Zelc's Puppeteer

[Zelc]

Puppeteer
/* Stuff between these symbols are comments. */

[sblock=Important Stuff To Do]

• Balance! Are the class abilities too good?
• Type out puppet actions and gaining new puppets and Call Puppet ritual and doll stats.
• Fluff the Holy Symbol Clone.
• Reorganize info, reduce redundancy, etc. to make this easier to read.
• Make 1st level encounter and daily powers.
• Make later level powers.
• Make more feats.
• Make paragon paths.

[/sblock]
Puppeteer Class Information:
Role: Controller/(some Leader/less Defender)
Power Source: Arcane
Key Abilities: Dexterity, Intelligence, Charisma

/* You could make a good case for a lot of powers being Martial, actually. I’m actually thinking about making this class a split power source class. However, I don’t think you can get away with it being entirely Martial, so I’ll leave it as Arcane for now. I could change my mind later*/

Armor Proficiencies: Cloth
Weapon Proficiencies: Simple melee, simple ranged.
Implements: Holy Symbol Clone
Bonus to Defenses: +1 Reflex, +1 Will

Hit Points at 1st Level: 10 + Constitution score
Hit Points per Level Gained: 4
Healing Surges per Day: 6 + Constitution modifier

Trained Skills: Acrobatics. From the class skills list below, choose three more trained skills at 1st level.
Class Skills: Arcana (Int), Acrobatics (Dex), Bluff (Cha), History (Int), Insight (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Thievery (Dex)

/* Most classes have 7 class skills. I just picked the ones that seemed appropriate, although this is probably open to interpretation. History and Insight are class skills because I envision puppeteers to have a strong tactical background, like Warlords. */

Build Options: Doll focus, puppet focus
Class Features: Zelc’s Most Hated 4E Quirk, Bonded Puppet, Call Puppet Ritual, Spear Doll Attack, Puppeteer’s Focus


Puppeteer Class Features
Zelc’s Most Hated 4E Quirk:
A Puppeteer’s Intelligence score is associated with Will defense instead of Reflex defense and Armor Class.

/* I refuse to make a class that suffers from two poor defenses. Most puppeteers will have good Reflex and Will defenses and poor Fortitude defenses, which seems about right. Probably needs a real name. */

Bonded Puppet:
You gain a medium-sized puppet. You decide the puppet’s relevant details: its precise dimensions, colors, number of limbs, etc.
Your puppet uses your ability scores, level, speed, and trained skills and skill check bonuses. Your puppet’s defenses are based on your defenses. They do not benefit from your armor and shield bonuses or enhancement bonuses from your armor or shield, but they do benefit from enhancement bonuses from your neck slot items. Your puppet has no hit points and cannot be healed; when it would take damage, the damage is taken from your hit point pool instead (resistances you have do not apply to this transferred damage, although the puppet’s resistances may reduce the damage before it’s transferred to you). When you are bloodied, your puppet is treated as bloodied as well. A power cannot attack or damage both you and your puppet.
You can use a minor action to stow your puppet when it’s adjacent to you. Doing so means your puppet cannot be affected by any powers or abilities or take any actions. Readying your puppet after stowing it requires a minor action, and it appears in the nearest unoccupied square. You can also relinquish control of your puppet as a free action. While you’ve relinquished control of your puppet in this way, your puppet cannot take any actions, and it is treated as a minion and damage to the puppet does not transfer to you. You can regain control of your puppet by taking a minor action while adjacent to your puppet.
[sblock=Puppet Statistics]
Puppet Statistics
Ability Scores: Your puppet’s ability scores are equal to yours.
Size and Type: Medium construct
Speed: Equal to your speed (unless altered by effects only applicable to the puppet)
Armor Class: 13 (improves to 14 at 11th level and 15 at 21st level) + one-half your level + your Dexterity modifier
Fortitude Defense: 10 + one-half your level + the higher of your Strength or Constitution modifiers
Reflex Defense: 11 + one-half your level + your Dexterity modifiers
Will Defense: 11 + one-half your level + the higher of your Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma modifiers
Hit Points: N/A
Attack Bonus: one-half your level + 2
Damage: 1d8
Melee basic attack: one-half your level + your Dexterity modifier + 2 vs. AC, Damage [P] (Improves to 2[P] at 21st level) + your Dexterity modifier.
Puppet Mark (free action): Once per turn, if your puppet hits with an attack, it can mark the target. The mark lasts until the end of your next turn.[/sblock]
In addition, choose one of the following puppet traits. Your puppet gains the benefits of that trait.

• Accurate: Your puppet gains a +1 bonus to attack rolls.
• Deadly: Your puppet’s damage improves as if it was a weapon two sizes larger (usually to 1d12).
• Reach: Your puppet’s damage is reduced as if it was a weapon two sizes smaller (usually to 1d4), but it can attack enemies 2 squares away as well as adjacent enemies.
• Shielded: Your puppet gains a +2 shield bonus to AC and Reflex defense.
• Strong: Your puppet gains a +2 bonus to attack rolls to grab a target or move a grabbed target, and a +2 bonus to Fortitude defense when resisting an escape attempt. This bonus improves to +3 at 11th level and +4 at 21st level.
• Tough: Your puppet gains resist 1 to all damage. This improves to resist 3 at 11th level and resist 5 at 21st level.

Your puppet cannot move more than 3 squares away from you. If your puppet is out of the range, you pull your puppet to its nearest unoccupied square within range of you. If you are affected by a teleportation effect, the puppet is also affected and appears in the nearest unoccupied square to you.

ROUGH: Puppet actions are similar to beast companion actions.
ROUGH: Gaining a new puppet is similar to gaining a new beast companion (retrain upon gaining a new level)

/* This section is looooooong, and I have no idea how to make it shorter . The idea is for the puppet to be an extension of the puppeteer like a “ranged melee” weapon instead of another creature like a beast companion. Having an entirely separate creature adds both complication and is more powerful as it has a separate HP pool to absorb attacks. Plus, the puppeteer relies on his puppet much more than a ranger relies on his beast companion, so I felt this setup is more appropriate. */

Call Puppet Ritual
ROUGH: You gain the ritual Call Puppet. “Raise Dead” for puppet and summons it to an adjacent square. Pretty much a copy of the Raise Beast Companion ritual.

Spear Doll Attack
Puppeteers rarely use weapons and instead use dolls to make direct attacks against enemies. You gain the Spear Doll power as an at-will power.

/* Basically, this replaces the basic attack for most Puppeteers since they usually can’t hold weapons. I think this is the best way to give puppet-focused Puppeteers a use besides taking up space in combat. I also think all Puppeteers should get it for free. */

Puppeteer’s Focus
Choose one of the following focuses and gain its benefit.

• Puppet Focus: You gain the Toughness and Durable feats. Additionally, every time your puppet attacks an enemy, regardless of whether it hits or not, you can choose to have it mark the enemy. The mark lasts until the end of your next turn. If an enemy adjacent to and marked by your puppet attacks you or moves away from your puppet without first attacking your puppet that turn, you can use an immediate interrupt to have your puppet disrupt the enemy’s defenses. If you do, all attacks made against that target before the end of your next turn gain a bonus to attack rolls equal to half your Charisma modifier.
• Doll Focus: You gain the Quick Draw feat. Additionally, if you hit an enemy with a Doll power, further attacks made by you or your allies until the end of the current turn against that enemy gain a bonus to damage rolls equal to half your Intelligence modifier.

/* A Puppet Focus Puppeteer will very often be in melee (or at least his puppet is), so Toughness and Durable are feats not so much for an added benefit as much as being necessary to survive. The mark is a new way to restrict enemy movement, although it can be easily circumvented by just attacking the puppet. I’m worried that the Doll Focus bonus will be too difficult to keep track of during play. Any suggestions? */

Implements and Weapons
Holy Symbol Clone:
A puppeteer holding or wearing an HSC adds its enhancement bonus to your puppet’s and dolls’ attack rolls, damage rolls, and AC (your neck slot item’s enhancement bonuses improve their Fortitude, Reflex, and Will defenses).

/* Obviously needs a different name and actual flavor. Cannot take up a “held” slot or it’d conflict with doll control slots. */

Puppets and Doll Control:
You use dolls and puppets in combat. You have one doll control slot per hand (max 2 doll control slots total), and at 21st level, you gain an additional doll control slot per hand (max 4 doll control slots total). Your puppet requires a doll control slot while you’re controlling it (not stowed). Each power with a “Doll X” keyword requires a doll control slot, and it occupies that slot until retrieved. Doll powers without a number in the keyword do not require a doll control slot. Unless noted in the power, dolls used in a power are automatically retrieved after the power ends. You can retrieve a doll as a free action during your turn, but the power used by the doll ends immediately. No further attacks associated with the power are made and all zones created by the power ends immediately.

Dolls:
Powers with the “Doll X” keyword require the use of X dolls. You can draw a doll with the “draw or sheathe a weapon” action, although if a power requires more than one doll, the additional time to draw the dolls is accounted for in the power. Dolls are small objects weighing 0.2 pounds each. The market price of 20 dolls is 1 gold. You can instead use other small objects for doll powers, but the use of improvised dolls confers a -4 penalty to your attack rolls.

ROUGH: When on the field, dolls count as minions. They’re immune to damage dealt without being hit (i.e. aura-based powers that deal damage without an attack roll). They have defenses equal to your puppet’s. Speed is 0. If you move more than 20 squares away from a doll, they are automatically destroyed.

Class Feature Powers
As part of your Puppeteer Fighting class feature, you gain the following power.

Spear Doll
You throw your hand forward, and a spear-wielding doll lances toward your foe.
At Will *** Arcane, Doll 1, Implement
Standard Action *** Range 4
Special: You cannot target creatures less than 3 squares away from you.
Target: One creature.
Attack: Dexterity + 2 vs. AC
Hit: 1d6 + Dexterity modifier damage.
Increase damage to 2d6 + Dexterity modifier at 21st level.
Special: This power counts as a basic ranged attack. When a power allows you to make a basic ranged attack, you can use this power.

/* A replacement for basic weapon attacks. Would it be wrong to add Push 1 to this attack? I think that fits the flavor of the class, but this is supposed to be a basic attacks and Push 1 for free may make this too different to give out for free. For now, I’ll have a heroic feat add push 1 to this attack. */

 

[Zelc]

Powers

Level 1 At-Will Powers

Bullet Doll
You hold out a doll, and it sprays energy bullets at your enemies.
At Will *** Arcane, Doll 1, Implement
Standard Action *** Range 5
Target: One creature, or two creatures no more than 3 squares apart from each other.
Attack: Dexterity vs. Reflex, one attack per target
Hit: 2d4 + your Dexterity modifier if you targeted one creature, or 1d4 + half of your Dexterity modifier damage if you targeted two creatures.
Increase damage to 4d4 + your Dexterity modifier or 2d4 + half of your Dexterity modifier at 21st level.

/* A normal non-weapon attack that doubles as a minion-clearer. No blind spot (should there be one?). I originally wanted to make it two creatures in a Close Blast instead of Range so you can’t target creatures on opposite sides of you, but that has problems with opportunity attacks unless I add a lot of words. */

Cooperative Attack
Your puppet’s attack leaves the enemy open for your knockdown strike.
At Will *** Arcane, Implement, Puppet
Standard Action *** Melee puppet
Target: One creature
Attack: Puppet’s Dexterity vs. AC
Hit: Your puppet deals damage equal to its Charisma modifier, and you can make a basic melee attack against the target with a bonus to the attack roll equal to your Charisma modifier. If both you and your puppet hit the target, the target falls prone.

Delayed Bullet Doll
You throw a doll near an enemy. A moment later, the doll shoots a stream of energy bullets towards the enemy that creates an opening for your next attack.
At Will *** Arcane, Doll 1, Implement
Standard Action *** Area 1 square within 5 squares
Effect: You throw a doll into the square. The doll remains until retrieved. At the beginning of your next turn, the doll makes an attack.
Target: One creature within 5 squares of the doll.
Attack: Dexterity vs. Reflex
Hit: 1d4 + Dexterity modifier damage.
Increase damage to 2d4 + Dexterity modifier damage at 21st level.
Effect: Until the end of the current turn, the next attack made against this creature by you or an ally gains a power bonus to attack rolls equal to half your Intelligence modifier.

/* Again, the doll is treated as a minion and enemies can destroy the doll by hitting it. If it's too strong or if we want to emphasize the controller nature of this power more, the range of the bullets can be reduced to something like 3. */

Puppet Burst
Your puppet flails its arms at all nearby enemies.
At Will *** Arcane, Implement, Puppet
Standard Action *** Close burst 1 (puppet)
Target: All enemies in the burst
Attack: Puppet’s Dexterity vs. AC
Hit: 1[P].
Increase damage to 2[P] at 21st level.

/* Scorching Burst for your puppet, except with less damage and more marking. */

 

[Zelc]

Powers (Continued)
Saved for space.

 

[Zelc]

Paragon Paths
Still to come…

 

[Zelc]

Feats

General Feats

Kick-Fighting (Heroic)
Prerequisites: Trained in Acrobatics
Benefit: Choose one of the following powers: Defensive Kick, Shifty Kick, or Unbalancing Kick. You gain that power as an at-will power.

Defensive Kick
Your kick gives you the cover you need to move into position.
At Will *** Martial, Weapon
Standard Action *** Melee Weapon (Unarmed)
Target: One creature
Attack: Dexterity vs. Reflex
Hit: Deal damage equal to your Strength modifier (minimum 1), and attacks the target makes against you and your allies take a -1 attack penalty until the beginning of your next turn.
Special: This power counts as a basic melee attack. When a power allows you to make a basic melee attack, you can use this power.

Shifty Kick
Your kick gives you the cover you need to move into position.
At Will *** Martial, Weapon
Standard Action *** Melee Weapon (Unarmed)
Target: One creature
Attack: Dexterity vs. Reflex
Hit: Deal damage equal to your Strength modifier (minimum 1), and you can move 1 square without drawing an attack of opportunity from the target.
Special: This power counts as a basic melee attack. When a power allows you to make a basic melee attack, you can use this power.

Unbalancing Kick
Your swift kick throws the enemy off balance.
At Will *** Martial, Weapon
Standard Action *** Melee Weapon (Unarmed)
Target: One creature
Attack: Dexterity vs. Reflex
Hit: Deal damage equal to your Strength modifier (minimum 1), and the target takes a -1 penalty to AC and Reflex defense until the end of your next turn.
Special: This power counts as a basic melee attack. When a power allows you to make a basic melee attack, you can use this power.

/* These were originally designed to give the puppet focus puppeteer something to do, but it was supplanted by giving all puppeteers the Spear Doll power. I’m leaving this in here for now so it’s not deleted, but it’s hardly necessary or directly applicable to the puppeteer. */

Puppet Focus Puppeteer Multiclass Feat (Heroic)
Prerequisites: Dex 13
Benefit: You gain training in the Acrobatics skill.
You gain one doll control slot for one hand of your choice, and you gain the Bonded Puppet ability except for the following differences. You do not pick a puppet trait for your puppet. Your puppet can only use its melee basic attack power once per encounter, whether as a standard action or as an opportunity attack (melee basic attacks made as part of other powers do not count towards this limit). Unless your puppet made an attack after or during the beginning of your previous turn, it cannot aid in flanking enemies.
In addition, you can use a Holy Symbol Clone as an implement to improve your puppet and dolls.

Doll Focus Puppeteer Multiclass Feat (Heroic)
Prerequisites: Dex 13
Benefit: You gain training in the Acrobatics skill.
You gain one doll control slot for one hand of your choice, and you gain the Bonded Puppet ability except for the following differences. You do not pick a puppet trait for your puppet. Your puppet cannot use its melee basic attack except as part of another power. Unless your puppet made an attack after or during the beginning of your previous turn, it cannot aid in flanking enemies.
Once per encounter, you can use the Spear Doll power.
In addition, you can use a Holy Symbol Clone as an implement to improve your puppet and dolls.

Puppeteer Feats

/* These may need better names */

Forceful Doll Attack (Heroic)
Prerequisites: Puppeteer, Spear Doll power
Benefit: If you hit a target with your Spear Doll power, you push the target 1 square if it is your size, smaller than you, or one size category larger.

Improved Doll Range (Heroic)
Prerequisites: Puppeteer
Benefit: The range at which dolls are automatically destroyed increases to 40.

/* Probably needs rewording */

Improved Puppet Range (Heroic)
Prerequisites: Puppeteer
Benefit: The maximum distance your puppet can be from you increases to 5 squares.

/* Should this be in a higher tier? */

Improved Puppet Control (Heroic)
Prerequisites: Puppeteer
Benefit: Your puppet gains a +2 bonus to speed.

/* So you can move your full speed and still reposition the puppet relative to you */

Extra Doll Control Slot (Paragon)
Prerequisites: Puppeteer
Benefit: One hand of your choice gains an additional doll control slot.

Extra Puppet Trait (Paragon)
Prerequisites: Puppeteer, Puppet Focus class feature
Benefit: Choose one of the puppet traits you didn’t choose before (for that puppet, if you have more than one). Your puppet gains that trait. If you have more than one puppet, choose one trait for each puppet to gain. They can be the same trait or different traits.

Improved Doll Resistance (Paragon)
Prerequisites: Puppeteer, Doll Focus class feature
Benefit: Your dolls gain a +2 bonus to all defenses.

/* Too weak? */

 

[Zelc]

Comments

This class is designed to straddle two puppeteer archetypes: ones that use a few powerful puppets (i.e. Kankuro from Naruto) and ones that use many weak dolls (i.e. Alice Margatroid from Touhou). I know there is another thread for puppeteers on this board, but I’m envisioning this character as a controller/leader or controller/defender rather than a controller/striker.

The Kankuro type “controls” by putting another tank onto the battlefield. Some of his daily powers modify the puppet for the entire day. I’m uncertain as to how much the actual puppeteer should do vs. his puppet. On one hand, I’ve designed the puppet more as an extension of the puppeteer than a separate entity like a beast companion. Thus, they feel more like an interesting weapon the puppeteer could use, which is a case for the puppeteer not having to do much. On the other hand, it’d feel kind of odd if the puppeteer just takes up another space on the grid and does nothing else. This is complicated by the fact that controlling dolls uses hands so they can’t hold weapons.

I’ve compromised by giving all puppeteers a new basic attack for free. That way, I can give puppeteers powers that let them attack with their puppet similar to beast companion powers. They’re intended to be something like uses of skills or kicks, but fluff is mutable so you can describe it as using puppet strings for attacks or something. Puppet strings just isn’t the fluff I prefer though.

The Alice type controls the battlefield through dolls. She has powers with delayed firing that sets up attacks in later rounds. Her playstyle revolves around putting up areas that enemies don’t want to be in (because they’ll be easier to hit or far less mobile), and then usually using some powers to knock them into the zones. Additionally, she’s very weak in melee as many of her powers have a blind spot. She needs to think tactically and rely on her allies and possibly a puppet to stay out of these situations.

You should be able to take a character using only doll powers and refluff it to something like a cross between a Warlord and a Wizard, if you think people fighting with puppets is too silly. Fluff is mutable. Also, you can reflavor her attacks into anything. For instance, her bullet dolls could shoot anything from magic bullets to sling bullets to needles to psychic energy or whatever you like.

Characters gain encounter attack powers at levels 1, 3, 7, 13, 17, 23, 27. Similarly, they gain daily attack powers at levels 1, 5, 9, 15, 19, 25, 29. I want to have 4 power choices per level, 2 based on puppets and 2 based on dolls. In total, that’s 28 encounter attack powers and 28 daily attack powers needed. Characters also gain utility powers at levels 2, 6, 10, 16, 22. With at least 3 power choices per level, that’s at least 15 utility powers needed.

Types of puppet attacks:
Needs more development. Some passive dailies that work like magic items (always on benefit along with an activated benefit). Otherwise provides control through defender-like powers that provide benefits to allies to attack the affected targets.

Types of doll attacks:
The doll attacks are fashioned after the attacks from Alice. The specific flavor of the powers is more for convenience of creativity than design intent. I should be able to base 14 encounter powers and 14 daily powers on Alice’s moves without much effort. More importantly, I want the powers to promote a playstyle similar to the character’s playstyle. Ideally, the doll powers set up zones that provide bonuses against enemies in them, along with ways to knock the enemies into the zones.
[sblock=Powers]Effect from puppet means you throw a doll into a square and the effect emanates from the square. Important for stuff like push effects.
[sblock=Inspiration]
Alice’s moveset in the two 2-D fighting games (here and here).
Youtube:
[sblock][ame=http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=Hnw762jKyZ0]Combo video[/ame]
[ame=http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=JWrqPDAlpmk]Corner traps 1[/ame]
[ame=http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=imItcrca_cY]Corner traps 2[/ame]

Tournament Videos:
[ame=http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=hPh69IXBb3A]YouTube - ç二回 ã•ã„ãŸã¾å¤§ä¼š Block X Game 01 ãŸãƒžPO(Alice) vs 有å€ã‚„ã¾(Meirin)[/ame]
[ame=http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=rR7orBNuJwg]YouTube - ç二回 ã•ã„ãŸã¾å¤§ä¼š Block X Game 03 ãŸãƒžPO(Alice) vs YOUZI(Yukari)[/ame]

[ame=http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=-yfU2gdzv90]YouTube - SWR-demo: JP-tournament; TamaZO(Alice) vs Dorzi(Aya) D3[/ame]

[ame=http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=jSXULYwd6g4]SWR-demo: JP-tournament; TamaZO(Alice) vs Kai(Marisa) D2[/ame]

More here.[/sblock] [/sblock]
[sblock=Stabby]Short range & blind spot (usually range 3 & 4 only), effect from the character, push, daze and/or slow

Single lance (at-will)
Single target 6 lance “shotgun” – push int/2
Multi-hit lance
AoE – daze
AoE – daze and push 1

Single lance – bleed and slow (save ends)[/sblock]

[sblock=Explosive]AoE, effect from puppet, prone and/or push and/or bleed and/or daze, friendly fire?

Grenade Doll – burst 1, push 1
Multiple Grenade Dolls

Big Explosion Grenade Doll
Bigger Explosion Grenade Doll
Walking Doll Bomb (really big explosion) – high risk high reward, delayed effect, friendly fire?, burst 4, prone, push 3, daze, bleed 15[/sblock]

[sblock=Spinner]AoE, effect from puppet, immobilize and/or stun.

1 spinner - 1 round
Large spinner – 1 round

Small spinner – minor sustain
Large spinner – minor sustain[/sblock]

[sblock=Delayed Stabbing]Wall AoE, effect from puppet, immobilize and/or stun. Encounter are 1 round, daily are sustained powers.
[/sblock]

[sblock=Instant Bullet]Normal ranged damage from the character, fluff is bullets or laser. Some are single target, some are multitarget, some are PBAoE, PBAoE from character will have blind spot.

Standard bullet (at will) – target 1 or 2 creatures?

PBAoE 1 – blind spot 1, burst 3
PBAoE 2 – blind spot 1, burst 4
PBAoE 3 – blind spot 1, burst 6
[/sblock]

[sblock=Delayed Bullet]Throw puppet who makes ranged attack, fluff is bullets or laser. Some are single target, some are multitarget, some are PBAoE. All provide attack bonuses vs. the target.

Delayed bullet (at will) – target 1 creature, add +(1/2*int) attack and +int damage?

[/sblock]

[sblock=Activation]Minor action, activate X dolls on the field.

Bullet
Spinner
Explode
[/sblock]
[/sblock]

 

[Zelc]

Reserved, just in case.