Chameleon? Why?

[Nightfall]

Honestly, I side with Ari. This would make a MUCH cooler base class for maybe Complete Adventurer. This is the kind of base class I could see being used a lot. Probably why I liked Ashashic from AU. Certainly unlike Soul Knife, this deserves to be a base class more than most.

 

[Mercule]

If you can't find a role playing reason for this class, you really are not trying. I think it is a cool way to have a mysterious character that abilities vary from day to day if needed.

Eh, I'm not buying it. Maybe as a one-off or a cult of some sort. You've got to be able to answer a couple of questions though. 1) Where does the character get this mind-shifting ability from? 2) Why does he forget what he knew yesterday?

If you can answer those, then I might buy it. But the class (teaser, at least) doesn't make any effort to address those issues. If your "mysterious stranger" boils down to, "just because", then it's not a mystery that adds anything. It's a metagame mind-screw that taxes suspension of disbelief.

As a note, I don't think the PrC is unbalanced at all. It is just horribly jarring and is the ultimate in pure crunch, unbesmirched by any flavor what-so-ever, even enough to make sense.

 

[JustKim]

1) Where does the character get this mind-shifting ability from?

The same place all classes get their mysterious, spontaneously gifted powers.

2) Why does he forget what he knew yesterday?

The same reason every preparation spellcaster does. The same reason Barbarians can only rage a certain number of times a day. You know, suspension of disbelief.

I answered your quesitons, now you are legally obligated to appreciate this class.

 

[Nightfall]

Some how I don't think Merc's buying the line...

Me though, I buy it because a) the class reminds me of a cleric PC that kept changing his deiteis to suit his needs. While he was completely believing each time, he'd often be a deity of one god to the next before anyone could blink.

Thus I feel Chamelon is a good class, but it should be a base not a Pr-class.

 

[Turjan]

See here: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/iw/20041210b&page=1

I don't get it. I mean I really don't get it in the biggest possible way. As a player, I tend to have a pretty short attension span for characters, but I cannot imagine ever playing this. It is completely devoid of flavor of any sort.

Funny. I think this class oozes flavour . It's a bit silly, yes, but that is part of the deal .

 

[TheAuldGrump]

It reminds me of the shoe The Pretender.

It would not work well in a game with multiple characters, but for a one on one or two on one game it would work fine, first with the character finding the role he wanted for the current plot, then fitting in.

I kind of like it. It would work rather well for Eberron in the City of Towers I would think.

The Auld Grump

 

[Delemental]

Obviously, this PrC was meant to allow someone to play Red Mage from 8-bit Theater. Because someone who wants to play Red Mage is going to cheat to give themselves the abilities anyway, so may as well make it legal.

 

[Fedifensor]

Here's what I posted on the WotC boards about the class:

I don't think the various focuses are all that balanced with each other.

Arcane Focus and Divine Focus blow the other focuses out of the water. Even a 1st level Chameleon gets a decent amount of spells (as long as their spellcasting stat is 14+), and many of those spells can duplicate the effects gained from the other focuses. By 5th level, you can throw a fireball for 10d6*, or have enough healing to take care of the average adventuring party for the day.

Combat Focus is pretty good. +2 to hit and damage is quite useful, and +4 is even better. Best used when you're going through a long adventure where you would burn through spells too quickly. Combined with the medium BAB you'll do okay faking the fighter role...though the lack of feats is a definate problem.

Stealth Focus is pretty lame. Arcane Focus can make you a passable wizard, Divine Focus can make you a passable cleric or druid, Combat Focus can make you a passable fighter, but Stealth Focus won't make you a passable rogue - the +2 bonus is minimal, and even +4 isn't going to help unless you already have several ranks in the skill. You're better off shelling out some gold for magic items that give you much better bonuses at a reasonable price. +2 on Disable Device and Open Lock is the same as buying masterwork thieves' tools.

Wild Focus is worse than Stealth Focus - you don't even get the Track feat out of it. Unless you're about to be eaten by a bear, don't bother.

Overall, I think a few levels of Chameleon are a great way to turn a rogue into a true jack of all trades, but the only way I'd take 10 levels in the class is if I wanted to milk the double class level feature for spellcasting. A Rogue 5/Chameleon 10 can throw chain lightning at 20d6 on the primary, and 10d6 on up to 20 other targets - that's tougher than the same spell from a 15th level wizard.

* This means a Rogue 5/Chameleon 5 throws a fireball as powerful as one thrown by an equal-level wizard. Caster level equaling double class level is really unbalanced, as my chain lightning example shows. Expect this to be the subject of errata shortly after release.

 

[Prince of Happiness]

I think it sounds like a lot of fun. A very "Man of a Thousand Faces"/superspy type of character. I'm pretty sure a lot of people would get irritated that you would claim to be a great warrior, but actually kind of blew compared to seasoned campaigners with your experience, or a wizard at your age...but what the heck? You're fun to have around.

 

[Tuzenbach]

I think this class is spelled "Raymond Luxury Yacht", but pronounced "Throat-wobbler Mangrove".