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Message: <blockquote data-quote="SpiralBound" data-source="post: 2259950" data-attributes="member: 8396">Okay, since your post is rather large, I'll address it a section at a time.  First off, I'm looking at the Royal Gargoleer Prestige Class.So that we're using the same lingo, I'll use the following display conventions:Altered text, usually correcting a minor grammatical or typographical error, sometimes just an addition of a single word.A confusing passage, usually due to a missing word or awkward phrasing.General comments, usually a question or a suggestion.--/\--/\--/\--/\--/\--/\--/\--/\--/\--/\--/\--/\--/\-------- Royal Gargoleer - Prestige Class --------\/--\/--\/--\/--\/--\/--\/--\/--\/--\/--\/--\/--\/--"Queen Naiwan may hold her Governesses on a higher regard than us, but without our expert skills and unique magic, who could call this the City of Gargoyles? They ride our creations, battle with them, but they always forget who has true control over the stone creatures" - Dowan, Royal GargoleerRoyal Gargoleers are a particular kind of artisan whose skills allow them to create animated creatures of pure stone, Gargoyles (these are not the same Gargoyles from the Monster Manual; see below). Their power bestowed by Queen Naiwan of Gadox centuries ago, they use their uniquely crafted tools to shape stone into any creature and give those creatures false life. These gargoyles are then used across the queendom, serving as military mounts for the Governesses, the Queen's personal female bodyguards and messengers, or as guardians of important places. The capital city of Gadox, also known as the City of Gargoyles, features a large amount of these living statues, guarding the tall gothic towers and cathedrals with uttermost patience as statues ready to prey on their enemies. Royal Gargoleers however, go even further with their art, to the point of turning themselves into beings of hard stone, granting them unique abilities that they keep well hidden.Hit Die: d8Prerequisites:Skills: Craft (Stoneworking) 8 ranks; Knowledge (Arcana) 8 ranks; Knowledge (Nature) 8 ranksRace: Human  Why only Human?  I'm assuming that this is something that is specific to your campaign world?  For more general consumption outside of your world you may want to either open it up to other PC races or create a reason which explains why nonhumans can't be a Royal Gargoleer.Class Skills: The Royal Gargoleer's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Craft (Stoneworking)(Int), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (Arcana)(Int), Knowledge (Nature)(Int)Skill Points: 2 plus Int modifierLevel1st: Bab +0; Fort +2; Ref +0; Will +2; Gargolic Companion, Transform, Natural Armor +22nd: Bab +1; Fort +3; Ref +0; Will +3; Claws and Bite, Ability Bonus (STR +2)3rd: Bab +2; Fort +3; Ref +1; Will +3; Natural Armor +3, Bonus HP4th: Bab +3; Fort +4; Ref +1; Will +4; Ability Bonus (Con +2)5th: Bab +3; Fort +4; Ref +1; Will +4; Natural Armor +4, Statue Shape 1/day6th: Bab +4; Fort +5; Ref +2; Will +5; Frightful Presence, Ability Bonus (STR +4)7th: Bab +5; Fort +5; Ref +2; Will +5; Natural Armor +5, Statue Shape 2/day8th: Bab +6; Fort +6; Ref +2; Will +6; Wings, Ability Bonus (STR +6)9th: Bab +6; Fort +6; Ref +3; Will +6; Natural Armor +6, Statue Shape 3/day10th: Bab +7; Fort +7; Ref +3; Will +7; Bonus HPClass FeaturesWeapon and Armor Proficiency: Royal Gargoleers are not proficient with any weapon or armor, nor shields.Oath to the Queen: As part of his training to learn the arts, a Royal Gargoleer must swear absolute fidelity to Queen Naiwan of Gadox. Is Queen Naiwan immortal or some longlived race? You mention above that she personally founded the Royal Gargoleers and gave them their powers centuries ago. Through this, he receives the power channeled directly from the Queen. Therefore, shall the Royal Gargoleer ever act against such oath, such as acting against the Queendom or not complying with the orders or requests of a royal envoy of superior rank, such as a Governess, he will loose all powers bestowed upon him, and his tools will crumble to dust. (this is an optional element I use on my campaign setting) I like this oath requirement. Since the Queen is personally the source of their magic, (she must be insanely powerful... a demi-god?) you should include a ceremony where the initiate is presented before the Queen where they recite their oath to her, (perhaps this ritual is a part of how the Oath to the Queen is formed), in front of the other members of the Royal Gargoleers, and Queen Naiwan then presentes them with their Gargoleer's Tools.Gargoleer's Tools: These tools, a hammer and a chisel, that are given to the Royal Gargoleer once it joins the ranks of this art, glow with a dim purplish light and release waves of energy over the stone they work. Only with these tools can the Royal Gargoleer animate the gargoyles it crafts from stone; otherwise, they are merely statues. Furthermore, he who holds the tools controls the gargoyle(s) created by them. So while the Royal Gargoleer keeps his tools, he can control his Gargolic Companion (see below). If someone else picks them up, that person becomes the new controller of the gargoyle. See below for more details.Gargolic Companion: The Royal Gargoleer has the ability to create creatures from stone and grant them life with the use of his special tools. These gargoyles he creates can be used as companions that will exist entirely under the control of the person who holds the tools which made it.The Royal Gargoleer may create a gargoyle based on any creature that he knows, as long as the Challenge Rating of that creature is equal to or lower than his level in the Royal Gargoleer prestige class plus? his Intelligence modifier. In order to generate a gargolic companion, apply the Gargolic Creature template (found at the end) to the base creature. Creature type restrictions apply normally.The Royal Gargoleer requires an amount of stone equal to the size of the creature in order to have enough material to work on. For example, in order to create a heavy warhorse gargoyle, the Royal Gargoleer would need 10x10x10 feet of stone. This stone must either come from a single piece, or divisions of the total in a rate of 1/2, 1/4 or 1/8, but not less (for example, the same horse could be created from two 10x10x5 blocks). Such amount of stone is hard to come by in stores or markets, forcing the Royal Gargoleer to search in quarries or in the wilderness. In quarries, the stone can be bought for 5 copper pieces per cubic foot (1x1x1). If stone is used directly from it's source, such as a mountain or cliff side, it can be worked directly from it, with no need for the stone to be extracted.To craft the gargoyle to be animated, the Royal Gargoleer must succeed at a Craft (Stoneworking) check with a DC equal to 15 plus? the creature's Challenge Rating. Advancement can be checked daily or weekly. In order to complete the desired gargoyle, an amount of craft points equal to the Difficulty Class of the creature x DC x 10. should this instead read, "In order to craft the desired gargoyle, the Gargoleer must complete craft a number of craft points equal to the Challenge Rating of the creature x the Stoneworking DC x the size modifier."? (Since the size of the gargoyle affects the time required, the size multiplier changes depending on the size, x4 for Diminutive, x6 for Tiny, x8 for Small, x10 for Medium, x20 for Large, x40 for Huge. Creatures bigger than Huge or smaller than Diminutive can not be made into gargoyles in this way). So, for example, in order to create a centaur gargoyle, the Royal Gargoleer would need to complete 1,080 craft points (for a CR of 3, the DC is 18 [15 + 3], and the size is Large, so the Size Multiplier is x20, 3 x 18 x 20 = 1,080). For daily advancement, multiply the total by 7. If the check is failed by 4 or less, no advancement is made. If it is failed by 5 or more, 1/4 of the material is rendered useless. The knowledge held by the Royal Gargoleer about the creature directly affects how difficult creating the creature can be. The DC can change as follows:DC modifier based on knowledge Full knowledge of the creature: DC -2 Sufficient studies about the creature: DC +0 Just enough knowledge to identify it: DC +4 Seen once: DC +8 Known only through written or spoken word: +12 Vaguely heard about it: Impossible Never heard about it: ImpossibleOnce the crafting is completed, the Royal Gargoleer must hit the gargoyle with the hammer strongly. This, instead of breaking part of it, instills the creature with life. After this, the Gargolic Companion remains fully under control of the individual who holds the tools that made it. It communicates telepathically, and even while it has (in some cases; depends on the creature) an Intelligence score, it will do anything that it is ordered to do, even if it will be destroyed as a result of said order. If no person holds the tools, the gargoyle automatically activates it's Statue Form (see Gargolic Creature template, below) and remains that way, unless directly threatened, in which case it will act on it's own to eliminate the threat, and then return to the place where it rested as statue, or as close to it as possible. A gargoyle who enters Statue Form can not be reanimated until at least one full hour has passed since it entered that state, even if it's tools have been retrieved. It is possible for the Royal Gargoleer to control more than one Gargolic Companion at a given time, as long as the sum of the Challenge Ratings of all the Gargolic Companions he controls is equal or lower than his level in the Royal Gargoleer prestige class + his Intelligence modifier.In the intro, you mention that these Gargoyles are quite numerous in the capital city of Gadox and that the animated gargoyles are used as guards and mounts for various personages... If the only means of controlling them is via the single set of Gargoleer's Tools, then just how do the Queen's Messengers use them as mounts?  Do they take the Royal Gargoleer's Tools?  Do Royal Gargoleer's get many sets of tools?  Perhaps secondary control stone amulets can be made (via a special amulet-making feat) using the same tools and the same original block of stone that the Gargoyle was crafted from. This pendant would grant conttrol of the gargoyle to it's bearer in much the same way as the Gargoleers Tools do.  Whenever the Gargoyle must choose between two different commands from both the amulet and the tools it first trys to comply to both orders.  If this isn't possible due to them being conflicting, then it will always obey the bearer of the Tools over the bearer of the amulet.  An exception to this would the the greater amulet (made in the same manner as the standard amulet, but requiring the "Greater" version of the same amulet-making feat) which has superiority over the Gargoleer's Tools.  Gargoyles made in this manner also don't count against that Gargoleer's total of Gargoyles, thus explaining the great numbers of them in Gadox...Transform: Among the special abilities of the Royal Gargoleer lies the Transformation, that allows him to turn his body into something with the characteristics of a gargoyle. The new characteristics gained through Transformation depend on the character's level in the Royal Gargoleer class. Upon transforming, the body of the Royal Gargoleer becomes heavier and clumsier, automatically bestowing a -2 penalty to Dexterity while it remains transformed. How much heavier? You specified how much clumsier the Gargoleer becomes, but omitted what the weight change is. Activating or cancelling this ability is a full-round action that generates an attack of opportunity. The Royal Gargoleer can choose which abilities to activate while transformed, although these must be stated when Transform is activated, not while the ability is in effect. So, for example, a 10th level Royal Gargoleer could choose to Transform and develop wings, but not his Frightful Presence, or choose to have only bite attack instead of bite and claw attacks. It is unclear what the rules are about what can and can't be chosen upon transformation.  Is there a limit to the number of gargoyle attributes that can be incorporated into the Gargoleer's transform?  I "think" you're saying here that you can only have one ability per transform and only then if your Gargoleer Prestige Class is high enough to permit a specific ability.  However if you read the individual abilities below, they're written as though each new ability is simply added to what changed when the Gargoleer Transforms. Also, your example concerning claws and bite versus just bite is confusing.  Is this an intentional use of only part of an ability?  Does this confer the ability to then use part of another ability?  Or is the "Claws and Bite" ability actually two abilities, "Claw Attack" and "Bite Attack" which are gained at the same time? I recommend that you reorganize this ability and the additional "transform only" abilities into a single ability with additional features that can be added to it depending on your Gargoleer level.  That way you can specify in the beginning precisely what Transform is and how many abilities it confers, then simply list the abilities underneath and what level you gain access to each of them. Transform can be used as many times per day as desired, but at least one full hour must pass between each transformation. I'm not sure about this "as many times per day as desired" bit - that may be too powerful... Has this part been playtested?Natural Armor: Starting at 1st level, upon using the ability Transform, the Royal Gargoleer develops a thicker, harder, rougher skin that in many ways resembles stone. This grants a +2 natural armor bonus to AC. At higher levels, the body becomes more and more like stone. Every two new levels after the 1st, this bonus increases by +1 (+3 in 3rd, +4 in 5th, +5 in 7th and +6 in 9th). [color="green]Unless this is one of the single abilities that must be announced upon Transforming, (which it doesn't appear to be), this isn't really a separate ability, but is really a feature of the Transform ability itself which improves as your Gargoleer level increases.[/color]Claws and Bite: At 2nd level, upon using the ability Transform, the teeth of the Royal Gargoleer turn into hard stone and grow very sharp, while from his fingers grow razor-sharp claws of stone. This grants the Royal Gargoleer claw and bite attacks. These attacks deal damage as listed below. If the Royal Gargoleer already had claw and/or bite attacks, use the higher damage:Bite and Claw damage based on SizeSmall: Bite: 1d4; Claw: 1d6Medium: Bite: 1d6; Claw: 1d8Large: Bite:1d8; Claw: 2d6Is there a missing ability which allows the Gargoleer to alter his size?  In not, then this chart is confusing and perhaps even useless when you consider that above you have limited this class to Humans only.  Unless your campaign world is different from the PHB in this respect, all Humans are Medium size.The Royal Gargoleer is considered proficient with these attacks. When performing a full attack, the Royal Gargoleer uses his full attack bonus on his bite attack, but taking a -5 penalty on his claw attack.Ability Bonus: Starting at 2nd level, upon using the ability Transform, the Royal Gargoleer's body becomes stronger and more capable. He gains a bonus to Strength of +2, that increases to +4 on level 6 and +6 on level 8. Furthermore, he gains a bonus to Constitution of +2 on level 4. The Hit Points gained from this bonus to Constitution last while the Royal Gargoleer is transformed, and thus are not temporary (since the transformation can extend indefinitely), and they are not lost first in the way temporary hit points are. so, a given Transform can be maintained indefinitely AND can can performed as many times per day as the Gargoleer wishes? I really think that you need to impose some level based limitations on this, it looks like something that could very easily be abused. Also, this ability is similar to the "Natural Armor" ability in that it appears to be more of an everpresent feature of Transform itself rather than a selectable additional ability to be added to a given Transform.  I would also combine this ability into the Transform ability itself.Statue Form: Starting from level 5, the Royal Gargoleer gains the ability to fully transform his body into hard, motionless stone, falling into a state of suspended animation, during which his body repairs itself from wounds. While in Statue Form, the Royal Gargoleer heals Hit Points damage (but not nonlethal damage) each hour. How many Hit Points he heals per hour depends on his size:HP per hour based on SizeSmall: HP Per Hour: 2Medium: HP Per Hour: 4Large: HP Per Hour: 4Again, how are different size categories of Human possible?The Royal Gargoleer may heal wounds through this method, but can not regenerate missing body parts, such as an arm that was removed by a sword. The effects of poisons and diseases are halted while in Statue Form, and remain dormant until the ability is canceled, at which point they start working again. So, for example, if a disease contracted by the Royal Gargoleer has an incubation period of one day, he may extend that period indefinitely by remaining in Statue Form. However, once he cancels the effect, the incubation continues, until a full day has passed while not in Statue Form. Wait a minute... "indefinitely"?  You mean the Statue Form ability can be maintained for free for an unlimited time period? While in Statue Form, the Royal Gargoleer is considered for all purposes an inanimate object, with a hardness of 8, that follows all the rules for inanimate objects listed on page 165 of the Player's Handbook. Recalculate the AC as if the Royal Gargoleer were an inanimate object, but add a +8 natural armor bonus. The Royal Gargoleer can cancel this effect at any moment, but not before at least one full hour has passed since it was activated. Canceling this effect takes a full round action, after which the Royal Gargoleer is flat-footed and fatigued. Can the Gargoleer reactivate his Statue Form after an hour if he is still fatigued?  Either way, yes or no, should be fine, but you should specify which it is. While in Statue Form, the Royal Gargoleer is trapped inside his mind, unable to see, hear or feel. However, the Royal Gargoleer gains the Blindsense ability with a range of 60 feet while in Statue Form. The Royal Gargoleer can use this ability once per day on level 5, two times per day on level 7 and three times per day on level 9. Which ability?  The entire "Statue Form" ability, or the "Blindsense" ability?  You should specify.Frightful Presence: At level 6, upon using the ability Transform, the body of the Royal Gargoleer, particularly his face, becomes hideously twisted and horrid, with exaggerated expressions much like a gargoyle. This grants him Frightful Presence, with a range of 30 feet. When the Royal Gargoleer charges, any creature with less HD than the Royal Gargoleer's character level must succeed on a Will saving throw, with a DC equal to 10 + the Royal Gargoleer's character level + the Royal Gargoleer's Charisma modifier, or become shaken for 4d6 rounds. Creatures with 5 or more HD less than the Royal Gargoleer's character level who fail the saving throw become frightened instead. A creature who succeeds at the saving throw is immune to this effect for 24 hours. The save DC is Charisma-based. Since the Royal Gargoleer becomes so awful when transformed once this ability is gained, he receives a -4 circumstance penalty of Bluff, Diplomacy and Disguise checks, and a +4 circumstance bonus on Intimidate checks. This sentence is an example of what I was talking about in the "Transform" ability above.  This sentence implies that the "Frightful Presence" effect is simply added to the Transform ability by default upon reaching level 6, but your description of "Transform" implies that the Gargoleer chooses whether or not to activate specific Tranform-related abilities.Bonus Hit Points: At level 3, upon using the ability Transform, the body of the Royal Gargoleer gains sheer resistance, increasing his maximum Hit Points while transformed. The amount of HP that the Royal Gargoleer gets depends on his size, as listed below:Bonus HP based on SizeSmall: +5 HPMedium: +10 HPLarge: +15 HPAgain the same comments regarding a size modifier as I made above in the "Statue Form" ability.These bonus HP are considered temporary, and thus follow the rules for Temporary Hit Points listed on page 146 of the Player's Handbook. So, if the Royal Gargoleer gains 10 HP while transformed, loses 5 HP and then returns to his normal form, he would be with his full HP. While transformed, however, the points, while temporary, can be healed; they are just not carried over once the transformation ends. Warning!  You now have two layers of additional HP that come into effect during a Transformation, one set that is  size-based and temporary and another set that is CON-based and semi-permanent. This is going to be potentially confusing for the player to keep track of. I recommend that you drop one of them, you don't want to create too mcuh confusing bookkeeping for the player every time they transform. While on Statue Form, these bonus HP are also gained, but are lost once the Statue Form is canceled. During the effect of Statue Form, any lost bonus HP are healed. This is majorly confusing... Are you saying that the size-based additional HP are ALSO a part of the "Statue Form" ability but aren't mentioned at all in that ability?  So are they added twice if you Transform and then activate "Statue Form"? And when you say "any lost HP are also gained" are you refering to the additional layers of bonus HP that various combinations of HP-granting abilities as well or just the character's "natural" HP total?  This becomes very complicated when you're combining layered healing abilities and both temporary and semi-permanent bonus HP... another reason to simplify things here...All bonus HP lost while transformed are carried over to the next transformation, unless these bonus HP are healed through the use of Statue Form. You're requiring a lot of bookkeeping at this point... multiple stats that change, 2 or 3 different kinds of conditionally applied bonus HP and now the player needs to record "banked" bonus HP so that he can use them in his NEXT Transformation!! Please reconsider the exponential levels of complexity that you're creating. No single ability is the problem, but all of the layers of applications and inter-relationships between them all is going to cause serious problems for any player who wants to correctly perform it all. So, for example, if a transformed Royal Gargoleer loses 4 HP and then cancels the transformation, and transforms again one hour later, he would gain all the bonus HP, minus 4.Upon reaching level 10, this bonus is increased as listed below:Bonus HP based on SizeSmall: +10 HPMedium: +20 HPLarge: +30 HPsee previous size-related commentsWings: At level 9, upon using the ability Transform, large, bat-like wings of stone sprout from his back, granting him the ability to fly. The Royal Gargoleer gains a fly speed equal to half his land speed, with Poor maneuverability.I apologize for all of the comments... I'm tempted to just rewrite the entire special abilities section. It'll probably make my comments a lot easier to read than all the imbedded comments, questions, suggestions and corrections! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />  Anyway, this review took me several hours, so I hope that this displays to you that despite all the editorial marks above that I still consider your creation worthy.  After all, I have my own personal projects, projects which I've voluntarily set aside tonight just to devote my evening to making my corrections & suggestions.  If I didn't think your Prestige Class was any good, then I wouldn't have spent all this time on it! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />  Anyway, I hope that you take all my comments in the spirit that they are intended - as my efforts to improve and clarify something that I really like and feel is very worthy of making better.  Anyway, I'm quite sleepy now, so the rest of your post will need to wait until tomorrow night.  I'm looking forward to reading your response to this post!</blockquote>

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