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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Arkhandus" data-source="post: 1744113" data-attributes="member: 13966">EDITED, now more complete adviceWell, I'm a big fan of StarCraft and the Protoss, so I'll offer my help. You'll still need to name the class, by the way, probably something like Psychic Blade or whatever. First, you'll need to clarify what the Shields do; you never actually mention that the Shields' points are hit points, nor do you mention what rate they replenish at, nor do you mention if it's possible to restore Shields' hit points/shield points by any means other than the Shield Charge feat. You also never mention that the Shields absorb damage before the character's hit points. You need to define what 'energy attacks' are considered to be, also; are force effects energy, are acid effects energy, are magical blasts energy by this definition, etc.; I'm not certain if you meant only the five basic d20 energy types of acid, cold, electricity, fire, and sonic. Also important, you should probably specify what can bypass the Shields' damage-absorption; a Death spell should probably damage the character themselves if they succeed at the save vs. death (as Death spells usually deal damage instead when the victim succeeds at their save), as should something like Horrid Wilting or whatnot. Another important point, you should note that the Shields are a force effect and thus apply against incorporeal touch attacks and such; unless you didn't want them to be, of course (the Deflection bonus to AC would already apply vs. touch attacks, but normally the Armor bonus (and Natural Armor bonus with the proper feat) would not apply). Stuff to think about. Secondly, for proficiencies, you should remove the nonproficiency penalty doubling, because it's unnecessary and makes no sense; Commoners don't have any combat training and only receive proficiency in a single simple weapon, yet the still have the same -4 nonproficiency penalty with other weapons that a Fighter or Wizard or what-have-you suffers when wielding a weapon nonproficiently. So ditch the nonproficiency penalty part. Also, I'd give them proficiency in the unarmed strike and gauntlets at least, given that their claws are similar to punching. Thirdly, I'd recommend boosting the class' hit points to d6 at least, since they are a warrior class with full base attack bonus; there's no way someone could train that much in combat techniques and still be a scrawny, glass-jawed pushover physically. Reduce the skill points per level to 4 + Int mod. BTW, I don't have the Expanded Psionics Handbook, so I don't know what psionic skills etc. were kept in it. If it hasn't been removed in 3.5, you should add Stabilize Self to your class' skill list. Also, you might want to consider giving this class either a medium Fortitude save or a medium Reflex save, to reflect their decent (though highly focused) combat training. Medium save progressions are in D20 Modern and I think some other book.....maybe Unearthed Arcana or something. EDIT: Okay, got more time now, so I'll finish the post. Since Scion responded already, I'll factor in his new comments. As you said the Shield is sort of the character's lifeforce being projected and concentrated, I suppose it should regenerate over time at a decent rate. It should replenish similar to hit points, at 1 Shield Point per level per eight hours, regardless of activity level or rest. The way you have it now, Shield Points replenish far too quickly, like subdual/nonlethal damage only better because the Shields absorb normal damage.  You should note in the description that the character's Wisdom modifier applies to their Shield Points instead of hit points at each level gained in this class, rather than only saying their Wis bonus applies (otherwise, such a character wouldn't worry about having abysmal Constitution). With this class getting d4 Hit Dice/hit points and 8 + Wis mod Shield Points per class level, they essentially have the equivalent of d12 hit dice but with a high minimum/average. Downside to balance it out is that the five basic energy types cause double damage to their Shield Points, and certain other effects may bypass Shield Points, and Shield Points cannot be healed besides their own recharging, while Shield Points also don't count towards HP so they don't protect the character against subdual/nonlethal damage. Upside is that the character is guaranteed a goodly number of SP/HP per level to ensure survivability, Shield Points are modified by Wisdom, Shield Points get factored in or damaged before hit points by most effects, and Shield Points regenerate a bit faster than hit points usually. I suppose you might want to rule that Shield Points count towards the character's hit point total for purposes of how much subdual/nonlethal damage the character can endure before becoming staggered or unconscious.  You might also want to rule that when the character is magically healed for hit point damage, they can choose (if conscious) to force that healing into their Shield Points instead, forcing the positive energy to be channeled into the lifeforce of their Shields instead of their body; this should only heal about half as many Shield Points as it would have healed hit points, rounded down, as it's likely much easier to heal the body through positive energy than it is to replenish concentrated lifeforce. Ditch the excess nonproficiency penalty, I've already pointed out it has no place and is senseless.  Commoners in D&D are proficient in ONLY ONE WEAPON, and it has to be a Simple weapon; your class is no different, except that Commoners only have a proficiency for the sake of dispatching rodents in their fields and such, your class has proficiency in a single weapon for regular combat.  The nonproficiency penalties are universal, and are not worsened just by excess focusing on only a single weapon.  I'm sure Commoners and Wizards don't train in smacking people with chairs and throwing axes and bashing with tables, yet the nonproficiency penalty for that is the same as for anything else, so there's no reason to worsen nonproficiency penalties.  I've played monks with two-weapon fighting, so I know well enough that -4 attack penalties are plenty bad enough (my monk fighting two-fisted almost never hits anything with TWF and Flurry, sigh). Based on your reasoning, that your class is not heavily combat trained and only trains on generating their Shields and Claws, and on using those, then reduce your class' Base Attack Bonus to 1/2 level like a Wizard's BAB.  This will justify the pathetic Hit Dice, Fort/Ref saves, and lack of proficiencies.  Give them Weapon Focus and Weapon Finesse in their Claws as bonus feats at 1st-level, regardless of prerequisites, then give them a +1 competence bonus on their Claw attack rolls at 3rd-level, and say that this competence bonus improves at each additional odd-numbered level in the class (you still need to name the class! aiee...).  This will give them the feel of a very Claw-focused warrior, and will allow them to take appropriate feats later that might require Weapon Focus or Weapon Finesse.  They don't start with any other proficiencies, so it's fine to give them those two bonus feats right off the bat.  Now then, note in the Claw description that the Claws each count as light weapons, and that the character can generate one Claw on each arm, taking a standard action to generate one Claw or a full-round action to generate two Claws, not provoking any attacks of opportunity since it's a Supernatural ability.  Since you allow the Claws to be sundered and to regain hit points over time, I suppose you don't want the character to recreate the Claws at full power just be de-activating and re-activating them, so perhaps say that any of the Claws can be deactivated as a free action by the character, and that regardless of being active, inactive, reactivated, or deactivated, the Claws still only regain hit points at the same rate. You don't need to list any rules for changing the Claws' length, it is unimportant unless the Claws gain reach that way, which they do not, so it is irrelevant.  Claw length should simply be specified as, say, 1 foot long, reduced to 4 inches when suppressed to minimum damage.  Make the Claws count as a force effect, so they can strike incorporeal subjects effectively and without the usual 50% miss chance (just as a Magic Missile does).  The Claws are concentrated lifeforce externalized, they shouldn't be considered material objects but rather as magical force effects.  The Claws should make for a worthwhile weapon given these factors, and the class' automatic improvements for them over the course of levels.  The rest of what you described for the Claws is fine, except you made an error with the Claw damage.  You noted that they start out as d4 damage, modified by size, but that the Increased Claws class feature would improve their damage die by one type each time.  Also, while you note that the Claw damage is modified by size, you don't mention if the base of 1d4 damage is for Medium-sized creatures, Small creatures, or whatever, so there's no way to figure out how to adjust it for size.  You'll have to reword and fix those parts to clarify.  Oh, and on the chart you list the claws with +1, +2, etc. at various levels, you should note in the Claws' description that they gain an enhancement bonus to attack and damage at those levels (as I'm assuming that's what the plusses on the chart indicate).  Likewise, in the description, you should note that they gain the Aligned Claws feat for free at 10th-level, and that if they already have that feat, they instead gain a bonus feat of choice from their list of bonus feats for the class.  Similarly, you should note that they gain Increased Claws as a class feature and you should list which levels, for clarity.  My first time looking at the chart, I didn't see the Increased Claws or Aligned Claws features on the chart, but I would have noticed if they were listed in the class description. As for the Shields, you should note in the description what Shields-related bonus feats they gain automatically and at what levels.  You should also note whatever they get instead if they already took those feats at earlier levels.  In addition, you never detailed the Save Bonus feat for Shields, though it is listed on the chart as a bonus feat for 2nd-level.  Note in the Shields ability description that the Shields can be deactivated with a free action by the character, and can be activated with a standard action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity, as it is a supernatural ability.  I suggest you reduce the Armor bonus to AC of the Shields to 2 + 1/3 the level in this class (rounded down), otherwise it overshadows any armor besides +5 full plate at high levels, while lacking the penalties and limitations that full plate incurs.  Since the Shields also grant the character's Charisma modifier (if positive) as a Deflection bonus to AC, this change shouldn't make them worthless as a source of AC.  Even Monks, with their severe restrictions against using armor, only ever get class-based AC bonuses of 5 + Wisdom modifier by high levels, though the Monk's AC bonuses have the benefit of stacking with that from Bracers of Armor and Rings of Protection, at least.  This class may not be able to stack their AC bonuses with such protective magic items, but they also suffer none of the Monk's restrictions, in fact no real restrictions at all. As for the feats section......you haven't noted what feats there can be taken multiple times, and remember that feats can only be taken once each unless they specify otherwise.  You only have this noted for a few of the feats, and you should check through them again to decide which ones should be available for taking multiple times.  Shield Charge should only be available once, it's too powerful for a feat except for its restriction to self-only and Shields-only, so making it available multiple times would make the character ridiculously tough compared to even a Barbarian or Cleric.  They would be able to quickly heal themselves to full health many times per day if Shield Charge were available multiple times.  If only available once, they could then only replenish about half their Shield Points once per day, more fair.  The Energy Resistant Shields feat should be reduced to Resistance 2 (all) each time, otherwise the character could easily be immune to the environmental damage of, for instance, the Elemental Plane of Fire or something within just a half dozen or maybe a full dozen levels, even after considering that the Shields take double damage from the five energy types.  Will the Damage Reduction feat be available for taking multiple times?  The Damage Reduction feat should note that it only applies while the Shields are not suppressed.  The Jump Ability feat should allow the character to bypass normal jumping height/distance restrictions, by the way. The Extra Attacks feat should say "an extra number of attacks equal to their Dexterity modifier, if positive", rather than saying "an extra amount of attacks".  The second part of that feat should say that all attacks made by the character this turn and until the start of his or her next turn suffer a -2 penalty on attack rolls per extra attack gained in this way.  Extra Attacks should say that it costs 2 Shield Points to use, rather than saying it deals damage to the Shields.  You may want to limit the Extra Attacks feat to only granting extra Claw attacks.  The Extra Attacks feat should only be available once.  Extra Claw Damage should note that its extra damage is not improved by the Increased Claws ability.  It should only be available once (it's like a randomized, slightly stronger Weapon Specialization anyway).  Extra Claw Attack Bonus should only be available once, and should only grant +1 on Claw attack rolls, but stacks with Weapon Focus.  Fast Movement should probably only cost 1 or 2 Shield Points per use.  Aligned Claws should note that the feat cannot be taken if the character is true neutral, and that it cannot be taken more than once if the character has only one non-neutral alignment component.  Tough Shields should only be available once, and should say that the character gains 1 extra Shield Point per level in the class, including levels gained before or after the feat is acquired.  Will of Stone should be available only once, and should probably require the character to have a positive Wisdom modifier, and should require a character level of 12th+. Some of the feats should be renamed, like Aligned Claws should be renamed Aligned Shieldclaws, Fast Movement to Shielded Fast Movement, Extra Claw Attack Bonus to Shieldclaw Focus, Extra Claw Damage to Intensified Shieldclaws, Extra Attacks to Shieldclaw Flurry, Jump Ability to Shieldpower Leap, Damage Reduction to Shieldpower Defense, Energy Resistant Shields to Energized Shields, Shield Charge to Shield Recharge, and Save Bonus to Shieldpower Resistance.  I figure you intend the Save Bonus feat to be like a Paladin's Divine Grace, probably, and if so it should only be available once, and should be a Resistance bonus on saving throws.  The Increased Claws ability should probably be renamed to Improved Claws or Extended Claws; maybe each time the ability is gained, it increases the Claw length by 4 inches, to represent the increased damage potential, with Claws having a minimum length (when active) of 4 inches per base damage die (not counting Extra Claw Damage, the Charisma bonus to damage, etc.).  This won't make them long enough to warrant gaining Reach, so it wouldn't be a problem (they'll only be, maybe, three or four feet long by high level, like a longsword or greatsword; certainly nothing like a longspear or glaive in length). Well, that's it for now.  I'll make another post to the thread later when I have a chance to go over the class from a balance/power/usefulness standpoint, so far I've just addressed the grammatical/spelling/wording/rules quibbles, as I'm a compulsive perfectionist.  {:^D</blockquote>

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