Post/Author/DateTime	Post
GreyStar 12-07-06, 04:20 PM	Original Post: I came up with this a little bit ago. Basically, I wasn't really satisfied with how close Clerics and Favored Souls came to their deity's actual powers. I made this Avatar base class in an effort to create a manifestation of a deity's power in the player. I've also been looking at a PrC version instead. Let me know what seems overpowered or underpowered. Avatars have completely devoted themselves to the service of their deity in an effort to manifest their powers on earth. They adventure to further spread their deity's favor across the lands. Alignment: An avatar's alignment must completely match that of their deity. Should they change alignment from their deity, they lose their powers as an Avatar. Other Classes: Avatars naturally get along famously with those who share their ideals. Avatars tend to clash horribly with those who are opposed to their alignment or deity. Role: Avatars act as a secondary healer and attacker. Their primary role is adjusted by the domains they select. A party containing only an avatar might consider bringing a cleric or favored soul for the additional healing power. Skills: An avatar's skills are: Concentrate (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Gather Information (Cha), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (Arcana) (Int), Knowledge (Religion) (Int), Knowledge (Planes) (Int), Listen (Wis), Profession (Wis), Search (Int), Speak Language, Spellcraft (Wis), Spot (Wis) Skills Per Day at 1st Level : (4 + Int modifier) x4 Skills Per Day at Each Additional Level : 4 + Int modifier Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: An avatar is proficient with simple weapons and his deity's favored weapon. An avatar has no proficiency in armor of any kind, but can use bucklers and light shields. Avatars who use the War domain may take proficiency in heavy shields as well. Spells: Avatars cast spells spontaneously. An avatar's spells are based entirely on his domains, barring cleric's orisons, of which he knows all of them. In the case that two domains possess the same spell (such as the aid spell at level 1 of the Good and Luck domains), the avatar may choose a different spell of the same level or lower from the cleric spell list. When domain spells match but are cast in different elements or alignments (such as Fire and Air domain's summon elemental swarm or Good and Chaos domain's summon monster spells) a player may choose to sacrifice one of them for a spell from the cleric's list if he so chooses. At 1st level an avatar selects three domains of his deity. In order to cast a spell his Cha score must be 10+the spell's level. Cha also determines an avatar's bonus spells per day and bonus spells known. Wis determines how hard an avatar's spells are to resist. An avatar gains a fourth domain at 10th level. An avatar may select bonus spells from the cleric spell list as equal to his bonus spells per day. These bonus spells known at maximum must be at a level equal to 1/4 his ranks in Knowledge (Religion), rounding up. An avatar with maxed out Knowledge (Religion) ranks (23) may learn extra spells up to level 6, provided his Cha score allows bonus spells of that level. Avatars of Boccob, Wee Jas, or another deity with the Magic domain may also learn Sorcerer/Wizard bonus spells, meeting the same requirements, using ranks in Knowledge (Arcana) instead. They may also pick Sorcerer/Wizard spells when two or more domain spells match. Avatars of Ehlonna, Obad-Hai, or another deity the Animal or Plant domain may also learn Druid bonus spells, meeting the same requirements, using ranks in Knowledge (Nature) instead. They may also pick Druid spells when two or more domain spells match. Avatars gain the granted powers of their domains as well. For spells per day, use the Sorcerer's. Attack Fort Ref Will Level Bonus Save Save Save Special 1st +0 +2 +0 +2 Holy Presence, Martial Weapon Proficiency (Deity's Favored Weapon) 2nd +1 +3 +0 +3 Uncanny Dodge, Divine Touch (Light) 3rd +2 +3 +1 +3 Mindful Reflexes, Turn or rebuke the undead 4th +3 +4 +1 +4 Natural Armor +1 5th +3 +4 +1 +4 6th +4 +5 +2 +5 Evasion 7th +5 +5 +2 +5 Weapon Focus (Deity's Favored Weapon) 8th +6/+1 +6 +2 +6 Natural Armor +2, Divine Touch (Moderate) 9th +6/+1 +6 +3 +6 10th +7/+2 +7 +3 +7 Bonus Domain 11th +8/+3 +7 +3 +7 Practiced Divine Touch 12th +9/+4 +8 +4 +8 Improved Evasion, Natural Armor +3 13th +9/+4 +8 +4 +8 Divine Reach 14th +10/+5 +9 +4 +9 Weapon Specialization (Deity's Favored Weapon), Divine Touch (raise dead/slay living) 15th +11/+6/+1 +10 +5 +10 16th +12/+7/+2 +10 +5 +10 Natural Armor +4 17th +12/+7/+2 +10 +5 +10 Swift Divine Reach 18th +13/+8/+3 +11 +6 +11 19th +14/+9/+4 +11 +6 +11 20th +15/+10/+5 +12 +6 +12 Natural Armor +5, Divine Touch (Serious) Holy Presence (Ex): An avatar has an awesome visage when he takes on his deity’s powers at level 1. To gain his Holy Presence powers, he must be dressed in his cleric's vestments. Holy Presence bestows the traits and abilities listed below. An avatar has a Aura (Ex) like that of a cleric. An avatar gains Alertness and Persuasive as bonus feats. Holy Presence allows an avatar to ask for his deity’s insight. An avatar may make untrained Knowledge checks with an insight bonus equal to his Wis modifier. Avatars may not attempt these checks over again if they fail on a particular subject. Failure represents that their deity has deemed the information too insignificant. Holy Presence also allows an avatar to use his deity's favored weapon as a holy symbol for channeling positive or negative energies. His weapon may also be used as a divine focus for spells that require one. An avatar must still provide any focus costing 1 gp or more, unless the focus is a holy symbol. An avatar may also ignore material components costing less than 1 gp. A character that begins play as a level one avatar, may select cleric’s vestments as his beginning outfit. A character that multi-classes to avatar must purchase cleric’s vestments tailored to his deity’s fashion before he may partake in the benefits of Holy Presence. Ranks in Craft (Tailoring) allow a character to create his vestments, meeting the normal requirements to do so with a +2 competence bonus. Martial Weapon Proficiency (Deity’s Favored Weapon): An avatar automatically gains Martial Weapon Proficiency with his deity’s favored weapon at level 1, should he need it. Uncanny Dodge(Ex): This ability is gained at level 2 and works just like that of a rogue’s. It only works when the avatar is wearing no armor. Turn or Rebuke the Undead (Su): Beginning at level 2, an avatar may turn or rebuke the undead in the same manner as a cleric, only his effective cleric level is ¾ his avatar level. Divine Touch (Su): Beginning at 2nd level, an avatar may heal an ally as though he had cast cure light wounds. The ability is a touch and counts as a standard action. At level 8, the effect is of cure moderate wounds and at 20, cure serious wounds. At level 14, he can choose to use two charges to cast raise dead. An evil avatar uses Divine Touch as though he had cast an inflict spell or slay living at level 14. A neutral avatar is subject to the same rules as a cleric’s ability to spontaneously cast a cure or inflict spell. An avatar may use Divine Touch 1+his Cha modifier times per encounter. After the encounter, his Divine Touches regenerate at a rate of 1 use per minute. If the avatar has taken Con damage, the rate of recharge increases by one minute per point of Con damage. If a new encounter starts, the recharging halts until the end of that encounter. To recharge Divine Touch during an encounter, an avatar must retreat and concentrate (DC 15). One full-round action of concentration recharges one use plus half the amount by which the DC was beaten. Mindful Reflexes (Ex): An avatar may use his Wis modifier in place of his Dex modifier on Reflex saves from 3rd level onward. Natural Armor: An avatar’s body is toughened by his deity’s grace. At 4th level, the avatar gains natural armor of +1. This natural armor augments by 1 at every 4th level thereafter (8th, 12th, 16th, 20th). Evasion (Ex): This ability is gained at level 6 and works just like that of a rogue’s. It only works when the avatar is wearing no armor. Weapon Focus (Deity’s Favored Weapon): An avatar gains Weapon Focus with his deity’s favored weapon at level 7. If he already has Weapon Focus, he may choose another feat with which he meets the requirements. Bonus Domain: At 10th level, an avatar gains a bonus domain of his deity’s. If the deity has only three available domains, the avatar may choose a domain from another deity whose alignment matches his own and whose purpose is fluent with his own. Improved Evasion (Ex): This ability is gained at level 12 and works just like that of a rogue’s. It only works when the avatar is wearing no armor. Practiced Divine Touch (Su): At 11th level, an avatar can focus his Divine Touch for greater effect. He can expend more than one charge to multiply the effect of the Divine Touch on one target. He can also add 1 ½ times his Charisma modifier to his uses of Divine Touch. Divine Reach (Su): At 13th level, an avatar can now use Divine Touch as a targeted ranged touch with a range of close. Using Divine Reach provokes an attack of opportunity. The level 14 effect of Divine Touch cannot be used in conjunction with Divine Reach. Weapon Specialization (Deity’s Favored Weapon): An avatar gains Weapon Specialization with his deity’s favored weapon at level 14. Swift Divine Reach (Su): At level 17, an avatar can use Divine Reach as a swift action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity. The level 14 effect of Divine Touch can now be used in conjunction with Divine Reach as a standard action. Ex-Avatars: An avatar that outsteps the boundaries of his deity’s alignment or grossly defies his deity or his cause loses the benefits of his domain spells, Holy Presence, turning the undead, Divine Touch, Mindful Reflexes, and Natural Armor. He keeps his Uncanny Dodge, Evasion, Improved Evasion, and his weapon and armor proficiencies. An ex-avatar cannot gain further levels as an avatar until he atones. Avatars are allowed to multi-class as long as he uses the abilities of those classes in the name of his deity. For example, an avatar of Heironeous could easily become a Paladin, but would have a hard time justifying a Rogue. The reverse is true for avatars of Olidammara. Avatars that multi-class to favored soul or cleric must remain under the service of his deity and gains no new domains when taking cleric levels. New Build: Like paladins, avatars answer a calling. They are chosen by their deity to become a manifestation of their power on earth and are very rare. They adventure to further spread their deity's favor across the lands. Alignment: An avatar's alignment must completely match that of their deity. Should they change alignment from their deity, they lose their powers as an Avatar. Other Classes: Avatars approach their lives with the same vindication as paladins. However, they more oft get along with those who would favor their deity. Avatars of Heironeous and Pelor favor paladin and cleric companions. Avatars of Boccob and Vecna prefer spellcasters. Avatars abhor the presence of those who oppose their alignment, although avatars of Olidammara don’t really mind anybody all that much. Role: Avatars act as a secondary healer and attacker. Their primary role is adjusted by the domains they select. A party containing only an avatar might consider bringing a cleric or favored soul for the additional healing power. Skills: An avatar's skills are: Concentrate (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Gather Information (Cha), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (Religion) (Int), Knowledge (the Planes) (Int), Listen (Wis), Search (Int), Speak Language (none), Spellcraft (Wis), Spot (Wis) Skills Per Day at 1st Level : (4 + Int modifier) x4 Skills Per Day at Each Additional Level : 4 + Int modifier Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: An avatar is proficient with simple weapons and his deity's favored weapon. An avatar has no proficiency in armor of any kind, but can use bucklers and light shields. Avatars who use the War domain may take proficiency in heavy shields as well. Spells: Avatars cast spells spontaneously. An avatar's spells are based entirely on his domains, barring cleric's orisons, of which he knows all of them. In the case that two domains possess the same spell (such as the aid spell at level 1 of the Good and Luck domains), the avatar may choose a different spell of the same level or lower from the cleric spell list. When domain spells match but are cast in different elements or alignments (such as Fire and Air domain's summon elemental swarm or Good and Chaos domain's summon monster spells) a player may choose to sacrifice one of them for a spell from the cleric's list if he so chooses. At 1st level an avatar selects three domains of his deity. In order to cast a spell his Wis score must be 10+the spell's level. Cha determines an avatar's bonus spells per day and bonus spells known. Wis also determines how hard an avatar's spells are to resist. An avatar gains a fourth domain at 10th level. An avatar may select bonus spells from the cleric spell list as equal to his bonus spells per day. These bonus spells known at maximum must be at a level equal to 1/4 his ranks in Knowledge (Religion), rounding up. An avatar with maxed out Knowledge (Religion) ranks (23) may learn extra spells up to level 6, provided his Cha score allows bonus spells of that level. Avatars of Boccob, Wee Jas, or another deity with the Magic domain may also learn Sorcerer/Wizard bonus spells, meeting the same requirements, using ranks in Knowledge (Arcana) instead. They may also pick Sorcerer/Wizard spells when two or more domain spells match. Avatars of Ehlonna, Obad-Hai, or another deity with the Animal or Plant domain may also learn Druid bonus spells, meeting the same requirements, using ranks in Knowledge (Nature) instead. They may also pick Druid spells when two or more domain spells match. Avatars gain the granted powers of their domains as well. For spells per day, use the Sorcerer's. Attack Fort Ref Will Level Bonus Save Save Save Special 1st +0 +0 +0 +2 Holy Presence, Martial Weapon Proficiency (Deity's Favored Weapon) 2nd +1 +0 +0 +3 Deific Grace, Divine Touch (Light) 3rd +2 +1 +1 +3 4th +3 +1 +1 +4 Force Aura +1 5th +3 +1 +1 +4 6th +4 +2 +2 +5 7th +5 +2 +2 +5 Weapon Focus (Deity's Favored Weapon) 8th +6/+1 +2 +2 +6 Force Aura +2 9th +6/+1 +3 +3 +6 Divine Touch (Moderate) 10th +7/+2 +3 +3 +7 Bonus Domain 11th +8/+3 +3 +3 +7 12th +9/+4 +4 +4 +8 Force Aura +3 13th +9/+4 +4 +4 +8 14th +10/+5 +4 +4 +9 Weapon Specialization (Deity's Favored Weapon) 15th +11/+6/+1 +5 +5 +10 16th +12/+7/+2 +5 +5 +10 Force Aura +4, Divine Touch (Serious) 17th +12/+7/+2 +5 +5 +10 Deific Will 18th +13/+8/+3 +6 +6 +11 19th +14/+9/+4 +6 +6 +11 20th +15/+10/+5 +6 +6 +12 Force Aura +5 Holy Presence (Ex): An avatar has an awesome visage when he takes on his deity’s powers at level 1. To gain his Holy Presence powers, he must be dressed in his cleric's vestments. Avatars often carry a spare or two of these vestments, since adventuring may soil his ecclesiastic robes. An avatar gains two of the following feats as bonus feats: Alertness, Investigator, Negotiator, or Persuasive. His choice his made at once and cannot changed. Holy Presence allows an avatar to ask for his deity’s insight. An avatar may make untrained Knowledge checks with an insight bonus equal to his Wis modifier. Avatars may not attempt these checks over again if they fail on a particular subject. Failure represents that their deity has deemed the information too insignificant. Holy Presence also allows an avatar to use his deity's favored weapon as a holy symbol for channeling positive or negative energies. His weapon may also be used as a divine focus for spells that require one. An avatar must still provide any focus costing 1 gp or more, unless the focus is a holy symbol of any kind. An avatar may also ignore material components costing less than 1 gp. A character that begins play as a level one avatar, may select cleric’s vestments as his beginning outfit. A character that multi-classes to avatar must purchase cleric’s vestments tailored to his deity’s fashion before he may partake in the benefits of Holy Presence. Ranks in Craft (Tailoring) allow a character to create his vestments, meeting the normal requirements to do so with a +2 competence bonus. Martial Weapon Proficiency (Deity’s Favored Weapon): An avatar automatically gains Martial Weapon Proficiency with his deity’s favored weapon at level 1, should he need it. An avatar of Bahamut or Tiamat, may instead grow claws as a primary natural attack. The claws deal 1d6 of damage for medium creatures. Deific Grace (Ex): An avatar may use his Wis modifier on his saves from 2nd level onward. Divine Touch (Su): Beginning at 2nd level, an avatar may heal an ally as though he had cast cure light wounds. The ability is a touch and counts as a standard action. At level 9, the effect is of cure moderate wounds and at 16, cure serious wounds. An evil avatar uses Divine Touch as though he had cast an inflict spell. A neutral avatar is subject to the same rules as a cleric’s ability to spontaneously cast a cure or inflict spell. An avatar may use Divine Touch 1+his Cha modifier times per encounter. After the encounter, his Divine Touches regenerate at a rate of 1 use per minute. If the avatar has taken Con damage, the rate of recharge increases by one minute per point of Con damage. If a new encounter starts, the recharging halts until the end of that encounter. To recharge Divine Touch during an encounter, an avatar must retreat and concentrate (DC 15). One full-round action of concentration recharges one use plus half the amount by which the DC was beaten. Force Aura (Su): An avatar’s aura is strengthened by his deity’s grace. At 4th level, the avatar gains a bonus to his AC of +1, representing the additional power his deity has invested in him. This bonus augments by 1 at every 4th level thereafter (8th, 12th, 16th, 20th). This AC bonus is effective against touch attacks and when the avatar is flat-footed, even bound or helpless. The force aura’s bonus is active only when the avatar is conscious. Weapon Focus (Deity’s Favored Weapon): An avatar gains Weapon Focus with his deity’s favored weapon at level 7. If he already has Weapon Focus, he may choose another feat with which he meets the requirements. Bonus Domain: At 10th level, an avatar gains a bonus domain of his deity’s. If the deity has only three available domains, the avatar may choose a domain from another deity whose alignment matches his own and whose purpose is fluent with his own. Weapon Specialization (Deity’s Favored Weapon): An avatar gains Weapon Specialization with his deity’s favored weapon at level 14. An avatar of Bahamut or Tiamat may instead take the Improved Natural Weapon feat. Deific Will (Ex): At 17th level an avatar commands the elements at hand with surprising ease. He reduces the experience cost for spells and magic item creation by 50%. Ex-Avatars: An avatar that outsteps the boundaries of his deity’s alignment or grossly defies his deity or his cause loses the benefits of his domain spells, granted powers, Holy Presence, and all other supernatural abilities. He keeps his weapon and armor proficiencies. An ex-avatar cannot gain further levels as an avatar until he atones. Avatars may multiclass, but only to classes that help to serve his deity’s will. An avatar of Heironeous would never become a rogue, nor would an avatar of Erythnul become a wizard. Finally redesigned this thing. I'm much happier with the results. I'm still trying to come up with something for level 19 or 20, and I'm trying to develop another feature for the new Force Aura. Lemme know what you think.
Repeekluos 12-07-06, 04:30 PM	Poor reflex save with Evasion?
Grey_Mage 12-07-06, 04:58 PM	Poor reflex save with Evasion? Well he adds his primary spell casting stat to it... so its not as odd as it might seem really. I like it... balanced... possibly a bit weak due to the spell selection.... perhaps give them an additional spell each level of any spell level they can cast chosen from the cleric list? *shrugs* either way needs a good acid test....
GreyStar 12-07-06, 11:26 PM	Just a couple adjustments: I wrote the wrong spell name somewhere... Where did I get kill finger? I meant slay living. I was thinking of adding a couple points of Spell Resistance on top of the Natural Armor (+1 at 5, +2 at 10, +3 at 15, +4 at 20), but I thought it might be a bit much. The bonus spells known was lacking? I thought adding a few extra at the lower levels would help, but wouldn't necessarily over power. I don't want to add just one per level because he already knows four level 9 spells by default. Favored Soul only has four spells known at that level, if I'm correct. Oh, I also added orisons. Would adding detect evil/good/law/chaos as a spell-like ability to Holy Presence be a bit too much?
MartialFighter 12-24-06, 08:18 PM	The level 14 power of Divine Touch is a little unclear, would a good Avatar still pay the 5,000 gp cost for the effect of "Raise Dead"? Also, the theme of the character seems to be more based on agility more than toughness, so I'm not sure if having good Fortitude and poor Reflex saves fit in with the idea. But other than that, nice job, you definitely accomplished your goal of making a class with strong, visible ties to its Deity.
GreyStar 12-25-06, 09:24 AM	I've honestly been having seconds thoughts of L14. The reason I added Divine Touch was to ensure that the avatar would have some healing ability even if he didn't take Healing domain or any other such spells when he was allowed. I'll probably trash it, just because I started having problems with the slay living version long before I considered the raise dead version bad as well. In hindsight, I didn't like giving the supernatural ability to zap people from afar. I never even thought about the material components. Poor judgement on my part. I'll be redesigning a new L14 feature here soon. The reason I went with the saves, uncanny, and evasion was because I figured if you've got a little piece of deity in you, you're probably good at saves. However, I know many people find chracters with all three good saves a little over-powered. So I chose to sacrifice the good save on Reflex. Then, to keep the flavor of an ever-alert demi, I gave him Evasion so that if he did make his Ref save, he'd do it right. Evasion was purely to balance his poor Ref. I think instead, I might give him Mettle instead of Imp Evasion, but again I don't want to overpower him on his saves. Slippery Mind might do well. I might take away his NatArmor bonus and give him Inertial Armor instead, to better represent a supernatural character.
crimsonwolf 12-26-06, 03:48 AM	do you think if you have reached a lev 20 you can gain demigo status ? i mean dread necro gets lich .. give me somthing great for being loyal for so long ...
GreyStar 03-01-07, 02:44 PM	Just bumping since I put the new build up. It's all in the first post.