thing about it is that a Samurai starts with a masterwork katana and wakizashi that are essentially bound to them - and that a Samurai can enhance those weapons as they see fit, without the use of item creation feats or loss of XP, by paying gold or magical items at full value (not sell value) equal to what the normal buy value of such enhancements would be. I always liked it because I'm a huge fan of the idea that you keep a weapon throughout the game, rather than selling it to get the money for another weapon. That, and I'm getting into Oriental Adventures again, so I wanted to see if it could be made into a valuable class feature.

[Morphic tide]

First, Brian 33, you've got the wrong thread. Unless you want to see Jorms make that as a PRC, at least.

Second, Dusk Raven, you're basically asking for something that has multiple existing versions already. As an Item Familiar style variant rule, it'd be interesting... But we already have Item Familiar.

Third, might I request an Epic-level Elite Manifester that gets access to Elite spells from a list including powers above 9th level? Because there's a bit of Faerun fluff that makes it so an Epic level Manifester might be able to bypass Mystra's ban on actual spells above 9th level, because Faerun psionics essentially works by making your own personal mini-Weave, so a powerful enough Psion, or group of Psions(Epic Thrallherd variant?) could produce a pseudo-Weave powerful enough to actually operate 10th level and above Powers. And give it some features, not just be a power list access. At least free metapsionic effects relating to what it does. Free as in not needing to spend PP on it, not free as in not contributing to PP limits.

For reference, the only known 12th level spell ever to be put to print as a reference is taking on the powers of any Deity of your choosing, needing Tarrasque blood, 12-headed-hydra bile and a stone-filled Gold Dragon gizzard to make one of the material components. The intent was to forcefully turn oneself into the Avatar of a Deity... Mystra is an echo/reincarnation of the God targeted by that abomination. A 10th level spell has the capacity to permanently block off most forms of interplanar travel to and from a Plane, although it requires a hundred-ton spelljammer as a material component.

I, personally, would make it one more level of power per three levels of the class, so you have 10th level Powers at 3rd level in it(getting Elite Powers of any level you can manifest for the first two levels), 11th at 6th, 12th at 9th and so on(because all Epic PRCs are infinite progressions, by RAW)

[Dusk Raven]

Second, Dusk Raven, you're basically asking for something that has multiple existing versions already. As an Item Familiar style variant rule, it'd be interesting... But we already have Item Familiar.

Item Familiar is quite different, far more complicated, and isn't a class feature... the last of which arguably makes it better, but even so, I like the simplicity of the Ancestral Daisho ability. If there are other versions of that concept in 3.5, I don't know of them.

[Morphic tide]

Item Familiar is quite different, far more complicated, and isn't a class feature... the last of which arguably makes it better, but even so, I like the simplicity of the Ancestral Daisho ability. If there are other versions of that concept in 3.5, I don't know of them.

Ancestral Relic is basically that feature in feat form, Possessed Weapon got made as an Evil counterpart on request in this thread, Artificer has a class feature to cover the XP costs and have All The Crafting Feats, Kensai has automatic bonus progression(not item specific, though) and Legacy Weapons are almost singularly about the idea of using one item throughout your whole carrier, though the abilities are fixed on selection.

[brian 333]

First, Brian 33, you've got the wrong thread. Unless you want to see Jorms make that as a PRC, at least.

That's the idea, yes. If he has the time and interest, that is. My request comes in at page three, but the OP seemed pretty enthusiastic, so here it is.

I've toyed with rules regarding constructing a ghille suit and its improvement over levelups.
I've toyed with requirements to have undertaken a sniper mission for an established nation in a time of war as a class requirement.

But my attempts quickly became cumbersome: a PrC description should fit on a single page, and I kept writing pamphlets! So, if someone can do it, I'd love to see a class that, without resorting to powers which tear the very fabric of the universe assunder, can make a thousand meter kill shot.

And then I want to make my brother DM so I can play the class.

[Goaty14]

A class that makes in-combat healing worth the effort would be nice to have. Perhaps something that scales or time. I would also like it not to directly emulate the heal spell (for originality)

[Climowitz]

Would love to see you make the Universal Monsters (Frankenstein, Dracula, Mummy, etc.) as a 10 Level Class (Base or Prstg)

[Jormengand]

Telekinetic weapon-wielding (and an entire weapon subsystem I've want to do for a while) is done, though it's more in a proof-of-concept stage than anything and only a couple of the effects revolve around that specific thing.

I've already done a sniper class, and technically MLG quickscoper works for sniping but - as the name implies - is kinda more of a joke class. An agent with the Needle which Fells a Giant can also do this.

Ancestral relic exists; I'd need a better idea than "Like ancestral relic but not" to make it - even "Like ancestral relic but evil" was enough, after all.

Epic elite manifester is something I might do eventually, but since there aren't even any nonepic elite manifesters yet, it's not going to be easy to work - especially with the fact that the way epic powers work is already weird and they're essentially the same thing as epic spells. Plus, can you imagine elite vengeful gaze of god?

In-combat healing which is worth it comes from the apothecary. Just don't pick rejuvenate, mass rejuvenate or rejuvenate companion if you really dislike emulating heal.

I don't know how I would make "Universal monsters" as a class, except as a class that just made you pick a bunch of abilities off a list to allow you to build your own monster, I guess.

---

I've finished one of the SvS chapters and almost finished the second. There are, like, seven though. All aboard the hype train, well maybe? I may end up having to take a lot of this slower (it turns out that the donationware model is not working as well as I'd hoped and I might need to spend time doing something which is not working on this, which is annoying 'cause I like making it and people like having it). On that basis, I don't know when SvS will be finished. We shall see.

Other "We shall see" projects include the wargame and RPG mentioned on the donate page. A possibility is that I may end up releasing one or both commercially instead (or facing people with a donate-wall directly), which would be unfortunate but might be a way to keep up my game designer life and therefore keep going with making stuff for you guys as well as making commercial stuff that actually makes me money.

[JNAProductions]

Um... Let's see...

A class based around creating gestalt consciousnesses with others?

A good Megaman class?

[The Shadowmind]

How about a base class that combines the Warshaper PrC, Wild Monk Dragon#324, and the Soulknife into some sort of coherent and functional class?

[AOKost]

I'm thinking of something along Hulking Hurler... but mentally based, either using psionics or magic (or both, blending them together)... What kind of playable monstrosity can you come up with? :D

[Jormengand]

Um... Let's see...

A class based around creating gestalt consciousnesses with others?

A good Megaman class?

Gestalt consciousnesses with others are not an easy thing to do, given that they're either "Telepathic bond with an ego" or "Dominate person with an ego" or "Both".

Not familiar enough with Megaman to do a class for him, and I don't really like brewing classes for individuals anyway.

How about a base class that combines the Warshaper PrC, Wild Monk Dragon#324, and the Soulknife into some sort of coherent and functional class?

I don't own Dragon 324, and I'm not familiar with Warshaper, but I have already made a class which combined soulknife and monk (expect derpy discussion about xyr pronouns in the responses below) and a sorta fix for soulknife.

I'm thinking of something along Hulking Hurler... but mentally based, either using psionics or magic (or both, blending them together)... What kind of playable monstrosity can you come up with? :D

The telekine is here for your entertainment.

[QuadraticGish]

I've been looking around for a feat like this, but I haven't been able to find one. Can you make a feat that allows for equipment destroyed by sundering able to be fixed or leave valuable materials behind?

[Luccan]

Prepared arcanist base class more on par with bard than wizard and sorcerer?

[Jormengand]

I've been looking around for a feat like this, but I haven't been able to find one. Can you make a feat that allows for equipment destroyed by sundering able to be fixed or leave valuable materials behind?

Sempiternal Sunder
You can temporarily break items so that they only fail to function until you repair them
Benefit: When you sunder an item, if you deal enough damage to destroy it, rather than destroying it you may leave it in a state where it's only damaged enough that it won't function until repaired, taking one minute's work.
Special: A fighter can take sempiternal sunder as a fighter bonus feat.

Prepared arcanist base class more on par with bard than wizard and sorcerer?

Anything more specific than that? I could just plug in a sixth-level casting progression and be done with it, but I suspect you want more than just "Altered wizard casting progression."

[Nifft]

Sempiternal Sunder
You can temporarily break items so that they only fail to function until you repair them
Benefit: When you sunder an item, if you deal enough damage to destroy it, rather than destroying it you may leave it in a state where it's only damaged enough that it won't function until repaired, taking one minute's work.
Special: A fighter can take sempiternal sunder as a fighter bonus feat.

Disable Very, Very Simple Device.

The ettin is still scratching its remaining head. "How'd that elf temporarily disable my club?!"

[Jormengand]

Disable Very, Very Simple Device.

The ettin is still scratching its remaining head. "How'd that elf temporarily disable my club?!"

Cut it almost in two and then twisted it back into its original position afterward? I've done something similar with a banister that someone kicked through, and while it might not be quite realistic, D&D isn't a game about realistic.

[QuadraticGish]

Sempiternal Sunder
You can temporarily break items so that they only fail to function until you repair them
Benefit: When you sunder an item, if you deal enough damage to destroy it, rather than destroying it you may leave it in a state where it's only damaged enough that it won't function until repaired, taking one minute's work.
Special: A fighter can take sempiternal sunder as a fighter bonus feat.

Thanks for the feat, my friend likes it a lot.

[Climowitz]

Ok, help me with this. I'm currently trying to do a Base Class around Sneak Attack and shadow illusions. The idea behind it is to be a person who can cast mirror images or shadow duplicates of himself and flank to sneak attack his opponents. It should be a high risk high reward, so little hp (1d4) and shadow themed abilities to help him avoid hits and increase effectiveness of his sneak attacks.

[noob]

Do you really need a base class for that?
Wizard(with the good list of prepared spells) into any of the sneak attacking prcs+ some spells who gives sneak attack fits the bill.