SE Asian Classes (New Spirit Binder version design diary)

[Sound of Azure]

Coming Soon:

Berserkers/Barbarians and Hexblades: Warriors from the Talons of Garuda.
An exercise in adapting classes to better suit the flavour of my campaign.

Also: Does anyone have ideas for alternate rage abilities (I quite like the Whirling Fury option from UA).
At present I'm using feats like those from Unapproachable East.

 

[Aikuchi]

The Talons of Garuda sound awfully intriguing

As for alternate rage thingies?
I cant remember which book (CWarrior?, PHB 2 perhaps), but there was this 'automatic' rage thingie. Dont have the book with me now.
If you fell to like roughly 25 % of your Max HP (or about 5 HP per level that you possess), you gain the benefits of rage (modififed of course from the original text Rage) until you raise above the HP by any means.

Hmmm, even the Ki Frezy from OA (well thats almost like Whirling Frenzy anwyays).

 

[Sound of Azure]

Well, I have a basic Outline in the General thread on the islands themselves, but I haven't detailed it fully. The Talons look vaguely like the talons of an eagle, just as the Coalition looks like the the rest of the bird of prey. A bit of a conceit perhaps, but I thot it would be thematically cool.

Also... is it an accident that Varindhur looks a little like a snake?

I've really got to get around to scanning my maps...lol

Edit: Yay! 100 posts!

 

[Sound of Azure]

From my thoughts in this thread I was considering having both the Shaman and the Witchdoctor Spirit Binder as Prestige classes similar to the Apostle of Peace or UrPriest in progression of spells, but requiring an "entry-level" prestige class first.
These could either be a 10 level class, or a 5 level class, with further specialisations (either prestige classes or options win the PrCl).

Ideally, you could enter the class at 3rd or 4th level. The entry level class could be very short (say, 3 levels), and grant speech to spirits, the ability to commune with them, have minor effects on them, and similar abilities. The later prestige classes would reflect the relationship the character has over spirits, and the direction their powers take.
This way, you could have a Speaker of the Wind Spirits, a Death-talker, or Witch character.

The only trouble would be the amount of work, and the added planning and complexity.

So, thoughts?

Edit: oops

 

[Aikuchi]

I wouldnt mind giving it a gander or two
The PrCs for Shaman (altho I'm not familiar with the Witchdoctor class).

Perhaps when I have the time this weekend ...

perhaps.

 

[Sound of Azure]

Barbarian Berserker Styles from the Talons of Garuda

Here's some substitution levels designed for the barbarians native to the Talons of Garuda. I'm designing some feats that modify rage for the tribes, to represent further training in the style (like the lodges in Unapproachable East). Will post up soon.

Berserker Styles of the Peoples from the Talons
The peoples native to the talons of Garuda live in a tribal society governed by their shamans, who commune with spirits of all kinds. While these shamans lead the tribes, it is their warriors who make war on the enemies of the tribe, with each tribe having a distinctive manner of fighting.

A character from the Talons of Garuda region may choose to take these substitution levels instead of the ordinary barbarian level.

A substitution level is a level of a given class that you can take instead of the level described for the standard class. Selecting a substitution level is not the same as multiclassing - you remain with the class for which the substitution level is taken. The class features of the substitution level simply replace those of the standard level.

You can select each substitution level only at a specific class level. When you take a substitution level for your class at a given level, you give up the class features gained at that level for the standard class, and you get the substitution level features instead. You can't go back and gain the class features for the level you swapped out - when you take your next level in the standard class, you gain the next higher level as you had gained the previous level normally.

Hit dice, base attack bonus, base save bonuses, and skill points are the same as the normal barbarian level for every substitution level.

Edit: Barbarians from the Talons of Garuda region have Spot on their class skill list, but not Ride.

People of the Whale
The people of the Whale worship the Orca, or “Killer Whale” as their totem. They are known for their fierce resolve.

Level 1: Illiteracy, Diehard, rage 1/day
Level 2: Sudden Surge
Level 3: Enduring Rage +1
Level 5: Tenacity
Level 7: Damage reduction 2/-

Diehard: The barbarian gains Diehard as a bonus feat, even if he does not meet the prerequisites.
Sudden Surge: The barbarian gains +2 initiative while raging.
Enduring Rage: The barbarian’s rage lasts 1 round longer than normal. Each time a barbarian’s trap sense would normally improve, the barbarian’s rage last 1 round longer.
Tenacity: The barbarian gains Improved Toughness as a bonus feat, adding 1 HP per hit dice, and gains +1 hp for every future hit die.
Damage Reduction: From 7th level, the barbarian gains damage reduction at 1 point higher than normal.

People of the Eagle
This tribe reveres the Eagle, an expert hunter of lesser creatures with keen senses.

Level 2: Low-light vision
Level 3: Keen Eyes
Level 5: Uncanny senses

Low-light vision: An Eagle Berserker can see twice as far as an ordinary human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. He retains the ability to distinguish colour and detail under these conditions.
Keen eyes: An eagle berserker gains a +1 competence bonus to spot and search checks. This competence bonus increases when an ordinary barbarian would increase their trap sense ability (level 6, 9, 12, etc).
Uncanny senses: An eagle berserker who merely passes within 5 feet of a secret or concealed door is entitled to a Search check to notice if it as if he were actively looking for it.

People of the Gull
Known as opportunists and seldom trusted by the other tribes, the People of the Gull nonetheless study tactics designed to keep themselves out of danger.
Note: Gull barbarians still gain trap sense, but at 6th level instead. The bonus is 1 less than the normal barbarian.

Level 1: Fast movement, Illiteracy, Whirling Frenzy
Level 3: Combat Reflexes
Level 8: Opportunist
Level 14: Raging Evasion

Whirling Frenzy: As detailed in Unearthed Arcana (page 61).
Combat Reflexes: The barbarian gains the Combat Reflexes feat, even if he doesn’t meet the prerequisites.
Opportunist: Instead of gaining an extra use of Whirling Frenzy, a gull barbarian gains the Opportunist ability (see the rogue special ability , page 51 PHB)
Raging Evasion: When in a Whirling Frenzy, a Gull Barbarian gains evasion. If the barbarian has evasion from another source (such as rogue levels), he instead gains improved evasion while raging.

Coming soon: The People of the Dolphin and the People of the Dugong.

 

[Nyaricus]

Sound of Azure, are you aware of Unearthed Arcana? There are plenty of cool varients of classes in there; and they are even availiable in the SRD for free here.

cheers,
--N

 

[Dog Moon]

Sound of Azure, are you aware of Unearthed Arcana? There are plenty of cool varients of classes in there; and they are even availiable in the SRD for free here.

cheers,
--N

Pfft. You can't have too many variants, yo!

Do you have any more details on the different barb tribes?

 

[Sound of Azure]

Ny,

Yeah, that's pretty much what inspired me. I liked the idea of the totem barbarians, though the ones there didn't seem to fit with Selan much. So I got to thinking about what other things you could change... hence the substitution levels. Gives you the option to just be an ordinary barbarian too, if you want it straight from the book.

Thanks for the tip, though!

Dog Moon,

Not a whole lot, no. It's all pretty basic. All the tribes are from two groups of islands in the Southern ocean of the setting, not far from the coast. They practice ancestor worship and this is where they get their rage abilities from, as well as the ability to curse outsiders (hexblades).

They have close ties to the Naga (Yuan-ti), and may sail the southern seas without attack from the God-spirits. Culturally, the tribes are something of a blend of the Dayak and aboriginal australians in the north.

All the tribes are presently at war with one of the Protectorates of Selan, but they are not a united force by any means.

The region involving the Talons of Garuda was something of an afterthought as I needed somewhere where many of the traditional cuture still remained, not influenced so much by the two imported cultures from the West and North.

 

[Sound of Azure]

Thought I'd get back onto writing material for my Selan game.

While I was initially happy with the Kaiu Ainu class, I've since undergone revision of exactly how they gain their powers.

With these changes, I've reviewed my material and have decided to rewrite it to make it distinctly different to the similar Spirit Shaman class. So... over the next couple of days, I'll go through my designing process on here.

Any commentary is entirely optional, though most welcome.

---
The class is intended to work around the class's (new) ability to gain temporary power by devouring the dying essence of a spirit creature, as well as drawing power from the Kaiu Ainu's spirit servant, called the Ghost. The Ghost is the bound essence of a spirit creature that the Kaiu Ainu killed and devoured to gain his initial powers.

Due to the Kaiu Ainu's nature as a killer and devourer of spirit beings, Spirit Shamans don't really like them very much, nor do most spirit creatures.

Through the power of the Ghost (I may retain the Asura name, but I'm not sure), a Kaiu Ainu gains the ability to create a construct called a spirit mantle, a kind of armour of spirit energy. As the Kaiu Ainu gains power, he is able to affix more effects to the spirit mantle. The mantle also grants some passive abilities while the Kaiu Ainu still has anima abilities readied.

At the moment, the class will be ostensibly similar to the Tome of Battle classes in regard to the necessity to have abilities readied. You'll need to recover them in order to use abilities again.

The spirit mantle itself appears as faintly glowing sigils and lights corresponding to your readied anima abilities. It gives faint illumination, but the light can be suppressed.

It kinda sounds like a cross between a binder and a swordsage or something, I guess.

More to come.