Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kerrick" data-source="post: 720586" data-attributes="member: 4722">I have to say that this class is really quite interesting. A group of women sorcerer/rogues who operate from the shadows, saving those who are oppressed and used by those more powerful and/or evil than they - that in itself is a neat concept.Just as an aside: The mention of Jackals as hunters reminds me of a book by Charles L Grant called (strangely enough) Jackals. I don't suppose you got this idea from that?The flavor text describing this order seems to me to define their alignment as more CG than CN - they fight those who would oppress or enslave others. This part in particularkind of cinches it. CN characters work toward the end of entropy, chaos, and the eventual breakdown of order.    First, why are ALL of these at 9? Seems a bit high, and requires that the character be at least a 6th level rogue (you could get some of the ranks from cross-class sorcerer or wizard points, but if you're taking one of those classes, you're probably more likely to spend them on Spellcraft or Knowledge Arcana).    Second, I can see requiring Bluff, Hide, and Move Silently, but not Tumble and Pick Pocket (and certainly not at those levels). I would change it to: Bluff 6 ranks, Hide 9 ranks, Move Silently 8 ranks.Also, I would consider giving them the Seduction skill (from Crimson Contracts, a big book on assassins) as a class skill. If you do this, I'd also recommend replacing the Bluff requirement with this. I could easily see a Tear seducing someone in order to set him up for a long fall.        Note: When you're posting class abilities as requirements, they're not feats - they're separate class abilities. Also, you only need the highest one - in this case, Uncanny Dodge. Barbarians get it also? Yes... but they would have a hard time getting that many skill points. Or you could just scrap that entirely and require a simple Sneak Attack +3d6, which makes sure you're getting a Rog6.As far as making requirements for a Sorcerer... just make so they have to be able to cast arcane spells of x level spontaneously (which a wizard can't). You could also include one or two specific spells if you wished, but since we're going for sorcies, I wouldn't recommend it, as their spell selection is rather limited.    Interesting, that - at first I thought the number of skill points you gained was based on your Hide skill, but then I realized you gain an automatic rank in hide every level. Very powerful, that, and subject to abuse, considering most of their powers are based on the Hide skill. Come to think of it, why do they only get 4+ Int with that many skills? They should have 6 at least, and more likely 8. With the greater number of points, you can ditch the "+1 rank of Hide" each level.      Why not just give them a custom spell list? It would be much easier, and you could then tailor their spells to match their abilities and aims.       90 feet? Hmm. Most creatures have it to 60 feet. Why not give them 60-foot vision, or an extension of 30 feet if they already have it (which is not a synergy bonus, BTW).   We have something akin to this called Armor of the Flesh in Crimson Contracts, the assassin's book. It grants you your Cha modifer as a deflection bonus to AC as long as you don't wear armor, but it affects all beings.    If you want to keep your version, I'd make it effective against all creatures except those that are immune to mind-influencing effects (constructs, oozes, plants, undead, and vermin). I also don't see why it wouldn't work when she's flat-footed - if I see a beautiful woman, whether she sees see me or not, I'm going to stop for a moment to admire her.Seduction’s Sting: See the latter part of my comments above.Interesting ability, but it needs a bit of tweaking to avoid being overpowered. The 2 ft./level thing is fine as is (5, IMO, is a bit too far - I can't really see someone pulling a shadow 50 feet to grant her a life-saving shield). Also, leaving 1 hp no matter how much damage was dealt is just a bit much. Half damage, yes, but even the best Tear could be killed by overwhelming force.    XP cost: I agree that it's too low. Why not make it 10% of the total required to advance to the next level? I.e., if the Tear is 10th level (needs 55,000 to get L11), she would lose 5,500 XP. That sounds like a lot, but it's actually graded to the level, and it's really a small price to pay for not losing your life. Also, the XP loss should not apply if the Tear would still die (since you're losing a  level anyway upon being raised).    This also gave me the idea for another class ability: Cloak of Shadows. If the Tear is standing within 10 ft. of a shadow large enough to hide in, she can gather the shadow around her to grant herself a +4 deflection bonus to AC for as long as she remains within the 10 feet. Is this instantaneous, or over time?   I agree that this shouldn't be an RoE effect, but something more along the lines of being stunned or dazed for 1d4 rounds.   This is perhaps the only thing I don't like about this class, but then I don't usually go for transformation classes in general. Don't forget, outsiders can't be raised or resurrected. [qoute]As the familiar steady becomes composed of ever more shadow-stuff, it becomes harder to strike. For example, a familiar that is made of 25% shadow-stuff gains the equivalent of ¼ cover. By the time the familiar’s mistress reaches 9th level, the familiar will be composed of 75% shadow-stuff and possess ¾ cover.</blockquote>   How would it gain cover? Cover is a physical obstacle, not something that's attached a body. I'd say that the familiar continues to gain an AC bonus, but it changes to a deflection bonus instead of natural armor.     I agree. If the Tear strays from the way of the Shadow, she immediately loses all class abilities, including the ability to cast class-related spells until such time as she makes reparation for her actions. If she chooses to leave of her own free will, nothing will happen to her; if she willingly breaks the "tenets" of the faith (deliberately not helping a swan, acting like a jackal, etc), then she is declared outcast and actively hunted down by her peers.[/QUOTE]

Verification