Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Osedox 04-08-07, 02:04 PM	Greetings, this is a PrC that I have been working on for quite a bit and im pretty sure it’s at the point where im ready to throw it to the wolves. What im looking for are balance suggestions and feedback on abilities and of course praise is fine;) . I intentionally am not presenting flavor text, as I feel that it would take away from others enjoyment of the class. The class abilities speak for themselves, and my poorly worded fluff isn’t going to clarify anything. The Venom Mage Requirements: -Must have a tiny viper familiar, -Able to cast 2nd level arcane spells, -Must have been poisoned and survived, -8 ranks in Craft (Poisonmaking), -Great Fortitude feat HD: d6 BAB: poor Fort and Ref: poor Will: good Spellcasting: progresses at every level except 1st Level 1)Envenom Spell, Poison Resistance, Venom Spell I 2)Combat Familiar 3)Venom Spell II 4)Improved Envenom Spell 5)- 6)Venom Spell III 7)Battle Familiar 8)Greater Envenom Spell 9)Venom Immunity, Venom Spell IV 10)Venomlance Skills: 4+int/level; Class Skills (Bluff, Concentration, Craft (Poisonmaking), Heal, Intimidate, Knowledge Arcana, Profession, Sense Motive, Spellcraft) Envenom Spell: at 1st level a Venom Mage learns a new metamagic feat called Envenom Spell. An Envenomed spell is infused with magical venom. Any creature damaged by an Envenomed spell also deals 2 points of strength damage if the target fails a Fortitude save. An Envenomed spell uses up a spell slot 2 higher than normal. Poison Resistance (ex): a Venom Mage gains bonus to Fortitude saves versus poison equal to one half her Venom Mage levels rounded down. Venom Spell I: If the Venom mage is a Wizard he can add Spider Poison to his Spellbook, if he is a Sorcerer he adds it to his spells known as a 2nd level spell in addition to any other spells known he might have. Combat Familiar (ex): at 2nd level the connection between the Venom Mage and his viper familiar changes. The viper increases in size to become a Small Viper and gains a +2 bonus to the DC of its poison special ability and Improved Natural Attack (Bite) as a bonus feat. Also Venom Mage levels stack with Sorcerer or Wizard levels for determining the special abilities of their familiars. Venom Spell II: If the Venom mage is a Wizard he can add Poison to his Spellbook, if he is a Sorcerer he adds it to his spells known as a 3th level spell in addition to any other spells known he might have. Improved Envenom Spell: At 4th level the Metamagic feat Envenom spell improves any Envenomed spell also deals 2 points of dexterity damage in addition to any strength damage. Venom Spell III: If the Venom mage is a Wizard he can add Neutralize Poison to his Spellbook, if he is a Sorcerer he adds it to his spells known as a 5th level spell in addition to any other spells known he might have. Battle Familiar (ex): at 7th level the Venom Mage’s familiar becomes even more powerful. It grows in size again becoming a Medium Viper. Its poison DC increases again for a total of +4. The familiar also gains more durability in battle, it now has hit points equal to its masters own, and a base attack bonus equal to its masters caster level. Greater Envenom Spell: At 8th level the metamagic feat envenom spell increases in power once again, now an envenomed spell does 2 points of constitution damage, in addition to the Strength and dexterity damage. Venom Immunity (ex): at 9th level the Venom Mage becomes immune to all poisons. Venom Spell IV: If the Venom mage is a Wizard he can add Summon Nature’s Ally VI (1d4+1 huge vipers only) to his Spellbook, if he is a Sorcerer he adds it to his spells known as an 6th level spell in addition to any other spells known he might have. Venomlance (sp): At 10th level a Venom Mage learns to conjure a deadly lance of bone tipped with a poisoned vipers fang once per day plus once per two points of Int or Cha modifier (A Sorcerer/Venom Mage with a Charisma of 20 can use Venomlance 3 times a day). On a successful ranged touch attack within long range the lance deals 1d4 points of piercing damage per level of Venom mage and infects the target with a terrible poison. The target must make a fortitude save (DC=17+int or cha) or take 1d10 points of constitution damage, and 1d10 points of constitution damage one minute later.
EonOmega 04-09-07, 12:46 AM	The Venom Mage Level BAB Fort Ref Will Special 1st +0 +0 +0 +2 Envenom Spell, Poison Resistance, Venom Spell I 2nd +1 +0 +0 +3 Combat Familiar 3rd +1 +1 +1 +3 Venom Spell II 4th +2 +1 +1 +4 Improved Envenom Spell 5th +2 +2 +2 +4 --- 6th +3 +2 +2 +5 Venom Spell III 7th +3 +3 +3 +5 Battle Familiar 8th +4 +3 +3 +6 Greater Envenom Spell 9th +4 +4 +4 +6 Venom Immunity, Venom Spell IV 10th +5 +4 +4 +7 Venomlance Level Progression box for yas. Seems like a cool class, you might want to put a "Ex"/"Su"/"Sp" next to those features, though.
Osedox 04-09-07, 01:35 AM	The Venom Mage Level BAB Fort Ref Will Special 1st +0 +0 +0 +2 Envenom Spell, Poison Resistance, Venom Spell I 2nd +1 +0 +0 +3 Combat Familiar 3rd +1 +1 +1 +3 Venom Spell II 4th +2 +1 +1 +4 Improved Envenom Spell 5th +2 +2 +2 +4 --- 6th +3 +2 +2 +5 Venom Spell III 7th +3 +3 +3 +5 Battle Familiar 8th +4 +3 +3 +6 Greater Envenom Spell 9th +4 +4 +4 +6 Venom Immunity, Venom Spell IV 10th +5 +4 +4 +7 Venomlance Level Progression box for yas. Seems like a cool class, you might want to put a "Ex"/"Su"/"Sp" next to those features, though.Thanks mate, have never had the hand for coding tables. I think your sugestion is good, im just not crystal clear on what should be what, but I guess that means i need to spend some time reading.
Khoran 04-09-07, 03:49 AM	Just as a bit of flavor, I'd actually say that the class should have good fort save (Either in addition to or in place of a good will) since the class is about poisons and venoms, it would seem appropriate to have a strong Fort save.
Osedox 04-09-07, 11:32 AM	Just as a bit of flavor, I'd actually say that the class should have good fort save (Either in addition to or in place of a good will) since the class is about poisons and venoms, it would seem appropriate to have a strong Fort save.Yea I thought of that, but I decided to give then a flat bonus vs poisons instead. That way they can still be more wizardly, but at the same time poion resistant.
Khoran 04-09-07, 12:05 PM	Yea I thought of that, but I decided to give then a flat bonus vs poisons instead. That way they can still be more wizardly, but at the same time poion resistant. Yeah, I saw that and I think that's good too (After awhile you could build up an immunity) and I'm not saying the good Will is bad and maybe it should be kept in addition to a good Fort, but if you think otherwise then I won't tell you you're wrong. It is, after all, your prestige class.
Osedox 04-09-07, 12:43 PM	Yeah, I saw that and I think that's good too (After awhile you could build up an immunity) and I'm not saying the good Will is bad and maybe it should be kept in addition to a good Fort, but if you think otherwise then I won't tell you you're wrong. It is, after all, your prestige class.They do get Immunity at 9th level. I do appreciate your feedback, but since this is already a 9/10th casting class, im hesitant to make it too powerful, and i feel that two saves might just do that.
Fencerboy 04-09-07, 12:50 PM	I like this class!! Makes a perfect Yuan-Ti sort of addition, although I will second the Good fort saves. However, it IS your PrC...
Osedox 04-09-07, 12:53 PM	I like this class!! Makes a perfect Yuan-Ti sort of addition, although I will second the Good fort saves. However, it IS your PrC...Ok, since two people think I should change it, my question is this. Do you think it will make the class too powerful with two good saves?
AngelLemmingThief 04-09-07, 04:37 PM	I like it, and I 'third' the call for a good Fort save. I would also be tempted to allow more uses of the Venomlance. Just personal taste but I don't like getting to 10th level in a PrC only to use the new funky ability 1/day. Maybe make it a full-round action to use, or add some similar drawback?
Khoran 04-09-07, 05:52 PM	Oh, something I just now realized, this class gets no casting progression. I'm not sure if that was intentional, but if it was an oversight, you may want to add in some progression, maybe either 1,2,4,5,7,8,10 or 2,4,6,8,10. Also, with Venomlance as ALT mention, it is a little disapointing that the capstone ability is 1/day, though. Maybe, instead, toning down the poison itself or self (1d6 Con Damage instead, perhaps, instead of a d10) and then making it usable 1+(Int or Cha) times per day.
teshen 04-09-07, 06:09 PM	Yea I thought of that, but I decided to give then a flat bonus vs poisons instead. That way they can still be more wizardly, but at the same time poion resistant. Makes sense. A good fortitude wouldn't be too bad if you removed the poison save boost... but the flavor works better as is. You lose one caster level and you have two weaknesses getting in, the snake familiar and the Great fortitude feat... I think it justifies the d6... maybe not the 4+int for skills... but it looks good. I agree that you may want to increase the uses of venom lance to 2 or 3 times a day... I may even suggest adding these bonus spells to a spontaneous caster without them counting against known spells... which would be really cool. But that might be pushing it.
teshen 04-09-07, 06:10 PM	Oh, something I just now realized, this class gets no casting progression. 9/10 casting. It says so at the top... but it could be a little better formatted... :)
Khoran 04-09-07, 07:05 PM	9/10 casting. It says so at the top... but it could be a little better formatted... :) I must have missed it. See kids, this is why reading skills are important!
Osedox 04-09-07, 09:29 PM	Makes sense. A good fortitude wouldn't be too bad if you removed the poison save boost... but the flavor works better as is. You lose one caster level and you have two weaknesses getting in, the snake familiar and the Great fortitude feat... I think it justifies the d6... maybe not the 4+int for skills... but it looks good. I agree that you may want to increase the uses of venom lance to 2 or 3 times a day... I may even suggest adding these bonus spells to a spontaneous caster without them counting against known spells... which would be really cool. But that might be pushing it.Thats they way i intended it, although my wording was fairly foggy. I changed the venomlance ability somewhat. 9/10 casting. It says so at the top... but it could be a little better formatted... :)Yea my bad. Its hard to miss now.
Osedox 04-11-07, 11:23 AM	Well im working on adding the Su/ex/sp tags to the abilities, having some difficulty. I have 3 other PrC's that I have been working on lately, and would like an opinion on which I should post next, if any. -Metamage (5 level metamagic specialist) -Swiftblade (5 level PrC remake of the other Swiftblade) -Eldritch Archer (Eldritch Knight specialized in ranged combat)
Osedox 04-14-07, 06:57 PM	Bump, and I also have a fourth PrC ready to post called the Eternal Beauty, which is a female enchantress based class.
teshen 04-14-07, 07:15 PM	. . . I have 3 other PrC's that I have been working on lately, and would like an opinion on which I should post next. . . Well, I don't know how inspiration works for you, so I've really got nothing to suggest there. However, since I've got a soft spot for arcane casters, I like a good spell warper of some kind (how I think of metamagic specialists... despite the prc with a similiar name in Complete Scoundrel) and the sultry enchantresses has always been a staple of fantasy... :) So just go with whichever idea you feel the most drawn to. :D