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<blockquote data-quote="clockworkcrab" data-source="post: 1607854" data-attributes="member: 19890">So I've been trying to get a Steampunk themed D&amp;D game set up for a while now, but I usually find my players reluctant to go and learn a whole bunch of new rules necessary to bring it in. Like many of the reviews out there, I bought Sorcery and Steam but didn't think the Artificer was any good in an ongoing adventure - too many of his abilities were tied to having a ready laboratory. So the following is my attempt at fixing both of these problems - a combat-balanced core class with steampunk themed abilities that don't bend the rules too much. It's mostly complete, but I was hoping to get feedback on some parts of the class.CLANKAlignment: Any.Hit Die: d6.Class SkillsThe clank’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Appraise (INT), Concentration (CON), Craft (INT), Decipher Script (INT), Disable Device (INT), Heal (WIS), Knowledge (All) (INT), Open Lock (DEX), Pilot (INT), Profession (WIS), Search (INT), Speak Language (None), Use Steamcraft Device (INT), Use Rope (DEX).Skill Points at 1st Level: (6 + Int modifier) x4.Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 6 + Int modifier.Level&nbsp;&nbsp; BAB&nbsp; &nbsp; Fort&nbsp; &nbsp; Ref&nbsp; &nbsp; Will&nbsp; &nbsp; Special1st&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; +0&nbsp; &nbsp; +0&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; +0&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; +2&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Jury-rig I, Craft Gadgets, Technical Lore2nd&nbsp; &nbsp; +1&nbsp; &nbsp; +0&nbsp; &nbsp; +0&nbsp; &nbsp; +3&nbsp; &nbsp; Improvised tools3rd&nbsp; &nbsp; +2&nbsp; &nbsp; +1&nbsp; &nbsp; +1&nbsp; &nbsp; +3&nbsp; &nbsp; Skill Mastery4th&nbsp; &nbsp; +3&nbsp; &nbsp; +1&nbsp; &nbsp; +1&nbsp; &nbsp; +4&nbsp; &nbsp; Jury-rig II5th&nbsp; &nbsp; +3&nbsp; &nbsp; +1&nbsp; &nbsp; +1&nbsp; &nbsp; +4&nbsp; &nbsp; Bonus Feat6th&nbsp; &nbsp; +4&nbsp; &nbsp; +2&nbsp; &nbsp; +2&nbsp; &nbsp; +5&nbsp; &nbsp; Defect Sense I7th&nbsp; &nbsp; +5&nbsp; &nbsp; +2&nbsp; &nbsp; +2&nbsp; &nbsp; +5&nbsp; &nbsp; Sabotage, Skill Mastery8th&nbsp; &nbsp; +6/+1&nbsp; &nbsp; +2&nbsp; &nbsp; +2&nbsp; &nbsp; +6&nbsp; &nbsp; Jury-rig III9th&nbsp; &nbsp; +6/+1&nbsp; &nbsp; +3&nbsp; &nbsp; +3&nbsp; &nbsp; +6&nbsp; &nbsp; Salvage10th&nbsp; &nbsp; +7/+2&nbsp; &nbsp; +3&nbsp; &nbsp; +3&nbsp; &nbsp; +7&nbsp; &nbsp; Bonus Feat11th&nbsp; &nbsp; +8/+3&nbsp; &nbsp; +3&nbsp; &nbsp; +3&nbsp; &nbsp; +7&nbsp; &nbsp; Skill Mastery12th&nbsp; &nbsp; +9/+4&nbsp; &nbsp; +4&nbsp; &nbsp; +4&nbsp; &nbsp; +8&nbsp; &nbsp; Jury-rig IV13th&nbsp; &nbsp; +9/+4&nbsp; &nbsp; +4&nbsp; &nbsp; +4&nbsp; &nbsp; +8&nbsp; &nbsp; Defect Sense II14th&nbsp; &nbsp; +10/+5&nbsp; &nbsp; +4&nbsp; &nbsp; +4&nbsp; &nbsp; +9&nbsp; &nbsp; 15th&nbsp; &nbsp; +11/+6/+1&nbsp; &nbsp; +5&nbsp; &nbsp; +5&nbsp; &nbsp; +9&nbsp; &nbsp; Bonus Feat, Skill Mastery16th&nbsp; &nbsp; +12/+7/+2&nbsp; &nbsp; +5&nbsp; &nbsp; +5&nbsp; &nbsp; +10&nbsp; &nbsp; Jury-rig V17th&nbsp; &nbsp; +12/+7/+2&nbsp; &nbsp; +5&nbsp; &nbsp; +5&nbsp; &nbsp; +10&nbsp; &nbsp; 18th&nbsp; &nbsp; +13/+8/+3&nbsp; &nbsp; +6&nbsp; &nbsp; +6&nbsp; &nbsp; +11&nbsp; &nbsp; 19th&nbsp; &nbsp; +14/+9/+4&nbsp; &nbsp; +6&nbsp; &nbsp; +6&nbsp; &nbsp; +11&nbsp; &nbsp; Skill Mastery20th&nbsp; &nbsp; +15/+10/+5&nbsp; &nbsp; +6&nbsp; &nbsp; +6&nbsp; &nbsp; +12&nbsp; &nbsp; Class FeaturesAll of the following are class features of the clank.Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A clank is proficient with all simple weapons, light armor, medium armor, and shields (except tower shields).Bonus Feats: At 1st level, a clank gets a bonus technology-oriented feat in addition to the feat that any 1st-level character gets and the bonus feat granted to a human character. The clank gains an additional bonus feat at 5th level and every five clank levels thereafter [numbers]. These bonus feats must be drawn from the feats noted as clank bonus feats. A clank must still meet all prerequisites for a bonus feat. These bonus feats are in addition to the feat that a character of any class gets from advancing levels. A clank is not limited to the list of clank bonus feats when choosing these feats.Bonus Feat List:Craft Mechanika (clockwork, steamcrafts), Craft Electric Device, Craft Compounds (Chemistry), Craft Biografts, Skill Focus (any craft skill), Materials Miser (reduce gold cost - not XP - of crafted items by 10%)Improvised Tools: The clank can use a skill that requires tools without such tools being present, with no resulting penalty. The DM may restrict the use of this skill in especially spartan environments.Technical Lore: A clank may make a special technical lore check with a bonus equal to his clank level + his Intelligence modifier to see whether he knows some relevant information about a technical item or piece of machinery. A successful technical lore check may reveal the function of the item and how to use it (eliminating the Use Steamcraft Device check). It may also reveal useful background information regarding its method and place of manufacture. A clank may not take 10 or take 20 on this check; this sort of knowledge is essentially random.Defect Sense I: The clank may perform critical hits on constructs.Defect Sense II: The clank may ignore the first 5 points of hardness when attacking an inanimate object.Sabotage: Upon a successful technical lore check, a clank may use his disable device skill to determine a way to deactivate a complex machine such as an automaton or steam ironclad.Salvage: The clank may dismantle any non-magical item in ¼ of the time it would take to construct, to salvage 25% of the raw materials.Skill Mastery: The clank becomes so certain in the use of certain skills that he can use them reliably even under adverse conditions.Upon gaining this ability, he selects a skill. When making a skill check with this skill, he may take 10 even if stress and distractions would normally prevent him from doing so.Lesser Trapfinding: The clank may find and disable traps with DCs of 20 or higher. The clank may not disable magical traps.Jury-Rig: The Clank has the ability to take an existing item and use scrap materials on-hand to enhance it temporarily. To be specific, at level 1, a clank could take an ordinary longsword and temporarily make it a MW longsword. At a higher level, the clank could take a set of chainmail armor and temporarily give it the 'Silent Moves' ability.To jury-rig a device, a Clank must make a successful craft check, with DC=10+3*jlvl. Thus a level one rig would have a DC of 13, while a level 5 rig would have a DC of 25. A clank may take-ten on this check when circumstances permit. A rapid-rig takes a full round action for every level the rig is (i.e. a level 3 rig would take 3 rounds).These enhancements are in effect until: (a) a full day has elapsed, (b) for a weapon, the player rolls a critical fumble, (c) for armor, the player takes a critical hit.As the clank improves in skill, he gains access to more complicated 'rigs', as shown below:Jury-Rig I:Masterwork weaponMasterwork armorSilent Moves, MinorDistanceBashing (shields only)Alarm (non-equipment)Jury-Rig II:Silent Moves, MediumShadowed, MinorSlick, MinorLit (acts as light source)Elemental Resistance, MinorJury-Rig III:Shadow, MediumSilent Moves, MajorSlick, MediumElemental Damage, Minor (1d2)Charged (armor does elec damage)Fortification, MinorJury-Rig IV:Shadowed, MajorSlick, MajorFortification, MediumElemental Damage, Medium (1d4)Elemental Resistance, MajorStunningLesser Antimagic (SR8)Jury-Rig V:Fortification, MajorElemental Damage, Major (1d6)KeenGreater Antimagic (SR14)Additional Craft Skills:FirearmsAutomataTherapeuticsNotes:- The flavour is decidely &quot;wacky technician who's replete with crazy gadgets, and can change them on the fly&quot;.- As the more observant will see, I've borrowed liberally from everywhere possible. I've tried to paste together good ideas from everywhere possible.- The Craft Gadgets/Mechanica etc. skills act like Craft Magical Item feats. I have specifics for my campaign world, but they're not really core to the class. The Use Steamcraft Device skill is used like Use Magical Device w.r.t. these gadgets.- The Pilot skills is essentially a Ride skills for mechanical vehicles.- The Jury-Rig list is a work-in-progress, and included mostly as an idea of what would be implemented. If it seems sparse, it would be filled out later on.So any comments as to balance, flavour, or the name even is appreciated. But I have some specific questions to pose:- Regarding the Jury-Rig skill, what's the best way to limit the # of uses per day? A 'spells-per-day'-type system, or a 'psionic powerpoint'-type system (maintenance points, or some more clever name)?- Again RE Jury-Rig, what craft times would keep the class balanced but not make it useless except for when it has significant downtime? Also, should I require a craft skill? I was leaning towards a quick job of crafting requiring 1 round per jury-rig level (i.e. minor fortification requires 3 rounds) and a craft check of 20+jlvl.- You can see things get kinda sparse in terms of abilities at higher levels. Any suggestions for high-level abilities?Wow this ended up being long. If you made it this far thanks for reading! And I appreciate any comments you can provide.(edited to fix some things I left out)</blockquote>

[QUOTE="clockworkcrab, post: 1607854, member: 19890"] So I've been trying to get a Steampunk themed D&D game set up for a while now, but I usually find my players reluctant to go and learn a whole bunch of new rules necessary to bring it in. Like many of the reviews out there, I bought Sorcery and Steam but didn't think the Artificer was any good in an ongoing adventure - too many of his abilities were tied to having a ready laboratory. So the following is my attempt at fixing both of these problems - a combat-balanced core class with steampunk themed abilities that don't bend the rules too much. It's mostly complete, but I was hoping to get feedback on some parts of the class. [B]CLANK[/B] Alignment: Any. Hit Die: d6. [B]Class Skills[/B] The clank’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Appraise (INT), Concentration (CON), Craft (INT), Decipher Script (INT), Disable Device (INT), Heal (WIS), Knowledge (All) (INT), Open Lock (DEX), Pilot (INT), Profession (WIS), Search (INT), Speak Language (None), Use Steamcraft Device (INT), Use Rope (DEX). Skill Points at 1st Level: (6 + Int modifier) x4. Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 6 + Int modifier. Level BAB Fort Ref Will Special 1st +0 +0 +0 +2 Jury-rig I, Craft Gadgets, Technical Lore 2nd +1 +0 +0 +3 Improvised tools 3rd +2 +1 +1 +3 Skill Mastery 4th +3 +1 +1 +4 Jury-rig II 5th +3 +1 +1 +4 Bonus Feat 6th +4 +2 +2 +5 Defect Sense I 7th +5 +2 +2 +5 Sabotage, Skill Mastery 8th +6/+1 +2 +2 +6 Jury-rig III 9th +6/+1 +3 +3 +6 Salvage 10th +7/+2 +3 +3 +7 Bonus Feat 11th +8/+3 +3 +3 +7 Skill Mastery 12th +9/+4 +4 +4 +8 Jury-rig IV 13th +9/+4 +4 +4 +8 Defect Sense II 14th +10/+5 +4 +4 +9 15th +11/+6/+1 +5 +5 +9 Bonus Feat, Skill Mastery 16th +12/+7/+2 +5 +5 +10 Jury-rig V 17th +12/+7/+2 +5 +5 +10 18th +13/+8/+3 +6 +6 +11 19th +14/+9/+4 +6 +6 +11 Skill Mastery 20th +15/+10/+5 +6 +6 +12 [B]Class Features[/B] All of the following are class features of the clank. [B]Weapon and Armor Proficiency: [/B] A clank is proficient with all simple weapons, light armor, medium armor, and shields (except tower shields). [B]Bonus Feats: [/B] At 1st level, a clank gets a bonus technology-oriented feat in addition to the feat that any 1st-level character gets and the bonus feat granted to a human character. The clank gains an additional bonus feat at 5th level and every five clank levels thereafter [numbers]. These bonus feats must be drawn from the feats noted as clank bonus feats. A clank must still meet all prerequisites for a bonus feat. These bonus feats are in addition to the feat that a character of any class gets from advancing levels. A clank is not limited to the list of clank bonus feats when choosing these feats. [B]Bonus Feat List:[/B] Craft Mechanika (clockwork, steamcrafts), Craft Electric Device, Craft Compounds (Chemistry), Craft Biografts, Skill Focus (any craft skill), Materials Miser (reduce gold cost - not XP - of crafted items by 10%) [B]Improvised Tools: [/B] The clank can use a skill that requires tools without such tools being present, with no resulting penalty. The DM may restrict the use of this skill in especially spartan environments. [B]Technical Lore: [/B] A clank may make a special technical lore check with a bonus equal to his clank level + his Intelligence modifier to see whether he knows some relevant information about a technical item or piece of machinery. A successful technical lore check may reveal the function of the item and how to use it (eliminating the Use Steamcraft Device check). It may also reveal useful background information regarding its method and place of manufacture. A clank may not take 10 or take 20 on this check; this sort of knowledge is essentially random. [B]Defect Sense I: [/B] The clank may perform critical hits on constructs. [B]Defect Sense II: [/B] The clank may ignore the first 5 points of hardness when attacking an inanimate object. [B]Sabotage: [/B] Upon a successful technical lore check, a clank may use his disable device skill to determine a way to deactivate a complex machine such as an automaton or steam ironclad. [B]Salvage: [/B] The clank may dismantle any non-magical item in ¼ of the time it would take to construct, to salvage 25% of the raw materials. [B]Skill Mastery: [/B] The clank becomes so certain in the use of certain skills that he can use them reliably even under adverse conditions. Upon gaining this ability, he selects a skill. When making a skill check with this skill, he may take 10 even if stress and distractions would normally prevent him from doing so. [B]Lesser Trapfinding: [/B] The clank may find and disable traps with DCs of 20 or higher. The clank may not disable magical traps. [B]Jury-Rig: [/B] The Clank has the ability to take an existing item and use scrap materials on-hand to enhance it temporarily. To be specific, at level 1, a clank could take an ordinary longsword and temporarily make it a MW longsword. At a higher level, the clank could take a set of chainmail armor and temporarily give it the 'Silent Moves' ability. To jury-rig a device, a Clank must make a successful craft check, with DC=10+3*jlvl. Thus a level one rig would have a DC of 13, while a level 5 rig would have a DC of 25. A clank may take-ten on this check when circumstances permit. A rapid-rig takes a full round action for every level the rig is (i.e. a level 3 rig would take 3 rounds). These enhancements are in effect until: (a) a full day has elapsed, (b) for a weapon, the player rolls a critical fumble, (c) for armor, the player takes a critical hit. As the clank improves in skill, he gains access to more complicated 'rigs', as shown below: [U]Jury-Rig I:[/U] Masterwork weapon Masterwork armor Silent Moves, Minor Distance Bashing (shields only) Alarm (non-equipment) [U]Jury-Rig II:[/U] Silent Moves, Medium Shadowed, Minor Slick, Minor Lit (acts as light source) Elemental Resistance, Minor [U]Jury-Rig III:[/U] Shadow, Medium Silent Moves, Major Slick, Medium Elemental Damage, Minor (1d2) Charged (armor does elec damage) Fortification, Minor [U]Jury-Rig IV:[/U] Shadowed, Major Slick, Major Fortification, Medium Elemental Damage, Medium (1d4) Elemental Resistance, Major Stunning Lesser Antimagic (SR8) [U]Jury-Rig V:[/U] Fortification, Major Elemental Damage, Major (1d6) Keen Greater Antimagic (SR14) [B]Additional Craft Skills:[/B] Firearms Automata Therapeutics [B]Notes:[/B] - The flavour is decidely "wacky technician who's replete with crazy gadgets, and can change them on the fly". - As the more observant will see, I've borrowed liberally from everywhere possible. I've tried to paste together good ideas from everywhere possible. - The Craft Gadgets/Mechanica etc. skills act like Craft Magical Item feats. I have specifics for my campaign world, but they're not really core to the class. The Use Steamcraft Device skill is used like Use Magical Device w.r.t. these gadgets. - The Pilot skills is essentially a Ride skills for mechanical vehicles. - The Jury-Rig list is a work-in-progress, and included mostly as an idea of what would be implemented. If it seems sparse, it would be filled out later on. So any comments as to balance, flavour, or the name even is appreciated. But I have some specific questions to pose: - Regarding the Jury-Rig skill, what's the best way to limit the # of uses per day? A 'spells-per-day'-type system, or a 'psionic powerpoint'-type system (maintenance points, or some more clever name)? - Again RE Jury-Rig, what craft times would keep the class balanced but not make it useless except for when it has significant downtime? Also, should I require a craft skill? I was leaning towards a quick job of crafting requiring 1 round per jury-rig level (i.e. minor fortification requires 3 rounds) and a craft check of 20+jlvl. - You can see things get kinda sparse in terms of abilities at higher levels. Any suggestions for high-level abilities? Wow this ended up being long. If you made it this far thanks for reading! And I appreciate any comments you can provide. (edited to fix some things I left out) [/QUOTE]

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