Planescape: Tale of the Clueless ~OOC

[Ambrus]

Normally I don't think immunity would matter, but IIRC there are some of the breath shaping abilities of the class which might get its user caught up in them. The cloud ability for instance turns a cone into a spread affect centered on the user.

So I take it you like the Dragonfire Adept?

 

[Ambrus]

what would your AC be?

Dunno. I'd have to consider some options. Limiting the natural armor seems unecesssary to me. The Adept's lack of AC is always going to be a problem since he's got to get close enough to use his breath; why nerf it?

I like it and i think it would be balancing to the party.

I'm concerned about leaving the party without an arcane caster. What do you think?

any idea what invocations/breath effects you'd have?

I'm not sure. It seems that the Endure Exposure invocation is a fundamental one since it allows the Adept to use his area effect breath without having to worry about harming his allies. Kind of a shame it doesn't do anything helpful aside from just not hurting fellow party members. :\

Aside from that, Draconic Knowledge is tempting simply because it boosts all knowledges, even those that the character doesn't have. It essentially gives the adept a chance of knowing something about everything and in really shinning in his chosen field.

Magic insight on the other hand seems invaluable if magic is plentiful in the campaign setting. That one depends on the DM though.

See the Unseen is great if the adept doesn't already possess darkvision.

For breath effects, its either cold or electricity. Between the two its almost a coin toss; which will be more useful depends on the type of creatures encountered. I'd be leaning towards cold since it has less chance of damaging structures and the environment than lightning possibly has.

What do you suggest?

 

[Nalfeshnee]

i wont say anything about the AC limitation for now, since we really should see the clas in actio na few times before we can say its bad, you know

Endure Exposure sounds dafe but not really the type of thing you want to take first right?

Draconic knowledge is my kind of thing, thoug hwhether or not you want it is up to you, though i am a fan of Skills and knowledge in particular

Magic Insight: i would need a better description of magic in this case. you mean spells? or background?

id go for electricity. pretty much most outsiders are immune/have resistance to cold. lines of electricity are fun too

 

[Ambrus]

I'd have to take Endure Exposure right away unless the other PCs don't mind getting caught in my fire breath.

I like skills too, though since it's always active and applies to all possible skills it seems to me that there'd be a decent chance that the character would always know something about whatever it encounters as long as the knowledge isn't all that rare. What I mean is, never having gone to Pandemonium, I wouldn't expect Vor to normally know anything at all about the place, but with this invocation in effect I'd expect to at least be able to identify the plane along with its general characteristics upon first seeing it as if Vor had 6 ranks in Knowledge (planes) with his Intelligence modifier added in. It'd get tiresome to keep asking you "Do I know anything about this place/person/thing? I'd hope that you'd simply keep a steady stream of knowledge and lore coming my way. If so, then this Invocation might indeed be worthwhile. What do you think?

I think it'd be astounding in real life to have such an ability. You'd never feel out of place anywhere because you'd always have a fair amount of Knowledge (local). Imagine going to a foreign country and mystically knowing the history of the place, it's local customs and traditions as well as the best place to purchase something?

For magic I meant both spells and items. The ability to identify magic items at will only matters if there's a steady stream of magic items to identify.

 

[Nalfeshnee]

well there will be magic items but not enough to make something like that worth it if thats all it does, though when you do find items, they tend to be plot-items or good items which would benefit from quick identification

and yes i would keep a streadystream of knowledge (already have a few ideas percolating )

 

[Ambrus]

You know, it now strikes me that the real value of the Draconic Knowledge invocation really does rest on the ability to always have Knowledge (local) for whatever area the character is in. In my experience players don't often take many ranks, if any, in knowledge (local) since they're always concerned that it'll become useless once they start traveling to distant lands while traveling. Having it mystically work for every area however solves the problem. This ability is really awesome I think; imagine walking into a little village in the hinterlands of some kingdom you've never been to and automatically knowing it's name, who the local ruler is, what the main industries are, what's the story with the ruins on the edge of town, who the notable residents are, as well as which taverns don't water down their ale; all those little details that local residents take for granted. There's even a slim chance of knowing more obscure local lore. Even if the obscure stuff eludes you, you'd at least have a decent idea of who'd be the best people to ask are.

It'd be like possessing a limited form of omnicience. I'm trying to imagine what'd it be like to always feel at home wherever you went; never feeling lost or suffering from culture shock. It'd be especially striking when plane hopping I'd think.

 

[Nalfeshnee]

well just aknowing about somewhere does not mean you would feel at home. It is a good thing to have with planar travel... seems like a lot in the planes mind you - an infinity of worlds that you somehow know all about

then again bards are no different

 

[Ambrus]

You're right, not necessarily 'at home' but at least not surprised by local customs or taboos.

It's also true that the information gleaned is potentially limitless but the Adept at the very least has to at least know to bring the information to mind. For instance, imagine Vor speaking with Mir about her homeland. Until she tells him she's from Krynn chances are he's never heard about the place. But once she starts talking about it, and her elven homeland in particular then suddenly Vor's latent Knowledge (local: Qualinost) kicks in and he can suddenly recall details about the place, its recent history, who runs the place, etc.

And I do think it's a significantly different than bardic knowledge. I mean, even the most learned bard from Waterdeep has probably never heard of the gate-town of Ribcage but an adept can probably tell you the name of the best blacksmith in the place. It's like having a universal travel-guide in your head.

 

[Nalfeshnee]

regarding game mechanics the bard could know about the bordertown (depedning on his check result) though in the game id rule that a primer bard would not likely know (ar at least impose +5 - +10 DC mod to the check). conversely, a Planar bard would noteven need to use bardic knowledge to know something like that.

So this is basically a hive mind shared with all uh... dead dragons?

 

[Ambrus]

So this is basically a hive mind shared with all uh... dead dragons?

I don't have the book with me here, but IIRC the ability isn't really explained overmuch. Based on passages in the Draconomicon I believe that the game designers are hinting that all dragons share some limited form of collective racial memory. For instance there's a mention in the Draconomicon that newly hatched wyrmlings who are left to fend for themselves learn to speak draconic, fly, hunt and find sheltering lairs all by themselves within just a few hours of hatching. It's vaguely explained as being a legacy of their racial memory.

Likewise, the Draconic Knowledge feat in the same book grants dragons with 19 Int an ability that works mechanically like Bardic Knowledge but which deals with lore of interest to dragons. I think this invocation is meant to expand on this vaguely hinted at collective racial memory.