A Revamped Geomancer? [Archive] - Wizards Community

A Revamped Geomancer? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
NightScreamer20
03-31-04, 10:52 AM Was just wondering, do you guys think it would be fair to make the following changes to the Geomancer PrC:
Requirements
Knowledge (Arcana): 9 Ranks
Knowledge (Nature): 9 Ranks
Feats: Endurance, Any metamagic feat
Spells: Able to cast 2nd level Divine and Arcane spells.
Special: Must have the Nature Sense ability.

HD: d6
BAB: Same
Saves: Poor Fort/Ref Good Will
Special: Same
Spellcasting: +1 Divine/Arcane Spellcaster Level 1st level and every other level thereafter. (So 1st...3rd...5th...7th...9th...)
Wilding: At 2nd level the Geomancer counts his 1/2 his Geomancer levels as Druid levels for determining his Wild Shape ability.

Epic
Spellcasting: +1 Divine/Arcane Spellcaster Level 11th level and every other level thereafter. (11th...13th...15th...17th...19th...)
Drifts: 11th 5th level 12/13th 6th level, 14th/15th 7th level, 16th/17th 8th level, 18th/19th 9th level
Drift Pinnacle: At 20th level the Geomancer fully unlocks her magical and natural abilities. Her type changes to Magical Beast and she gains low-light vision and darkvision 120 ft. and DR 10/magic

Drift 6 Description
1 Your fingers and toes become webbed (You gain a +8 bonus to all swim checks and gain a swim speed equal to your land speed)
2 Smooth pebbles cover your skin (You gain damage reduction 2/- vs. slashing)
3 Ears extend like a rabbits (You gain a +8 bonus to all listen checks and a +2 insight bonus to AC)
4 Your skin grows thick plates and become scaly (You gain damage reduction 2/- vs. piercing)
5 Tough hairs grow on your hands (You gain a +8 climb checks and gain a climb speed equal to your land speed)
6 Your skin turns soft and slightly malleable like clay (You gain damage reduction 2/- vs. bludgeoning)
Drift 7
1 You grow a lizardlike tail (Your tail does 1d8 points of bludgeoning/slashing damage and has a reach of 10 ft.)
2 Your natural weapons produce an lethal poison (One of your natural weapons deals 2d4 con dmg Fort Save DC 10 + 1/2 HD + con modifier)
3 Two spider-like limbs grow from your torso (You sprout two more limbs. You gain the feats Multidexterity and Multiweapon Fighting free)
4 Your natural weapons strike with great accuracy (One of your natural weapons doubles its critical threat range)
5 Quills grow from your arms (You can fire up to 15 quills per day, each quill does 1d4 piercing/slashing damage, with a range of 20 ft.
you may fire 1d4+1 quills per round, only 1 attack roll is needed for all quills. Your quills regenerate daily.)
6 Your natural weapons produce an anticoagelant (One of your natural weapons gains the wounding ability for 1 damage, this damage stacks)
Drift 8
1 Roots grow from your feet (You may root yourself into the ground for 2 hours, gaining the bonuses you would for sleeping for 8 hours)
2 You are quick to react as a mongoose (You gain a +5 bonus on all Reflex saves)
3 Your metabolic rate increases (You regenerate 5 hit points per round)
4 You become as resilient as a cockroach (You gain a +5 bonus to all Fort saves)
5 A chitinous plate covers your skin (You gain +5 natural armor, this bonus stacks with any other natural armor bonus you may already have)
6 You become as centered as a treant (You gain a +5 bonus to all Will saves)
Drift 9
1 You become as strong as a tiger (You gain a +2 inherent bonus to strength)
2 You become as quick as a falcon (You gain a +2 inherent bonus to dexterity)
3 Your body is as tough as a griffon (You gain a +2 inherent bonus to constitution)
4 You gain the cunning as a fox (You gain a +2 inherent bonus to intelligence)
5 You gain the insight of a unicorn (You gain a +2 inherent bonus to wisdom)
6 You become as charismatic as a dragon (You gain a +2 inherent bonus to charisma)

Would that work?
ksbsnowowl
03-31-04, 12:35 PM Originally posted by NightScreamer20
Was just wondering, do you guys think it would be fair to make the following changes to the Geomancer PrC:
.......Spellcasting: +1 Divine/Arcane Spellcaster Level 1st level and every other level thereafter. (So 1st...3rd...5th...7th...9th...) Um... you can basically already do that by alternating taking a divine caster level and arcane caster level as you progress through the PrC.

Or do you mean that you'd bump both at each odd level, but still get to bump one caster level on even levels?
NightScreamer20
03-31-04, 01:17 PM As the mystic theurge, bump both every other level.
ksbsnowowl
03-31-04, 01:44 PM So it bumps two spellcaster levels on odd levels, and no caster levels on even levels? Again, you can already basically do the same thing with the class as printed in MotW.

Your revised method will result in the character gaining 5 acane caster levels and 5 divine caster levels, but forces the character to split his levels. The only benefit your revision would have over the original is that you would get one of your caster levels one level earlier, every other level.

With the original you can choose to take all odd levels as divine levels, and all even levels as arcane caster levels. The net result is the same; you gain 5 divine caster levels and 5 arcane caster levels. The original also allows the player to choose how he wants to divide those levels. He could gain 7 arcane levels and 3 divine if he wanted to; or he could take all arcane levels or all divine levels.

Your revised method is clunky and pigeonholes characters into taking the weakest progression possible. Trust me, a 20th level character that is a 17th level arcane caster and 3rd level divine caster (or vice versa) is a whole lot more powerful than one who is a 10th level arcane/10th level divine caster, or a caster with an 8/12 split (the best that could be possible with your revision).

I notice that you also dropped the Fort save. Is there a reason you are trying to nerf/hamstring this class?

Yeah, it was a decent class if built the right way, but it was in no way overpowered. There are several much more powerful PrC's that a character could choose. Truth be told, I would never play the class as you have presented it - it just cripples the character way too much.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
NightScreamer20 03-31-04, 10:52 AM	Was just wondering, do you guys think it would be fair to make the following changes to the Geomancer PrC: Requirements Knowledge (Arcana): 9 Ranks Knowledge (Nature): 9 Ranks Feats: Endurance, Any metamagic feat Spells: Able to cast 2nd level Divine and Arcane spells. Special: Must have the Nature Sense ability. HD: d6 BAB: Same Saves: Poor Fort/Ref Good Will Special: Same Spellcasting: +1 Divine/Arcane Spellcaster Level 1st level and every other level thereafter. (So 1st...3rd...5th...7th...9th...) Wilding: At 2nd level the Geomancer counts his 1/2 his Geomancer levels as Druid levels for determining his Wild Shape ability. Epic Spellcasting: +1 Divine/Arcane Spellcaster Level 11th level and every other level thereafter. (11th...13th...15th...17th...19th...) Drifts: 11th 5th level 12/13th 6th level, 14th/15th 7th level, 16th/17th 8th level, 18th/19th 9th level Drift Pinnacle: At 20th level the Geomancer fully unlocks her magical and natural abilities. Her type changes to Magical Beast and she gains low-light vision and darkvision 120 ft. and DR 10/magic Drift 6 Description 1 Your fingers and toes become webbed (You gain a +8 bonus to all swim checks and gain a swim speed equal to your land speed) 2 Smooth pebbles cover your skin (You gain damage reduction 2/- vs. slashing) 3 Ears extend like a rabbits (You gain a +8 bonus to all listen checks and a +2 insight bonus to AC) 4 Your skin grows thick plates and become scaly (You gain damage reduction 2/- vs. piercing) 5 Tough hairs grow on your hands (You gain a +8 climb checks and gain a climb speed equal to your land speed) 6 Your skin turns soft and slightly malleable like clay (You gain damage reduction 2/- vs. bludgeoning) Drift 7 1 You grow a lizardlike tail (Your tail does 1d8 points of bludgeoning/slashing damage and has a reach of 10 ft.) 2 Your natural weapons produce an lethal poison (One of your natural weapons deals 2d4 con dmg Fort Save DC 10 + 1/2 HD + con modifier) 3 Two spider-like limbs grow from your torso (You sprout two more limbs. You gain the feats Multidexterity and Multiweapon Fighting free) 4 Your natural weapons strike with great accuracy (One of your natural weapons doubles its critical threat range) 5 Quills grow from your arms (You can fire up to 15 quills per day, each quill does 1d4 piercing/slashing damage, with a range of 20 ft. you may fire 1d4+1 quills per round, only 1 attack roll is needed for all quills. Your quills regenerate daily.) 6 Your natural weapons produce an anticoagelant (One of your natural weapons gains the wounding ability for 1 damage, this damage stacks) Drift 8 1 Roots grow from your feet (You may root yourself into the ground for 2 hours, gaining the bonuses you would for sleeping for 8 hours) 2 You are quick to react as a mongoose (You gain a +5 bonus on all Reflex saves) 3 Your metabolic rate increases (You regenerate 5 hit points per round) 4 You become as resilient as a cockroach (You gain a +5 bonus to all Fort saves) 5 A chitinous plate covers your skin (You gain +5 natural armor, this bonus stacks with any other natural armor bonus you may already have) 6 You become as centered as a treant (You gain a +5 bonus to all Will saves) Drift 9 1 You become as strong as a tiger (You gain a +2 inherent bonus to strength) 2 You become as quick as a falcon (You gain a +2 inherent bonus to dexterity) 3 Your body is as tough as a griffon (You gain a +2 inherent bonus to constitution) 4 You gain the cunning as a fox (You gain a +2 inherent bonus to intelligence) 5 You gain the insight of a unicorn (You gain a +2 inherent bonus to wisdom) 6 You become as charismatic as a dragon (You gain a +2 inherent bonus to charisma) Would that work?
ksbsnowowl 03-31-04, 12:35 PM	Originally posted by NightScreamer20 Was just wondering, do you guys think it would be fair to make the following changes to the Geomancer PrC: .......Spellcasting: +1 Divine/Arcane Spellcaster Level 1st level and every other level thereafter. (So 1st...3rd...5th...7th...9th...) Um... you can basically already do that by alternating taking a divine caster level and arcane caster level as you progress through the PrC. Or do you mean that you'd bump both at each odd level, but still get to bump one caster level on even levels?
NightScreamer20 03-31-04, 01:17 PM	As the mystic theurge, bump both every other level.
ksbsnowowl 03-31-04, 01:44 PM	So it bumps two spellcaster levels on odd levels, and no caster levels on even levels? Again, you can already basically do the same thing with the class as printed in MotW. Your revised method will result in the character gaining 5 acane caster levels and 5 divine caster levels, but forces the character to split his levels. The only benefit your revision would have over the original is that you would get one of your caster levels one level earlier, every other level. With the original you can choose to take all odd levels as divine levels, and all even levels as arcane caster levels. The net result is the same; you gain 5 divine caster levels and 5 arcane caster levels. The original also allows the player to choose how he wants to divide those levels. He could gain 7 arcane levels and 3 divine if he wanted to; or he could take all arcane levels or all divine levels. Your revised method is clunky and pigeonholes characters into taking the weakest progression possible. Trust me, a 20th level character that is a 17th level arcane caster and 3rd level divine caster (or vice versa) is a whole lot more powerful than one who is a 10th level arcane/10th level divine caster, or a caster with an 8/12 split (the best that could be possible with your revision). I notice that you also dropped the Fort save. Is there a reason you are trying to nerf/hamstring this class? Yeah, it was a decent class if built the right way, but it was in no way overpowered. There are several much more powerful PrC's that a character could choose. Truth be told, I would never play the class as you have presented it - it just cripples the character way too much.