New Power Sources

[King-Panda]

Alright, bare with me on this. This idea stemmed from FF Tactics (stay with me), and in particular, the newer GBA/DS versions (stay! ). That system involved NPC's called Judges whose powers were based off of adjucating laws, laying out punishment/jailtime, and observing battles for fairplay/law & order (If you've played the game, ignore the fact that they were a horrible impact on gameplay >_<). What was interesting was these powers manifested themselves in combat, and took on almost a sort of magical quality. My idea is based on these notions:

Some players are less interested in combat, and more in social interaction.

4th edition is pretty much based on combat, and all of the players will suffer if their classes can't cut it in battle.

How can we use social/culture/diplomatic actions to make a character viable both in and out of combat? Here's an example of what I'm seeing: You have some sort of noble class. Their powers could be something like the following:

Edict
With a stern voice, you assert your position of authority to the enemy, making them falter in their tracks.
Something about the enemy being slowed, weakened, or immobilized.

Objection
With a sharp rap of a magically-conjured gavel, you shout your indignation at an enemies' actions, causing them to reel in bewilderment.
Immediate Interrupt/Reaction, cause a reroll on an attack roll (Maybe with a penalty or something).

Loophole
Citing laws gleaned from obscure magical lawbooks, you grant your allies a few tricks up their sleeves in the coming fight.
Some kind of buff, like allowing their first attack to reroll, or ignoring enemies' resistance.

Judgement
You dictate a grave sentence on your enemy, as he is imprisoned within summoned magical walls, and held frozen by the laws of dire judgement.
The enemy is Imprisoned for a number of turns, cannot take actions, maybe some kind of blacklash/side/sustain effect to keep it from being overpowered.

Immunity
Being an ambassador to monstrous territories comes with some unique perks.
Something about gaining resistance or power bonuses to defenses against a certain attack or a certain monster, or the next attack.

Witness to the Stand
Summoning the essence of someone wronged by your enemy, you verbally castrate them on basis of their normal attack routine.
The target could get a penalty on any attacks it's used this combat, or something similar.

Guilty before Proven Innocent
Laws are based on ethics, but everyone can agree morality has no sway on your enemies' vile countenance.
Some kind of debuff that could deal backlash damage when the target attacks, maybe as a Immediate action.

Anyways, I hope you can see where I'm going with this. I admit, this wouldn't work in A LOT of people's campaigns, as it stretches the imagination of what magic in standard D&D is like. Also, I could see people getting to much of a video game vibe from this, and that's okay. I just thought this would be a good work around for making a social class balanced in combat, as well as keeping with the flavor of the power source.

 

[HalWhitewyrm]

The scope of those powers is a bit too much for my taste, but the idea of the social classes affecting combat in Leader-like ways appeals to me, a lot. My gut instinct would be to grant a few purely combat powers to these classes so they can fend for themselves, but have the bulk of their Attack and Utility powers be more about them affecting their allies and enemies using a variety of tactics, from inspiration to manipulation and even through 3rd-party agents whose actions create effects felt on the battlefield.

 

[andarilhor]

Good to see this thread didn´t died as I thinked. Maybe its the time to fork her in a new thread only about a Social Power Source?

 

[andarilhor]

Oh man, that sounds amazing. Someone make these classes. Asap!

I'm not sure what the difference between an aristocrat and a noble would be though.
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It´s a concept difference to me:

Nobles acquire their powers from a heritage. They may be descendent of a legendary hero or from a merchant baron, it´s the legacy of their ascendents which gives the power to inspirate their allies.

Aristocrats are control the court with their knowledges of law, tradition, intrigues and social interactions. They are like attorneys which knows how to bend the laws to their bidding.

 

[Hawke]

Didn't Spy Craft have a "social combat" system that made social encounters and such as complex as combat with as many rolls and options and such? I've always liked the ideas as a supplement and felt it'd be neat as a sourcebook... Domains & Demagogues by WotC...

 

[HalWhitewyrm]

Good to see this thread didn´t died as I thinked. Maybe its the time to fork her in a new thread only about a Social Power Source?

I wonder if we can ask an Admin to move a number of posts over to a new thread? That way we can fork it over to it's own thread and take with us the posts that have already been discussing the topic.

 

[Quickleaf]

Andarilhor & Hal, I'd love to work on a social power source as a type of community project if you're interested.

It´s a concept difference to me:

Nobles acquire their powers from a heritage. They may be descendent of a legendary hero or from a merchant baron, it´s the legacy of their ascendents which gives the power to inspirate their allies.

I think the concept of a legacy hero is too broad and doesn't specify the character's function enough. Even if the concept were tight enough, how would a Noble's powers differ from a Warlord's?
Truth is the "leader" role is the one I'm struggling the most to fill (see below).

Aristocrats are control the court with their knowledges of law, tradition, intrigues and social interactions. They are like attorneys which knows how to bend the laws to their bidding.

Interesting, might I suggest a name change to Courtier?

Here is my latest go at the social class names by role...

Controller: Courtier - gifted at court intrigue, psychological manipulation, friends in high places, bend the law, their fighting style would be more swashbuckling, perhaps changing the terrain with zones like a fallen chandelier or a wave of betrayal
[I thought this fit in better with the rest of the classes being of high-rank rather than a rabble-rousing demagogue, though of course a courtier could play that role too]

Defender: Thane/Knight - feudal lord holding land and providing military service to the crown, their fighting style would be based around creating defense zones, issuing duel challenges to worthy adversaries while able to keep minions at bay, and specializing in facing masses of foes
[I thought this was more precise than magnate, and I could steal from the Knight class I created months ago]

Leader ?: Regent, Face, Grandee, Patrician

Striker: Courtesan - high-class performer, seductor, and spy working as an infiltrator to gain insight into enemies & access to privileged information, their fighting style would allow them to be perceived as an ally to the PCs' enemy for a moment and would emphasize deceit, turning tables, and exploiting weaknesses

 

[HalWhitewyrm]

I'm down for that, Aaron.

 

[Inlicere]

Somebody has any ideas of New Power Sources?

I recently created the "Alien" power source:

Alien: Alien powers are sourced in the deep strangeness of the far realms, and it may be that no one of this world could hope to truly understand them. Nevertheless, those who devote themselves to the study of aberrants and the far realms can learn to call upon the warped energies of that distant plane. Alien powers are called susurrations, and are often accompanied by sibilant whispering sounds.
​

It isn't in much use yet though... it's currently only used by one paragon path of my Historian class.

 

[Dodavehu]

I recently created the "Alien" power source:

Alien: Alien powers are sourced in the deep strangeness of the far realms, and it may be that no one of this world could hope to truly understand them. Nevertheless, those who devote themselves to the study of aberrants and the far realms can learn to call upon the warped energies of that distant plane. Alien powers are called susurrations, and are often accompanied by sibilant whispering sounds.
​

It isn't in much use yet though... it's currently only used by one paragon path of my Historian class.

Isn't that a Star Pact?

I can get behind that though, I love those Far Realm friends. Perhaps "Eldritch" woud be a better term though (more Lovecraftian to me). Then again, I pay way too much attention to semantics (keep reading).

In other news: I'd also love to see a technology source to give us some steam punk goodness.

My favorite idea is still the social source though. Aren't "courtesan" and "courtier" basically the same word though? I know wizard and warlock actually mean the same too, but I feel the actual words are different enough to be distinct. Of couse, I'm just getting nitpicky at this point.
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