I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to try and answer some of these. I'm the editor for the book, so the onus for this partially falls on me. I can't answer everything, but I'll try to answer what I can.
EDIT: Oi gevalt. This was so massive I had to split it up into
three posts!
Adslahnit said:
Woo! I just got my PDF of Ascension 3.1; I am going to have a field day with this stuff. Anyway, I've scanned through it for things that need corrections or clarifications. Here's what I've found so far:
All over the book: Intelligent beings encompass all creatures with 3+ Intelligence, not just +4 Intelligence. Afte all, animals only have 1 or 2 Intelligence, and 3 Intelligence is the minimum for taking class levels.
You're right about this one.
All over the book: How does the quintessence system interact with the xp system? As it is, the way to gain both HD and divine ranks is very unclear.
I don't think it's unclear at all. Gaining experience and gaining quintessence are two different things. You can be an epic-level mortal without any quintessence, and you can likewise be an immortal with a lot of quintessence and few Hit Dice (though the divinity templates themselves have minimum HD limits, so that effect is partially mitigated until they do gain enough HD). Deities that don't have much HD would probably be killed by competitors pretty soon anyway.
All over the book: Can you turn abilities on/off at will? For example, can you turn off Soothsayer so that you can hear someone's lies? If so, then does it take a full-round action, a standard action, a move action, a swift action, or a free action to turn an ability on/off?
I don't believe you can turn the various abilities on/off unless it specifically says you can.
All over the book: A ton of abilities need to specify what kind of action it takes to activate the ability. For instance, Divine Immensity does not specify whether it takes a full-round action, a standard action, a move action, a swift action, or a free action to change your size.
The SRD lays down that supernatural abilities always take a standard action (no AoO) unless they specifically say otherwise.
All over the book: Several abilities use the saving throw DC formula of 20 + relevant ability score modifier + divine rank. Shouldn't they use instead of 10 + relevant ability score modifier + divine rank instead?
I assume U_K did this on purpose, to make divine abilities a bit harder to resist. I didn't have a problem with it, myself.
All over the book: I really think that you should put a note about conflicting absolute powers cancelling each other out below each header for each tier of abilities. Right now, the note is secreted away below large tables in a few places in the book
I don't find the placement to be an issue, myself. It's there if people are looking for it.
Page 19, Epic Spell, Divine Ascension: Shouldn't the "permanent" duration be an instantaneous duration instead? That way, you won't get your divinity abruptly torn from you if ever you get hit by, say, a Mordenkainen's Disjunction.
Good point, that probably should be changed.
Page 23, Table 2-6, Godly Realm Expansion: The heading on the right side of the table should read "Rate Godly Realm Expands", not "Rate Divine Aura Expands".
Right, good catch there too.
Page 25, Creating Your Own Deities: 1 Outsider HD with 1/2 an integrated class level is worth 1 actual class level, right? So 80 Outsider HD (with 40 integrated wizard levels) is +80 ECL, and 80 wizard levels is worth +80 ECL as well. But how much ECL is added for each size category increase? For example, an 80 HD Outsider has enough HD to qualify for Colossal size, so if the creature opts to be of Colossal size, how much is the ECL increase for that? For that matter, how is the base size of an immortal determined at all?
Size categories don't count for ECL, under this system. They have relatively balancing capabilities (ability bonuses and penalties, attack/AC bonuses and penalties, etc.), and there's plenty of abilities and effects that can change a creature's size anyway. As for the base size of an immortal you create, it can be any size you want it to be, though the upper-tier divinity templates require a certain minimum size.
Pages 37-44, Divinity Templates: Do the hp multipliers for sidereals and eternals only count hp from HD, or do they encompass other sources of hp such as Constitution and Improved Toughness?
They multiply everything that grants permanent hit points (such as Con bonus, Toughness, etc).
Page 47, Closed Cosmology: It sould be "only one immortal per portfolio template (or double portfolio template)", not "only one portfolio template (or double portfolio template) per portfolio".
Whoops, yeah, that's probably right.
Page 48, Creating Your Own Portfolios: The reference to Table 3-3 should point to Table 3-2 instead, and all references to Table 3-4 should refer to Table 3-3 instead. Also, the
You're right that the first paragraph under Table 3-2 mistakenly calls it Table 3-3. That said, you kind of trailed off in the middle of a sentence here.
Page 48, Creating Your Own Portfolios: The three separate portfolio-divine ability exchange rates given in Table 3-2, Table 3-3, and the upper right of page 48 don't seem to match up at all. For instance, Table 3-2 says that the benefits of a single portfolio give an intermediate deity ECL +8, but Table 3-3 states that a single portfolio's powers give an intermediate deity 11 divine abilities (ECL +11), and the upper right of page 48 (even the example given) is completely out of whack. It's really confusing. I'll assume that the upper right of page 48 was a total error, so it's got to be either Table 3-2 or Table 3-3 that's right; which is the correct one?
I disagree with the assessment given here. Table 3-2 gives a portfolio's total projected ECL adjustment, and takes into account things such as portfolio weaknesses, spell-like abilities and domain powers, and other aspects of a portfolio that aren't strictly divine abilities. For example, and intermediate deity with a single portfolio gains +8 ECL worth of abilities, and -3 ECL worth of weaknesses, for a net gain of +5 ECL. Table 3-3 says it'd have +11 equivalent divine abilities, but the text says that's a closer projection than the approximations in the previous table.
Admittedly, there is some disconnect between the two tables, and the four bullet points in the upper-right part of the page. Presumably, though, Table 3-2 and the bullet points are generalities, and Table 3-3 is a closer examination.
Page 56, Negative Energy Absorption: Does this mean that if you get hit by any negative energy attack (no matter how weak or strong), it heals you for 5 hp per HD you have?
Presumably so.
Page 62, Fertile Loins: Riiiight... what happens when you use "unorthodox methods", or what happens if you get intimate with an "unorthodox partner".
This one largely seems to be GM fiat. You could say, for example, that it only applies to a sexual encounter with a member of the opposite sex. On the other hand, you could say that it applies to any type of sexual contact you have with any creature.
Page 95, War Realm Hazards: "Your wisdom modifier replaces your movement speed." Uh, what?
It's Wisdom Realm Hazards, and it's exactly what it sounds like. A creature's speed (that is, feet moved during a single move action) is now measured by their wisdom modifier. The wiser you are, the faster you are. That seems apropos.
Page 97, Metamartial Maneuvers: Do these reduce your actual BAB for the attack, or do they just impose an attack penalty? Base attack bonus and attack bonus are two very different things.
I agree that some clarification there would be helpful. As written, I think they assign a penalty, but don't reduce your actual BAB when used (since that'd screw with things like iterative attacks and such).
Page 98, Metamartial Maneuver, Mighty Attack: Assuming that you're in a solar system that has roughly the same setup as the real world's solar system, the sun should be ~490,813,648,000 feet away from the Earth. Let's say that you're some hotshot Medium biped immortal with 253 Strength (light load of 7,036,874,417,766.4 tons), and some insolent tarrasque (70 tons) foolishly attacks you outdoors at high noon. With Mighty Attack, you can uppercut it God Hand-style to knock it 502,633,886,983 feet in a direction of your choice. You presumably have to make a ranged touch attack roll to make the tarrasque land into the sun, but what's the virtual AC for said attack roll?
Page 99 actually. That said, what do you mean "virtual AC"? You make an attack roll (with a -15 penalty) and if you hit, the Tarrasque would make a Fort save (DC equals your attack roll) and if it fails, away it goes. No further attack roll is required - the text even says that you could knock someone into the sun with that.
Don't forget to make that the Tarrasque would have to make a Reflex save or be knocked prone!
Page 98, Metamartial Maneuver, Quicken Attack: The first line is "A successful attack can daze your opponent." I'll assume you meant "You may take an extra attack in a full attack, but at the expense of accuracy" or something along those lines.
Another oopsie there. Yeah, that should be changed, though I don't know if it'd need to necessarily be only as part of a full attack.
Page 98, Metamartial Maneuver, Throw Attack: How does hurling your opponent work? Does the distance formula work like Mighty Attack?
Good point, there's no measurement formula for distance here.
Pages 102-103, Epic Feat #4, Automatic Metamagic Capacity: Is there any cap to the amount of AMCs any given immortal can take? There's nothing stopping a deity from loading up on Multifaceteds and taking an insane number of AMCs.
The only limit is how many feats a deity can take.
Page 103, Epic Feat #17, Double Standards: I'm sorry, the name of this feat is just too bad a pun for me to bear.
Grin and bear it. U_K is pun-ishing us all.
Page 103, Epic Feat #19, Eclectic Shot: If you shoot a snake or chicken from a bow (or from a crossbow by using your EPIC skills to jam it in), does it do lethal bludgeoning damage as if it were a blunt arrow, or does it do only subdual damage? And can you shoot a two-handed weapon from a bow, to do 2d6 damage with a greatsword shot, for example?
Things shot with this feat do lethal damage, not nonlethal (it hasn't been "subdual" damage since 3.0). You can indeed shoot a two-handed weapon.
Page 106, Epic Feat #49, Improved Finesse: Does this apply to only melee weapons that are finessable, or all melee weapons?
Page 105 there. I believe that this should apply only to weapons that are finessable, but this one is ultimately U_K's call.
Page 106, Epic Feat #61, Legendary Archer: Does this take into account the target's attacks from BAB, or does it include extra attacks from Flurry of Blows, Mercurial, Quicken Strike, and other things that let you make extra attacks in a full attack? If it's the latter, then how do you determine how many missiles that the target can deflect, if the maximum number of attacks he can make in a round is variable? Can the target only deflect a number of missiles equal to the number of attacks he made on his last turn?
Presumably, this is equal to the total amount of attacks a target can make on a (theoretical) single full attack action, as judged on the turn when the missiles are fired at him. For example, a 20th-level monk has five attacks per round, counting their flurry ability, and so could only deflect five missiles from someone with Legendary Archer. If
hastened, that monk would have six attacks per round on a full attack, and so could deflect only a maximum of six missiles per round against someone with this feat.
Obviously, the Quicken Attack metamartial maneuver should not be taken into account when judging this.
Page 106, Epic Feat #66, Mantic Frenzy: What kind of action does it take to enter a Mantic Frenzy? It lasts for a number of rounds equal to 3 + the character's what? Constitution bonus?
Hm, that does end in the middle of a sentence, doesn't it? U_K, some help here!
Page 106, Epic Feat #68, Mathesis: What counts as a "martial class"? Anything that provides 1/1 BAB?
Presumably, this falls under GM fiat. But your way is a nice solution.
Page 107, Epic Feat #72, Nosodic: Does this cause a Charisma penalty, Charisma damage, or Charisma drain? And can't you abuse this by being immune to Charisma penalty/damage/drain and then contracting diseases like Typhoid Mary?
It says Charisma penalty, so you essentially have a penalty applied to your Charisma score while diseased. Theoretically this is open to abuse, but so are most combinations, and as far as that goes, this would be a minor abuse, since you can only use one disease at a time like this.
Page 107, Epic Feat #78, Piercing Shot: "But each time you pierce the target the missile loses 5 points of strength modifier" makes no sense, because ranged attacks use your Dexterity modifier. Just make it say "The missile receives a cumulative -5 penalty on attack and damage rolls for each target pierced." Also, I find it strange that if a Colossal creature were to pierce another Colossal creature with an arrow, it would still count as 16 creatures pierced; shouldn't it count as only 1 creature pierced instead? Make it so that Piercing Shot compares your size category to your targets' size categories instead.
The Strength modifier does apply to damage rolls for thrown weapons and composite longbows, but otherwise you're right. That should be changed to simply being a -5 penalty to attack and damage rolls. I'm less confident about changing the size categories based on the attacking creature's size category, though. Larger weapons will do greater damage, and so will naturally go further anyway, since they can stand to have more of their damage reduced by the penalty per creature shot through.
Page 109, Epic Feat #98, Superior Cleave: Can you do this more than once per round?
It says "as part of
a cleave attempt" (emphasis mine). Hence, when you make multiple cleave attempts via Great Cleave (which is a prerequisite), this feat would apply.
Page 109, Epic Feat #102, Superior Whirlwind Attack: Can the step be made between each attack, and if so, can it be done more than once per round?
There is no "each attack"; a whirlwind attack is a single attack roll, made against every opponent you threaten. This lets you take a single step while doing that, so you count every opponent you threaten in the spaces before and after your step.
Page 110, Epic Feat #112, Titanic Wild Shape: This should be an epic feat, because Colossal Wild Shape is an epic feat as well.
This feat (along with Timely Dodge, Uncanny Charge, Vigorous Rage, and any others without the epic tag) should all have the epic tag after them. Every feat in this section is an epic feat.
Page 116, Immolation (Death Throes): Since it says "When a god's manifestation is reduced to negative hit points", there's a rare chance that Immolation activates even when an immortal is not dead yet (like at -1 hp). Furthermore, a construct or undead can never use an Immolation at all, because they're destroyed at 0 hp. Make it so that Immolation activates when an immortal would be killed or otherwise destroyed.
You're right about the wording needing to be cleaned up here.
Page 116, Strike: Is it intentional that this kind of [Effect] benefits three-weapon fighters MUCH more than two-handed fighters or two-weapon fighters? The bonus damage gets added to each attack regardless of how many attacks you have.
It also benefits characters that make melee attacks. If you make more attacks, however you make them, then it benefits you more. Fighting with multiple attacks is just one way to raise your attacks per round (another way is to just use Quicken Attack over and over).
Page 122, Divine Ability #1, Abnormality: No benefit is listed for having two extra tails. And the ability does not say "Special: This ability may be taken multiple times. Its effects stack." when you CAN take it several times.
Good catch here.
Page 123, Divine Ability #5, [Aligned] [Effect]: How does this work when attacking creatures that match the alignment's attack? Let's say a Lawful Neutral creature gets hit by an Axiomatic [Effect]; does he take no damage? How about if a True Neutral creature gets hit by an Axiomatic [Effect]; does he take half damage or full damage?
There's nothing here that specifically says that the target's alignment affects the damage that this effect deals, so it's reasonable to say that that has nothing to do with it.
Page 124, Divine Ability #19, Convergent Effect: When two immortals combine their [Effect]s, are two [Effect]s shot out (each at double damage), or is it just one [Effect]? If it's the latter, then that makes Convergent Effect a bit useless, since two immortals can just fire their [Effect]s separately. As well, what happens when two immortals (both with Convergent Effect) combine their blasts? Also, you should specify that one immortal has to ready an action to fire off an [Effect] at the same time as another immortal.
I believe that the way this should work is that it creates a single effect whose power is the combination of the two deities' effects. This may not seem like much of an improvement, but it helps to overcome things like high level resistances (as opposed to immunities), natural damage dice caps, etc. There's no reason that I can see to assume that, if each deity has Convergent Effect, it's somehow greater. Specifying that you must spend an action to improve another deity's effect might be worthwhile, though.
Page 124, Divine Ability #20, Cozen: The prerequisites include "Pick Pocket 40 ranks", when it should be "Sleight of Hand 40 ranks" instead.
True that. That should be changed.
Page 126, Divine Ability #39, Dragon Companion: Does this give you a penalty on your effective druid level for determining the abilities of your animal companion?
Hm, a good point here. Animal companions gain greater power when their master is at epic levels (though the cap on the dragon's HD will apply to effectively limit that), but there should be a note about that there.
Page 126, Divine Ability #48, Epic Presence: Is the feat selected when you take Epic Presence (and thereafter static and unchangeable), or can you select a new feat each time an ally enters your divine aura, turning it into a group Anyfeat? And can you receive the feat yourself?
I believe the intent here is that you select a feat, and until you select a different one, that's the feat that any and every ally within your divine aura gains. When you decide to change the feat, everyone already within, and who later enters, your divine aura now has that feat instead. Also, you must already have the feat, so questions of it applying to you are moot (that said, if it's a stackable feat, such as AMC, then it doesn't say it applies to you, so most likely it doesn't).
Page 127, Divine Ability #66, Heavy Handed: Double your Strength bonus to damage? How much of your total Strength bonus do you add to your damage rolls when... wielding a two-handed weapon? Wielding a pair of weapons for two-weapon fighting? Wielding a trio of weapons for three-weapon fighting? And does this work for only unarmed strikes, or for all melee attacks?
The prerequisites make it seem like this applies only to unarmed strikes, but as written it applies to all attacks that gain a Strength bonus to damage. In which case, figure out what your final Strength bonus to damage would be (from all other modifiers, such as if it's in your off-hand, etc.) and then double it.
Page 128, Divine Ability #67, High Handed: Isn't this just an exact copy of Perfect Weapon Focus, only with prerequisites more geared towards monks?
Yes, but as written Perfect Weapon Focus requires Greater Weapon Focus and Epic Weapon Focus, which only Fighters can take (otherwise forcing the monk deity to take Nescient, and then all of the prerequisite feats for Perfect Weapon Focus, which is a tad unfair).
Page 128, Divine Abilities #74-77, Intellectual _______: Wait, aren't these EXACT copies of the Cunning ______ abilities, only with circumstance bonuses instead? Is this redundancy intentional?
The Cunning abilities grant circumstance bonuses, whereas the Intellectual abilities grant competence bonuses. The redundancy is intentional, since then you could take both abilities and grant two different sets of bonuses to the same stat (e.g. Cunning Body and Intellectual Body).
Page 128, Divine Ability #83, Lord of Blood: If anything, this should be a handicap instead of a divine ability. The sunlight and water weaknesses far outweigh any of the benefits, and the fact that your blood drain only deals 1d4 Constitution damage and you still summon very weak creatures with Children of the Night is just sad.
The preprequisites are that you're already undead, so you're still gaining more than you lose. While the vampire template does have quite a few weaknesses, this is still a net gain (particularly since a divine vampire will have more options than a standard one). Otherwise, I'd agree, but there's third-party things out there to increase the power of a vampire (through complementary templates, and age modifiers).
Page 129, Divine Ability #91, Mime Ability: There's no limit to the level of ability you can copy? So an immortal can watch a time lord use an omnific ability and use it for himself? Make it so that you can only copy up to esoteric abilities appropriate to your divine status.
This might be a good idea. Though reasonable limits (e.g. an always active power that isn't visible can't be copied) should help curb this anyway.
Page 129, Divine Ability #92, Mime Ability Score: Once again, does this mean that an immortal can watch a time lord and spontaneously copy one of his super-large (and quite possibly infinite) ability scores? I suggest you impose a limit, but I don't know how high the limit should be.
I don't agree, simply because you can only duplicate this for "the round after having witnessed it in action." Duplicating a single ability score, no matter how high, for just one round won't tip the balance in your favor if you're THAT outmatched.
Page 130, Divine Ability #100, Obscure Damage Reduction: Why would anyone take this when they can just take Perfect Damage Reduction instead?
Flavor, I suppose, particularly since it has less marginally less prerequisites.
Page 132, Divine Ability #128, Razor Tongue: What the hell is "morale damage"? Make it "untyped damage" instead.
I think this is supposed to be the type of damage dealt by speaking harshly, but you're right that it comes off as odd. Untyped damage might be better.
