Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Vaalingrade Ashland 10-11-04, 02:06 PM	So I've been conceptualizing my Initiate core class (spontanious divine caster), which is going to be the divine counterpart to my Inborn Caster (http://ere.ledgermaincomics.com/classes/inborn.htm). The main abilites were going to be a single domain relevant to diety and the ability I'd like to discuss here: Guardian Spirit The concept here is that at 5th level, the Initiate's diety sends the spirit of a devout follower to guide and assist the Initiate. I was going to have this work as having a cohort as per the Leadership feat (effective leadership score = class level +Wis) only the Guardian Spirit is eitheral (sp?). I also wanted a way to make the Guardian more powerful as the Initiate progressed. Suggestions on how to do this?
Ilium 10-11-04, 02:21 PM	Simply being ethereal will make the spirit pretty powerful to start with. At 5th level having a loyal follower who can invisibly and intangibly spy on your opponents is a pretty big deal. The nature of its advancement would depend on the deity in question I suppose. The easiest thing would be to give it class levels, but I don't know if that's appropriate. What can the guardian spirit actually DO to start with? I mean it's ethereal. Can it affect the material world, or is it just an advisor? Can it do any magic? What role do you picture it having on adventures? If you answer these questions it might help clarify what kind of advancement is appropriate.
Vaalingrade Ashland 10-11-04, 02:31 PM	My idea is for the spirit to be visable, but capable of passing through objects, incapable of crossing out of the etheral. His role would be one of an advisor and support, possible having bardic powers only using oration instead of music. At higher levels, I envision, the spirit being able to cross over for short periods of time to assist the Initiate in combat. If you've seen the Shaman King anime, that's the inspiration here, sans the fusing with weapons aspect.
Ilium 10-11-04, 02:41 PM	I'm not a big anime fan, so I haven't seen that. Hmm. Visible but incorporeal. So even though he's visible he could be a very effective spy/scout. If he's fast he could allow a divided party to stay in communication. It's the advisor aspect that troubles me. Any time you have an NPC in a mentor/advisor role I'm afraid of overshadowing the PC. Just something to keep in mind. Your mention of inspiration abilities makes me think of bardic knowledge as well. That would be a handy ability for these guys, and make sense. If you just gave them bardic song and bardic knowledge abilities at the character's level minus, say, 2 I think that might work well. It would overlap heavily with any actual bards in the party, though.
Vaalingrade Ashland 10-11-04, 02:46 PM	Your mention of inspiration abilities makes me think of bardic knowledge as well. That would be a handy ability for these guys, and make sense. If you just gave them bardic song and bardic knowledge abilities at the character's level minus, say, 2 I think that might work well. It would overlap heavily with any actual bards in the party, though. That was exactly what I was thinking when I said advisor. I think the guardian spirit should only be able to use his version of Bardic music on his charge (It also wouldn't be called Bardic Music). Maybe I should just give this a table instead of playing around with leadership.
Two Rivers Wolfbrother 10-11-04, 05:38 PM	Have you checked out the Spirit Shaman class in Complete Divine? They've got a Spirit Companion ability. Might not be exactly what you're looking for, but maybe something to go on.