Airwalkrr's Shatterscape OOC (D&D 3.5)

[Voda Vosa]

I had some ideas about creatures: I was thinking in some kind of demons, that were half demon half animal. I would venture to say they were animals that demonic spirits perverted and morphed into the terrible creatures they are now. I would call them Fiends; just to get aside form the demon/devil thing.
I'm planning to make these:
Rat Fiend:
Coward and treacherous, this malignant fiend is usually in groups of 3 or 4. They live in caves they dig in the surroundings of the Blith Burrows. To that caves the rat fiends take all kind of garbage they find, from feathers to rings, either found in bony white fingers, or ripped from a living hand. It's rummored that their bite carries a dreadful disease, known as Fiendish madness. Subjects suffering from this illness start having headaches, followed by photophobia, that is, intolerance to sunlight. No more is known about this disease.
Rat fiends are brown to black, with a dense fur. They have large incisors, and red eyes.
Most of them are the size of a large dog, but there are bigger and smaller ones.
Lizard Fiend:
Fast and cunning the Lizard Fiend crawls in the dark caves of the Burrows. During the day, they can be seen basking in the sun, because they have to warm up their blood as their natural relatives do. Many wise adventurers, venture in the barrows in the morning, for most of these creatures are outside basking and unable to move (besides crawling). In battle they can use their tails to sweep their enemies feet. Their scales are hard as a metallic scale armor.
Lizard fiends are greenish, human size creatures, featuring big heads with nasty fangs. They are human shaped with five clawed fingers in their forelegs.

Rhinoceros Fiend
Crocodile Fiend
Vulture Fiend
Squid Fiend
Toad Fiend

 

[hafrogman]

I have the Lizard Fiend mostly ready;

Using Open Content for the 3.5 system

You may want to revise that crunch Voda, about half a step back.

 

[Voda Vosa]

Man I must leave 4E (and drugs) for a while

 

[airwalkrr]

Also, unless the monsters are creatures that are more likely to serve as allies than enemies, I would prefer you left their actual statistics to me. I want encounters with monsters to include the occasional surprise. Do feel free to describe their backgrounds and descriptions however, including what their rumored abilities might be.

I have an idea for a habitat for your "anifiends," however.

[sblock=The Blight Barrows]Nestled deep within the Moorlands is a haunted set of barrows housing the remains of a civilization long past. It is said that these consorted with foul creatures from dark planes and that even in death there lingers a faint trace of their tainted essence. The things that dwell in this place are not natural. They are cruel mockeries of their counterparts in the natural world, with bitter barbs and pointed protrusions issuing from their bodies in bizarre places. They are also violent and merciless to intruders.

Most travelers would just as soon avoid the Blight Barrows, however their existence has piqued the curiosity of scholars and explorers for ages past for a number of a reasons. First, the nature of the society that constructed them is a mystery, for there is no record, written or spoken, of a people who inhabited the land before the barrows were discovered. Second, the immediate vicinity around the barrows is the only known place in the world to harvest Blight, a fungus with incredible alchemical and magical applications. It is a common misconception that Blight is useful only to destroy living things or pervert nature. Used properly, it can actually be a curative agent as well. Attempts to cultivate Blight outside the Blight Barrows have been universally unsuccessful so far, much to the dismay of scientific minds everywhere. It is unknown whether there is some magical property of the barrows themselves that helps the Blight to grow or if it is some local element the Blight requires.[/sblock]

 

[hafrogman]

Okay, my first ever attempt at class design, the Acolyte, a specialty priest for the church of the Lawgiver. Part police officer, part diplomat, part priest. I'll write up some fluff later, but I figured I'd put the crunch up now for review, since I've never tried this before. It's a bit hard to judge power since it's effectively a blend of the (generally accepted) strongest and weakest classes of 3.5 ed.

[sblock=Acolyte]ACOLYTE

Alignment:
Any lawful.

Hit Die:
d6.

Class Skills:
The acolyte’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are:
Appraise (Int), Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Gather Information (Cha), Heal (wis), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Knowledge (all skills, taken individually) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Search (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Speak Language (None), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (wis), Swim (Str) and Tumble (Dex)

Skill Points at 1st Level:
(6 + Int modifier) ×4.

Skill Points at Each Additional Level:
6 + Int modifier.

           Saves                                            Spells Per Day              Spells Known
Lvl BAB For Ref Wil Special                           0 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th   0 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th                       
 1   +0  +0  +2  +2 Domain, Aura                      2  -   -   -   -   -   -    4  -   -   -   -   -   -
 2   +1  +0  +3  +3 Bonus Feat                        3  0   -   -   -   -   -    5  2*  -   -   -   -   -
 3   +2  +1  +3  +3                                   3  1   -   -   -   -   -    6  3   -   -   -   -   -
 4   +3  +1  +4  +4                                   3  2   0   -   -   -   -    6  3   2*  -   -   -   -
 5   +3  +1  +4  +4 Axiomatic Strike (Lawful)         3  3   1   -   -   -   -    6  4   3   -   -   -   -
 6   +4  +2  +5  +5                                   3  3   2   -   -   -   -    6  4   3   -   -   -   -
 7   +5  +2  +5  +5                                   3  3   2   0   -   -   -    6  4   4   2*  -   -   -
 8   +6  +2  +6  +6                                   3  3   3   1   -   -   -    6  4   4   3   -   -   -
 9   +6  +3  +6  +6                                   3  3   3   2   -   -   -    6  4   4   3   -   -   -
10   +7  +3  +7  +7 Axiomatic Strike (+1d6)           3  3   3   2   0   -   -    6  4   4   4   2*  -   -
11   +8  +3  +7  +5                                   3  3   3   3   1   -   -    6  4   4   4   3   -   -
12   +9  +4  +8  +5                                   3  3   3   3   2   -   -    6  4   4   4   3   -   -
13   +9  +4  +8  +5                                   3  3   3   3   2   0   -    6  4   4   4   4   2*  -
14  +10  +4  +9  +5                                   4  3   3   3   3   1   -    6  4   4   4   4   3   -
15  +11  +5  +9  +5 Axiomatic Strike (+2d6)           4  4   3   3   3   2   -    6  4   4   4   4   3   -
16  +12  +5 +10 +10                                   4  4   4   3   3   2   0    6  5   4   4   4   4   2*
17  +12  +5 +10 +10 Voice of the Lawgiver             4  4   4   4   3   3   1    6  5   5   4   4   4   3
18  +13  +6 +11 +11                                   4  4   4   4   4   3   2    6  5   5   5   4   4   3
19  +14  +6 +11 +11                                   4  4   4   4   4   4   3    6  5   5   5   5   4   4
20  +15  +6 +12 +12 Axiomatic Strike (+3d6)           4  4   4   4   4   4   4    6  5   5   5   5   5   4

* Provided the acolyte has a high enough Charisma score to have a bonus spell of this level.


Class Features:
All of the following are class features of the acolyte.


Weapon and Armor Proficiency
An acolyte is proficient with all simple weapons, plus the longsword, rapier, and short sword. Acolytes are proficient with light armor and shields (except tower shields).


Spells:
An acolyte casts divine spells, which are drawn from the cleric spell list. He can cast any spell he knows without preparing it ahead of time. To learn or cast a spell, an acolyte must have a Charisma score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against an acolyte’s spell is 10 + the spell level + the acolyte’s Charisma modifier. An acolyte can’t cast spells of an alignment opposed to his own. Spells associated with particular alignments are indicated by the chaos, evil, good, and law descriptors in their spell descriptions.

Like other spellcasters, an acolyte can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. His base daily spell allotment is given on the table. In addition, he receives bonus spells per day if he has a high Charisma score. When the table indicates that the acolyte gets 0 spells per day of a given spell level, he gains only the bonus spells he would be entitled to based on his Charisma score for that spell level.

The acolyte’s selection of spells is extremely limited. An acolyte begins play knowing four 0-level spells of your choice. At most new acolyte levels, he gains one or more new spells, as indicated on the table. (Unlike spells per day, the number of spells an acolyte knows is not affected by his Charisma score; the numbers on the table are fixed.)

Upon reaching 5th level, and at every third acolyte level after that (8th, 11th, and so on), an acolyte can choose to learn a new spell in place of one he already knows. In effect, the acolyte "loses" the old spell in exchange for the new one. The new spell’s level must be the same as that of the spell being exchanged, and it must be at least two levels lower than the highest-level acolyte spell the acolyte can cast.

An acolyte may swap only a single spell at any given level, and must choose whether or not to swap the spell at the same time that he gains new spells known for the level.

As noted above, an acolyte need not prepare his spells in advance. He can cast any spell he knows at any time, assuming he has not yet used up his allotment of spells per day for the spell’s level.


Aura (Ex):
An acolyte has a particularly powerful lawful aura (see the detect evil spell for details).


Domain:
An acolyte gains access to the spells and domain power of the Law domain. The acolyte automatically knows the spells of the Law domain for those levels for which he can cast acolyte spells. These spells do not count against his number of spells known as shown on the table.


Bonus Feat:
At 2nd level, an acolyte may select either Investigator or Negotiator as a bonus feat.


Axiomatic Strike (Su):
At 5th level, an acolyte is able to channel the power of Law into his attacks. The acolyte’s unarmed attacks, as well as any weapons he wields, are treated as lawful-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. At 10th level, the acolyte's attacks deal an additional 1d6 points of damage against all of chaotic alignment, similar to an axiomatic weapon. This damage bonus does not stack with the damage bonus from weilding an axiomatic weapon. At 15th and 20th levels, this damage bonus increases by +1d6, to 2d6 and 3d6, respectively.


Voice of the Lawgiver: (Sp)
At 17th level, an acoylte is able to speak a single word, calling down the power of Law on his foes. Once per day, as a spell like power, he can cast Dictum (at his acolyte caster level) using his charisma as the casting stat.


Ex-Acolytes:
An acolyte who becomes non-lawful in alignment loses all spells and class features, except for armor and shield proficiencies and proficiency with simple weapons. He cannot thereafter gain levels as an acolyte until he atones (see the atonement spell description).[/sblock]

 

[Voda Vosa]

Adding some descriptions then =)

 

[airwalkrr]

Bear in mind what I say below is all constructive criticism. I am only trying to offer some advice on how to make things work better. Let me reiterate that even though I reserve veto power as a DM over any ideas I consider disruptive, I intend to exercise that power with restraint. Please don't interpret anything as a veto or a veto threat.

I do like the idea of the acolyte being a sort of inspired worshiper of the lawgiver, what with Charisma being the primary casting stat and all. The class is very original, and the flavor is excellent. However, it seems exceptionally weak. It has a bard's casting progression, but casts divine spells, which are generally weaker. And while a bard's true saving grace is the powerful bardic music ability, the acolyte has nothing similarly noteworthy to back it up.

I don't think this is worth abandoning though. I think it shows a lot of promise. Here are some ideas. Let's follow in the mold of the bard. Go through the bard class and try to find something "lawful" to replace the bardic music abilities that are more reminiscent of the class. Find a law-aligned spell or two and tweak them a bit to make them more unique. Take something that is normally targeted and turn it into an area effect or an aura that benefits the whole party. Take something that adds a bonus one place and add a secondary bonus elsewhere. Make a typed bonus untyped or change the type. You don't have to make drastic changes to change the flavor of something significantly. A bard's inspire courage, for example, is essentially a dressed up bless spell with a few additional side effects.

The axiomatic strike is good, possibly too good. It might be better to grant the class a smite ability similar to the paladin's smite evil. Be very careful with "always on" abilities.

The skill list seems a bit odd. From what we've said about the Lawgiver so far I wouldn't think of his followers as acrobats. However I think giving him a skill set strong in Charisma and Wisdom-based skills would suit him fine. However perhaps if you elaborate more on the background of the class, I might understand where you are going.

One final word. An acolyte is typically someone who is relatively unskilled in his profession. Perhaps another term such as Speaker, Inspired, or Lawbringer would be more appropriate.

 

[hafrogman]

Bear in mind what I say below is all constructive criticism. I am only trying to offer some advice on how to make things work better.

No worries on that count, as I said, merely a first crack. I appreciate any views that come back.

It has a bard's casting progression, but casts divine spells, which are generally weaker. And while a bard's true saving grace is the powerful bardic music ability, the acolyte has nothing similarly noteworthy to back it up.

Divine spells may be generally weaker than arcane, but I find the bard's spell list dramatically weaker still. I regarded the upgrade to the full clerical list as a quite significant boost, even limited progression as it is. Either way, as far as spell casting goes, I don't think full clerical progression would work with my design philosophy, and I'm hesitant to try and create my own wholly new progression chart in the middle.

I guess I should mention a little of what I was going for here. I find D&D very difficult to play without a dedicated healer, but I find the cleric class a little too boilerplate for my taste. There's very little room for variety in the class. Also, the healing powers of a high level cleric can become too much, in my opinion. But a bard, paladin or ranger would be not enough. So, something in between. Something that could serve as a party's only healer without seriously impeding the group, and allowing a little more room for customization.

The axiomatic strike is good, possibly too good. It might be better to grant the class a smite ability similar to the paladin's smite evil. Be very careful with "always on" abilities.

Heh, from too weak, to too much. But I think I see what you're aiming at here. This was actually meant to be my sub for bardic music, just a little more self-centered. But it is a little focused, it would probably be better to pull back a bit here, and spread the love elsewhere, as it were. I do tend to prefer always on vs. per day though, so I'll see what springs to mind.

One final word. An acolyte is typically someone who is relatively unskilled in his profession. Perhaps another term such as Speaker, Inspired, or Lawbringer would be more appropriate.

This is probably the only point I'll actually fight you on. Acolyte CAN mean a neophyte, but I was using it more in the priestly rank sense. Then when I was looking it up just now, I came across the base etymology.

Gk akólouthos follower, attendant, equiv. to a- prefix denoting association + -kolouthos, var. of kéleuthos road, journey

And I decided "follower of the path" was a really GOOD name.

 

[airwalkrr]

Far be it from me to prevent etymological obscura from rising out of the mist. So be it. Perhaps we could at least spell it differently to hint at the Greek root. Akolyte or akolite come to mind. If memory serves me correctly the word acolyte is overly Gaelicized. The point being that many people, like me, will probably associate the term with its more common meaning, whereas this might give them pause.

As I ponder your reply an idea struck me. You, like myself and many others seem to bemoan the cleric's role as a heal-bot. It precludes so many interesting spells from being cast to be sure. Supposing that your acolyte class had a host of abilities not unlike bardic music that, instead of inspiring his allies, healed and restored them? It would not be infinite healing since, like the bard, this mechanic would only be usable a number of times per day equal to his level. But it would allow him to use this ability for healing more and his spells for healing less. This could also be somewhat like the dragon shaman from PH2. For example, the counterpart to inspire courage:

Healing Chant (Su): An acolyte with 3 or more ranks in Knowledge (religion) can chant verse that heals the wounds of his allies (including himself) granting them fast healing 1. To be affected, an ally must be able to hear the acolyte chant. The effect lasts for as long as the ally hears the acolyte chant and for 5 rounds thereafter. At 8th level, and every six acolyte levels thereafter, this bonus increases by 1 (fast healing 2 at 8th, fast healing 3 at 14th, and fast healing 4 at 20th).

 

[airwalkrr]

I have given character creation some thought, and this seems to be the best way to do this. Since the theme of this campaign is that the players get to have a hand in building the world, I figured they should get more control over their characters. So you may pick whatever ability scores you like, within reason. Now as to what I consider reasonable, think of a time you've had a pretty good roll of ability scores. It didn't include two 18s, and nothing below a 15, but it was solid. If it had a low number in it like a 6, you didn't mind because the other numbers were fairly high and you weren't playing a class with MAD. If nothing was below a 12, the rest were spread pretty evenly up to 17 or 18. In other words, I'm not talking about that once-in-a-lifetime roll you might have made, but a good one nonetheless. Now that might be different for different people, but that's fine. Pick something you would be happy to play. Me? I might take the following array: 18, 15, 14, 14, 12, 9.

Equipment: Select any combination of coins and equipment up to the maximum allowable for a 1st-level character of your class.

Height/Weight: Select any combination that falls within the normal range for your race.

Sources: You may only use the d20 SRD, including psionics, as well as any rules we work out here. The bestial champion class is available, as is the acolyte, pending final approval. You may only play as the core races found in the Player's Handbook.

Background: This part is entirely up to you. Your background is going to be dependent upon how involved you wish to be with developing the world. If you want your character to come from a halfling burrow, give us a write up about it and what halflings in that community think about adventuring. If you want to be from the city, describe at least a small part of the city where you grew up, including a location or two there. If you just want to join in the campaign, then your character is assumed to be an orphan on the lam. You could even let everyone think you are an orphan on the lam until you come up with something good to place on the edge of the map at a later date. As an added incentive for good background write-ups, I will provide bonus magical equipment pertaining to your character depending on the quality of your write-up.

Other Incentives: As the campaign progresses, I will provide other incentives to those who continue to contribute to the world-building process. While not mandatory, this is a prime attribute of the campaign that I believe will help everyone enjoy and appreciate the world more. There is never a bad time to add a write-up or a bit of background for the campaign.