Ghostwalker Problems - How balanced is this ?

[uzagi_akimbo]

After a player fatality without recourse (taken down and consumed by Greenslime, of all things at 12th level ) IMC, the player now proposed a concept for a 'Ghostwalker' (from S&F). Looking over the class and concept, which I like, two puzzling questions still raised themselves, which I hope someone can clarify for me, before I do a rash rework of the PC.

a) Anonymity : The Ghostwalker benefits from anonymity, but should his name ever become known to his foes, his powers are weakened. On those enemies, who know his name, his resolute aura no longer functions. If they are hostile, he can no longer feign death, become ethreal or shadow walk in their presence (to a distance of 100 feet ) and his painful reckoning bonus, if any, is halved against him

First off - what real name are we talking about here ? I assume, they mean the birth/given name of any character. So what is the problem for him to assume an alias, or nickname and bury his true identity deeply (which might be real easy, given the distances traveled IMC ), which could be really easy, say if he was evil in the first place. Or does he have to remain _entirely_ nameless, a threatening and menacing presence, even who's friends should be wary to mention his assumed "handle" as not to rob him of his powers ?

b) If the Ghostwalker loses more than 50% of his normal hitpoints in one encounter (and survives), he gains this bonus to AC, attack and damage rolls when he faces the specific foe(s) that he fought in the initial encounter.

Soooo. For one, does he get the bonus immediately after losing 50% plus of his HP in one encounter, or only in the next and any possibly following encounters ?
And, besides this, does the bonus apply only to the very specific foes faced and fought in that initial encounter _or_ does he benefit from it for the whole encounter (say again a company of new henchmen ) until he has defeated the specific foes ? E.g. can he just slaughter (the bonus is basically +1/level of Ghostwalker - IMC I am looking at a guy who, in theory, has +5 to +6 to all attack rolls, damage and AC in such situations) each and every other combatant on the battlefield until, in the end, he takes down his enemy ?

I love the idea of the character, but I somehow get the feeling that there is something nastily broken about this prestige class. Care to comment ?

 

[Pax]

In a campaign with distant travel, it will be easier to pulloff the anonymity, certainly - but with scrying magic available, up to and including possible magical interrogation (read: mind reading) of his companions, or even himself ... no ghostwalker should ever be assured of his own impenitrible anonymity.

As for the bonus at 50% issue ... I read it as not taking effect until the NEXT encounter. In the majority of cases, that means the ability is pointless - unless and until you introduce recurring villains, who manage to (directly or by proxy) deal LOTS of damage, and escape before the PCs can dake them out. (Or else, deal lots of damage, die at the PC's hands, and get resurrected by a friendly cleric, heh!)

 

[Stormrunner]

1) Entirely nameless. The Ghostwalker's power comes from his mystique - he keeps popping up, killing a few minions, and then vanishing again, and pretty soon the survivors are asking "Who is this guy?". The fact that they don't know who he is, where he comes from, what he can do, or why he's killing them helps to engender fear.

2) Next encounter, and only against the specific ones who hurt him in the first encounter.

Oh, and BTW - "Loose" and "lose" are not interchangeable. "Loose" is to unfasten or be unfastened: "The handle of this pot is coming loose", "Cry havoc, and loose the dogs of war". "Lose" is to be unable to find, or not to win: "I always lose these games" "I keep losing my keys".

That said, it may not be the best choice for a PC. By nature, the Ghostwalker is a loner, and doesn't "fit in" well with a group. Furthermore, the entire concept is based around seeking vengeance for an earlier defeat, which makes a lot of the special abilities useable only in very specific circumstances. (It's basically an attempt to take Clint Eastwood's "Man with No Name" and turn it into a prestige class. This sort of thing is usually a bad idea - it's like trying to make, say, a Batman prestige class.) In practice, the character needs to seek out or engineer encounters where he gets the you-know-what kicked out of him, but neither he nor the opponents actually die, so that he can "power up" for the rematch. Kinda like those old Harlem Globetrotters cartoons where they lose in the first half, but them come back in the second. While the feign death ability helps, a foe who burns the corpse or chops his head off for a trophy will put an end to his career real quick. Plus, it's usually easier and simpler to just defeat the foe the first time around, rather than letting them defeat you (and take all your stuff) just so you can stage a comeback.

Why does the player want to take this PrC? Is it the vengeance-seeker aspect, the coolness of being a Mysterious Stranger, the movement abilities, or what?

 

[AuraSeer]

IMO it's not just his original given name, it's any name at all.

People he meets will of course call him something, whether it's "that weird elf" or "the guy with the axe" or even "hey, you!", and that's fine. But if a particular tag sticks to him long enough to uniquely identify him, even when he's not around, then it becomes enough of a name to endanger his powers.

Think of the Lone Ranger. IIRC only the narrator ever called him that; none of the people he met called "Lone Ranger," or any other name. Even his faithful sidekick Tonto only called him "friend." When he rode off into the sunset, all the townspeople were left asking, "Who was that masked man?"

 

[Sejs]

I disagree on the "totally no name" thing. Nicknames, etc - particularly ones made for the Ghostwalker by other people - shouldn't count.

Say a Ghostwalker helps out some villiagers and they take to calling their mysterious benefactor the Stranger. Now the Ghostwalker never mentioned his name at all; if anyoned asked, he just played it off, saying things like "Nobody of consequence" or "someone you're better off not knowing." Later on, Baron von Badguy and the Ghostwalker butt heads - the Baron knowing that his opponent is the Stranger shouldn't grant him any particular benefit. But if he found out that the Stranger was actually Destin Penzarre, former right hand man of King Kingsley, who abandoned his post and his liege when he refused to kill his own daughter when it was found she was a member of the Cult of the Great Tentacle Beast Umbugu'u... then yeah, he knows who the Stranger is, and he should have his PR bonus halved.

 

[Pax]

I disagree on the "totally no name" thing. Nicknames, etc - particularly ones made for the Ghostwalker by other people - shouldn't count.

I concur. "D" of the anime flick "Vampire Hunter D" would be the *ultimate* archetypal Ghostwalker, IMO. It doesn't matter that he answers to "D"; the fact that none of the vampires know he's the direct descendant of *THE* Dracul ... well, *there* lays his requisite anonymity. IMO, anyway.

 

[Ycore Rixle]

I concur. "D" of the anime flick "Vampire Hunter D" would be the *ultimate* archetypal Ghostwalker, IMO. It doesn't matter that he answers to "D"; the fact that none of the vampires know he's the direct descendant of *THE* Dracul ... well, *there* lays his requisite anonymity. IMO, anyway.

Interesting. I've always taken the epitome of the Ghostwalker to be Clint Eastwood's nameless character in "High Plains Drifter." The vengeance bonus, the nameless requirement, and the resolute aura are practically defined by the movie. When I read the class, I thought, "Cool, they did a class based on a Western." I'll have to check out Vampire Hunter D to see how close it is.

Back on topic, I've always taken the name to be the character's original given name (under which, presumably, he suffered some tragedy that forced him to become a Ghostwalker). "High Plains Drifter" does a great job of demonstrating how the anonymity is important.

I've also always taken the vengeance bonus only to apply to the next encounter. That seems pretty clear to me.

Overall, I think the Ghostwalker is underpowered rather than overpowered. It oozes flavor, though, and it's one of my favorite prestige classes ever.

Edit: Well, slightly underpowered. I just re-read it, and I had forgotten about the skills and etherealness.

 

[uzagi_akimbo]

Ok, thanks for the feedback, its appreciated, even if it all comes down to "there is no definite rule per se, just guidelines" hehe. The archetype the player was thinking about was something in the vein of a "tough it out Bruce Willis", guy who gets knocked around heavily and a lot, but , getting a second wind down the fight, really takes out the opposition. Maybe I will allow it to "kick-in" in a single battle with some random delay (as the anger builds ) - maybe [2d10 rounds - Ghostwalker level ] after having been wounded. Otherwise, I simply see the characters falling back deliberately after the Ghostwalker has been "banged up" enough, to give him just the viscious edge he needs a few minutes later... cheesy, yet possible. I'd rather have them wonder how soon the Ghostwalker will pull his act together and starts saving their bacon. I mean, how many fights last for more than a dozen of rounds, right ?
The "Anonymity" part with a handle/nick being allowed sounds fair to me, seeing how divination can spoil the game really quick anyways. Guess a ring of mind shielding or a similar non-detection item will be high on his list of "wanted" items.

 

[joelmarcus]

character

IMO I think that the prestiege class is in resemblance of the movie "The Crow" or for some of you older peoples "Dead Man Walking" with Clint Eastwood. I agree that the character is not the grouping kind of character. More like a vengance ghost. That being said if it is a reoccuring villan she won't be reoccuring for long.

 

[Christian]

(It's basically an attempt to take Clint Eastwood's "Man with No Name" and turn it into a prestige class. This sort of thing is usually a bad idea - it's like trying to make, say, a Batman prestige class.)

I don't think it's necessarily based specifically on the Eastwood western character, but on a cinematic archetype of which The Man With No Name is one of the classic examples. There are certainly other examples in cinema/literature-including some other Eastwood charactes, of course. ("You! But-you're dead! I saw you die!" "Welcome to Hell."-The Rookie) To the point that it's even been parodied, in fact. ("Who are you?" "Noone of consequence-another lover of the blade." "I must know!" "Get used to disappointment."-The Princess Bride)