Help me design a Wayfarer prestige class (now in its third iteration)

The Wayfarers are one of the organizations in WotBS. Unlike the wayfarer guides in WotC's 'Complete Arcane,' these wayfarers are part circus, part FedEx. They play an important role in the campaign saga, starting in adventure 3. I know what they can do narratively, but I'd like some help making sure they are balanced from a rules perspective.

Take a look at this prestige class, and tell me what you think. I appreciate any and all feedback.

I have attached a revision in post 26, but I'm keeping the original here for comparison.

First of all, not knowing the rules for "teleportation lights you on fire" it's hard to comment.

The requirements for obtaining the class seem light. Being able to get dimension door and teleport by level 6 and 7 respectively seems pretty damn good. And being able to do them as swift actions by level 10? Yeah that's crazy powerful. But then that may be appropriate for the setting I don't know about that. I would just think about it in terms of what comparable level 10's can do at that level and see if it's balanced for the setting -- maybe you've already done that in which case, nevermind.

If you do want to keep it lower level then I would at least tack on some feat requirements. Some semi-useful feats that are there, more than anything, just to make the character invest heavily in the prestige class before they get all that stuff. The prereqs as they are, even if balanced, are just way too loose that any roguish character is going to quickly be within a level of qualifying for them. Presumably these guys should be harder to qualify for, right?

The 1st level spell also seems, at first glance, to be crazy broken. But then I don't know the "puts you on fire" rules. First of all I would put a restriction on it that it is anywhere within a line of sight and secondly I would increase its level to 2nd or 3rd level depending on just how restrictive the "on fire" clause is and how easy it is to circumvent. One way to slightly bump up the reqs for the prestige class and add some flavor would be to require that the character be able to cast this and put it at 2nd level.

Having "mass teleport" and an ability that allows you to take extra passengers seems redundant. I would ditch "mass teleport" and simply increase the max number of passengers more regularly. Gives more granularity to the class and makes it ability instead of two.

Also you need to clarify/define the DC on the will save versus an abduct attempt.

Thanks for the feedback.

From the WotBS campaign guide:

For every hundred feet (or fraction thereof) you teleport at a time, you take 1d6 points of fire damage, to a maximum of 40d6. Average damage is 140, just slightly more than protection from energy can help against, making long-distance teleportation difficult and dangerous.

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One factor to bear in mind is that, from a campaign design standpoint, the PCs will only really have contact with the Wayfarers starting at level 5, and so I actually do want anyone who is interested in joining the class to be able to do so easily. Adventure 3 - Shelter from the Storm - in which the PCs first interact with the wayfarers, starts at level 5 and bumps to level 6. I suppose I might switch it so that PCs who come in at 5th will likely have to use their 6th level to meet any niggling requirements, and then they can take the class at the end of the adventure, as they reach 7th.

Dimension door as a 1st level ability is no better than the Eberron Lesser Dragonmark of Passage, and Teleport itself isn't a broken spell. It doesn't make you stronger. It just changes the paradigm of the game a bit. Perhaps if I changed it so you had to spend one whole minute to teleport this way, it would cut down on the abuse of 'teleportation getaway.'

My goal is to put the PCs in a position to get around and talk to their allies quickly, giving the players much more freedom regarding how they deal with the challenges of the war. If anything, I see teleport being abused the least, especially because of the oath restriction.

I understand that wayfarer's step is something not available in the core rules, but I don't see why you think it is 'crazy broken' at 1st level. At low levels, it takes you basically a full round action to teleport a distance of 15 to 30 ft. It's seldom more useful than just moving.

Abduct's DC would be whatever the save DC for your spell would be, so 15 + Int/Cha for teleport.


If anything, I thought this class might be underpowered. If you compare, say, a rogue 5/wayfarer 2 to a rogue 7, the rogue 7 is dealing more damage and hitting more often. The wayfarer gets a few spells that mostly just help the party, plus some mobility boosts he can use in combat.

Of course, if other people have the same opinion, I'll change it, but as is I don't think it's broken. I do agree, though, that mass teleport and the extra passengers don't work together well. I need to find something else. I would like a nice fun capstone ability for the class.

I think you need to strengthen the Cirque to make it a believable prestige class. Perhaps you should combine a relatively low entrance req with the downside of an increased chance to be traced. Perhaps something as simple as saying that the traditions of the Cirque are well known to all within the organization.

Give them a 7th or 8th level ability to track\be aware of teleportation. The adept Cirque Teleporter is able to sense the signature of his cohorts. It is a risky thing for a teleporter to work outside of the Cirque because they might be tracked down by these adepts.

You might also give them a metamagic rod that increases their accuracy but keeps track of their activities. The rod might be a symbol of their profession, a guarantee of their competence, and a way for the Cirque to control them.

my .02

What would you think of splitting the prestige class so it was either more efficient - could carry more further - or secret police like - abduct, combat, etc....

Secret police abilities might preclude some of the further bonuses or require a higher entrance req and greater trust. Just planning the secret police option would be a heads up to DM's in the campaign as to what the Cirque was capable of

Sigurd

Here's a revision. What do you think?

RW, do you by any chance have Eberron and the DragonMarked supplement?

My first thought was to use the Eberron mechanics of Mark of Passage...
- Least mark = Dimension leap 1/day with a range of 10' per character level
- Lesser mark = Dim Door 1/day
- Greater mark = Teleport 1/day

In the DragonMarked supplement is a PrC, the Blade of Orion, that is very close to what you posted. Its not OGL, so I cant' put it here, but the key abilities are more uses of the mark's effects, bringing others with you {forcibly is need be}, gain the 'blink' ability, and capstone of dimension leap being treated as a 5' step {even if you move more than 5'...}

Your 'Extra Passenger' ability has twice allows for twice as many as the Blade's equivilent ability.

I think the PrC's are near equivilent, with your leaning towards more mass movement and the Blade leaning towards individual combat ability. The Blade is a fighter class {full BAB} while your Wayfarer is a partial caster...


Both could have a home in the Wayfarer Organization.

Oh, I know House Orien very well. I love teleportation. I'm wondering if perhaps I should cut down on the 'mass teleport' stuff, but I want to make sure the character can teleport his whole party. I never liked that teleport would often divide the party for a day while the wizard went back to get the other half of the group.

Dimension door as a 1st level ability is no better than the Eberron Lesser Dragonmark of Passage, and Teleport itself isn't a broken spell.

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I don't get the reference (don't use Eberron either) however I simply disagree that dimension door isn't placed at 4th level for a reason. You are proposing Dimension Door Lite which is going to do most of the things you want Dimension Door to do. In some respects it is even better because you can cast this spell on someone else and let them Dimension Door away without you having to be there and because it is a Swift Action to be activated and could be cast before combat.

Example of a situation where it is superior to Dimension Door: cast on Rogue; have rogue sneak attack enemy or go into some very dangerous situation and do something; have rogue swift action dimension door back to safety on the same round. You can't do that with Dimension Door, a 4th level spell, and you can do that with this.

Thinking on it more I would argue that it is the same level as Dimension Door and certainly no lower than 3rd level.

You seem to be concentrating on the effect it would have if cast in combat. However it's much more useful out of combat or before combat. It lets you walk right out of prison. It lets you instantaneousl climb a cliff. As expressed it lets you walk right into a bank vault. First level players using abilities like that will completely break many intended challenges. And cast before combat it can be used to huge effect for only a 1st level slot. I'm not so much worried about the first level caster casting it in combat (although out of combat it's still pretty broken for a 1st level caster) as I am about the 10th level casting it (with a 60ft teleport range) and it only costs him a 1st level slot.

...

Your DC for Abduct still isn't completely clear. Is there an ability modifier on the DC (i.e. a Wizard applies int bonus to his DC's)? If so, which ability score does it use?

Oh, I see you moved the spell to a move action. That makes it a candidate for a 3rd level spell IMO.