Gate Marcher (homebrew paragon path)

[Quickleaf]

I created my first homebrew paragon path!

What do you think about the "Gatestep Action"? I struggled with that one, and was hoping for something iconic to the concept.

Gate Marcher

“I will show you how to defeat the enemy who walks in between worlds, for I am the hunter that walks in their footsteps.”

Prerequisite: Fighter or Ranger

You lead the battle against extradimensional invaders and are skilled at fighting teleporting enemies that easily traverse the boundary between worlds. You have sworn an oath to defend those interplanar gates which devious generals seek to use for conquest, taking the “Gate Marcher” mantle.

Gate Marcher Tactics (11th): You are used to fighting teleporting foes. Choose one:
Perseverant Gate Marcherk: When an adjacent foe teleports away from you, you may choose to either take an opportunity attack or teleport with them.
Shifty Gate Marcher: When a foe teleports to a square adjacent to you, you may choose to either take an opportunity attack or switch places with them.

Gatestep Action (11th): When you spend an action point to take an extra action, you may switch places with a willing ally within 3 squares before the action.
Between Worlds (16th): Your attacks deal full damage to insubstantial foes, and you and all adjacent allies add your Wisdom modifier to damage against insubstantial foes.

Gate Marcher Exploits

Anchoring Strike
Gate Marcher Attack 11
You strike your foe in a vulnerable place, preventing them from extradimensional travel.
Encounter * Martial, Weapon
Standard Action
Target: One enemy
Attack: Melee or Ranged vs. AC
Hit: 2[W] + Strength modifier damage, and opponent cannot planeshift or teleport. Save -6 ends.
Perseverant Gate Marcher: The target of anchoring strike takes 10 damage on a failed save to remove the effect. The target may opt to not make a save.

Distancing Strike
Gate Marcher Attack 11
You strike a foe in a vulnerable place, forcing them to teleport away.
Encounter * Martial, Weapon
Standard Action
Target: One enemy
Attack: Melee or Ranged vs. AC
Hit: 2[W] + Strength modifier damage, and opponent teleports wherever you wish in your line of sight. Alternately, if the opponent can planeshift, you can send them to a bordering plane of your choice (e.g. Feywild or Shadowfell when in the Known World).
Shifty Gate Marcher: You may instead use the opponent’s planeshift or teleport ability as your own as an immediate reaction.

Betraying Summons
Gate Marcher Utility 12
You trick your foe into summoning your allies instead.
Encounter * Martial
Minor Action, Ranged 10
Target: One enemy within range.
Effect: Instead of summoning/teleporting its allies, your foe summons/teleports any number of your fellow PCs instead. Your friends appear where the foe would have summoned/teleported its allies.

Gate Ward
Gate Marcher Utility 12
Your keen presence hinders extradimensional magic.
Encounter * Martial
Minor Action, Burst 10
Effect: Extradimensional movement is barred within the burst.
Sustain: Minor

Intercepting Strike
Gate Marcher Attack 13
You strike at a teleporting foe, stopping them in mid-teleport.
Encounter * Martial, Weapon
Immediate Reaction
Target: One teleporting enemy who, if a straight line was drawn between their starting point and destination, passes through your square or a square you threaten (melee) or would be in your line of sight (ranged).
Special: Treat this foe as insubstantial unless you have the Between Worlds feature.
Attack: Melee or Ranged vs. AC
Hit: 2[W] + Strength modifier damage, and opponent’s teleport ends in a square adjacent to you (melee), or a square halfway in its teleport (ranged).

Banishing Strike
Gate Marcher Attack 20
Your opponent is sent reeling back to their home plane by the force of your attack.
Daily * Martial, Weapon, Reliable
Standard Action
Target: One enemy
Attack: Melee or Ranged vs. AC
Hit: 2[W] + Strength modifier damage and opponent is banished to its native plane. Save -6 ends.

Gate Marcher Feats

Greater Gate Ward
Prerequisite: Gate Ward power
Your Gate Ward powers affects a 10-square burst, and any creatures which attempt to enter or leave suffer damage equal to half your level (rounded down) + your Charisma modifier. Additionally, you may choose to allow movement within the warded area, teleporting away, or teleporting into the area when you establish the ward.

Mark of the Gate
Prerequisite: Ability to mark a foe, Perseverant Gate Marcher
When you use Perseverant Gate Marche on an enemy you’ve marked, you don’t need to be adjacent to them. Additionally, you may use any of your Gate Marcher exploits when Perseverant Gate Marcher allows you to make an opportunity attack.

Planar Quarry
Prerequisite: Hunter’s Quarry class feature, Shifty Gate Marcher
When you use Shifty Gate Marcher on your quarry, they don’t need to end their teleport adjacent to you for you to take an opportunity attack or switch places with them. Additionally, you may use any of your Gate Marcher exploits when Shifty Gate Marcher allows you to make an opportunity attack.

 

[Khuxan]

Prerequisite: Fighter, Paladin, Ranger or Warlord class, Trained in Planewalking skill

I would follow the pattern of the other paragon paths and only make it available to one class - ranger seems most appropriate, or maybe fighter. Characters of other classes can take a Class Training feat if they want to pick up this path.

Gate Marcher’s Savvy (11th): Whenever a foe teleports into a square adjacent to you take an opportunity attack. Whenever an adjacent foe teleports away from you, you may choose to teleport with them, thus remaining adjacent.
Gatestep Action (11th): When you spend an action point to take an extra action, you may switch places with an ally within 3 squares before the action.

I like these a lot.

Between Worlds (16th): Your attacks deal full damage to insubstantial foes, and you can strike foes in the Feywild or Shadowfell while in the Known World.

I think this feature could afford to have one extra bonus added in. I'm not sure what, but it seems a bit limited as is.

Anchoring Strike
Gate Marcher Attack 11
You strike your foe in a vulnerable place, preventing them from extradimensional travel.
Encounter * Martial, Weapon
Standard Action
Target: One enemy
Attack: Dexterity vs. AC
Hit: 1[W] + Strength modifier damage, and opponent cannot teleport until they beat you in a Will contest (one Will save per round).

Standardise it, and make it 'save ends' instead of including a Will contest. Plus, you're confusing defences and saves. There is no such thing as a 'Will save'.

Also, I would make it 2[W] like many other encounter powers we've seen.

Gate Ward
Gate Marcher Utility 12
You temporarily deactivate an extradimensional gate.
Encounter * Martial
Minor Action
Effect: An extradimensional gate you are adjacent to doesn’t function as long as you are adjacent to it. Anyone attempting to use the gate during the rest of that day must beat you in a Will contest or use magic to reactivate the gate.

Very limited ability. What about creating a zone of dampening, where no teleportation or gates can be used?

Banishing Strike
Gate Marcher Attack 20
Your opponent is sent reeling back to their home plane by the force of your attack.
Daily * Martial, Weapon, Reliable
Standard Action
Target: One enemy
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: 1[W] + Strength modifier damage, and opponent is banished to its native plane for one day. Each day it may attempt a Will contest; once successful it is free to return.

I don't like it. Too 'swingy', as they say. Have the banishment last until save ends, is my suggestion.

 

[inkmonkeys]

Gate Marcher’s Savvy (11th): Whenever a foe teleports into a square adjacent to you take an opportunity attack. Whenever an adjacent foe teleports away from you, you may choose to teleport with them, thus remaining adjacent.
Gatestep Action (11th): When you spend an action point to take an extra action, you may switch places with an ally within 3 squares before the action.
Between Worlds (16th): Your attacks deal full damage to insubstantial foes, and you can strike foes in the Feywild or Shadowfell while in the Known World.

I would trim the first to either "A creature that teleports from a square adjacent to you provokes an opportunity attack from you" or "When an adjacent foe teleports, you can teleport to any square adjacent to the enemy as a free action." Either one gives the character an option to keep the enemy next to him, making this particular feature better for the fighter. The feature that lets you attack someone who teleports to you is better for the ranger or rogue, who doesn't want enemies coming near much of the time.

Gatestep Action is good. Just make it a willing ally.

Negating insubstantial is potent if you fight lots of insubstantial creatures and weak if you don't, and insubstantial isn't a quality with a strong inherent connection to planar travel. I would look for a new feature that's in-theme but has a broader application.

Khuxan's suggestions on your powers are good, though I'd make anchoring strike last "until the end of your next turn" rather than until a save.

 

[FadedC]

I like gate marcher's savy, that's a very cool ability. It also makes the class seem more apropriate for a fighter who can keep his foe locked down after teleporting with him.

 

[Pistonrager]

yeah... from what they've said teleportation gets fairly common at higher levels so the savy is a bit too powerful as written, should be one or the other, the second part is more powerful so I would keep that one.

as far as the anchoring strike... to boost it's power a bit... I'm thinking... to have it require 2 or 3 saves to undo.

 

[Quickleaf]

Thanks for the feedback. I've renamed >Gate Marcher's Savvy< as >Gate Marcher Tactics< and divided it into 2 options (one for defenders, the other for the rest).

I agree that >Between Worlds< is a little weak, but unsure how to power it up.

Boosted damage on >Anchoring Strike<, and considering how to make the anchoring effect less fleeting.

Turned >Gate Ward< into a burst effect which can be sustained.

>Banishing Blow< was standardized with save mechanic.

Added a feats section with >Greater Gate Ward< and >Mark of the Gate<.

 

[ShockMeSane]

Thanks for the feedback. I've renamed >Gate Marcher's Savvy< as >Gate Marcher Tactics< and divided it into 2 options (one for defenders, the other for the rest).

I agree that >Between Worlds< is a little weak, but unsure how to power it up.

Boosted damage on >Anchoring Strike<, and considering how to make the anchoring effect less fleeting.

Turned >Gate Ward< into a burst effect which can be sustained.

>Banishing Blow< was standardized with save mechanic.

Added a feats section with >Greater Gate Ward< and >Mark of the Gate<.

A few quick things.

I'm not crazy about the implication that at level 11 you have been to the Abyss. I think you could generalize the flavor text a little more to say that you specialize in battling planar creatures, or something. This is a bit nitpicky but it does bother me personally because it tells me a little too much about my character.

As others have mentioned, there is no such thing as a "Will Save" in 4e. Just a general "Save", that normal mobs will succeed at 55% of the time, Elites 65%, and Solo's 80% of the time. If you want to make an effect a little longer lasting, consider forcing the saves at a penalty. For a power like anchoring strike, this would grant it some longevity and still not be particularly overpowered. For example if grants a -6 to saves, it will have a 25%/35%/50% chance to be overcome each round by enemies of the various categories, which basically comes out to an average of 4/3/2 turns. Seems pretty reasonable to me.

 

[Quickleaf]

Good catch on the saves. I changed the mechanic to reflect 4e's approach, and altered the fluff slightly.

Just need to come up with a "Perseverant Gate Marcher" modification for >Anchoring Strike< and I'll call it complete.

 

[ShockMeSane]

Good catch on the saves. I changed the mechanic to reflect 4e's approach, and altered the fluff slightly.

Just need to come up with a "Perseverant Gate Marcher" modification for >Anchoring Strike< and I'll call it complete.

To steal a mechanic from Keterys, you could add:

Perseverant Gate Marcher: The target of anchoring strike takes 10 damage on a failed save to remove its effect. The target may opt not to make a save.

Decent little bonus, one might argue a "perseverent" bonus, but if you add it you may want to slightly decrease the save penalty as it could get fairly brutal. Honestly, this is an idea that looks ok to me on paper, but who knows how it would hold up to playtesting

 

[Celebrim]

Seems more epic than paragon.