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Message: <blockquote data-quote="DreamChaser" data-source="post: 827551" data-attributes="member: 1190">I tried a gadgeteer, which was basically like this: an inventor.I found many problems with implementation.Initially I designed the class to be based upon a series of Craft style feats that allowed the gadgeteer to make devices that would grant bonuses to skills or actions.The problem with this turned out to be that the bonuses didn't scale enought at high levels.  Add to this the frustration the player felt that most things that she did were nothing more than bonuses to die rolls (not very exciting when it comes down to it), the class began to look a little tarnished.In addition, every version (and there were several) of this class included a mechanic for creating constructs.  I started out basing the constructs upon the Astral Constructs of the PsH...then on Animated Objects...then back again...then a totally new set.The problem: Trying to find a mechanic that fit the interal logic of the class.  It makes sense that a psion could craft a construct that would disappear after the duration expired.  This does not make sense for a tinker/gadgeteer class.  The construct ended up needing to me more like a cohort.  This requires more balancing, and feels less useful when the construct is so much weaker (overall) than the tinker.Eventually, to make the class playable for the end of the campaign, I recrafted it to make it essentially another spellcasting class.This frustrated me and the player but it made it so the gadgeteer could keep up with the other 18+ level characters in the game.I used a mechanic similar to Craft Wonderous Item and Craft Magical Arms and Armor feats to allow the gadgeteer to construct longer term and more varied gadgets and devices. The down side to this ended up that everying of value in the early rewrites of the class ended up being from this (fairly advanced) feat.So in a nutshell, I found the following things hard to balance with an inventor class:1) Useful gadgets vs essentially unlimited useage (how do you stop a device from working?)2) Identifying the metagame role for the class (rogues are scouts and trap masters, clerics are healers, fighters protect the group, wizards are the artillary).3) Keeping the abilities of the gadgets interesting (read: not just die bonuses) without infringing too heavily upon another class's area.These are the areas I suggest you look at to balance this class.  I still love the idea, but I've given up on it for right now. DC(feel free to let me know if you wanted to see my drafts...I think I have most of them)</blockquote>

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