Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Celsun 06-11-07, 08:01 AM	I'm looking for some opinions on these powers before I plop them in a campaign for playtesting. All of these powers augment in DC at a 2pp:1dc scale (all powers do in my campaign). All of the powers that mention energy damage allow the usual choice of energy type. A courser is a lurk variant class that has psywar bonus feats instead of sneak attack and special abilities. Energy Strike Psychokinesis (energy) Level: Psychic Warrior 2 Display: Auditory, visual Manifesting time: 1 swift action Range: 0 ft. Target: One melee or thrown weapon Duration: 1 round or until discharged Saving Throw: None Power Resistance: No (see text) Power Points: 3 You imbue a thrown or melee weapon in your hands with your choice of energy. The next attack you make with that weapon causes an additional 3d6 points of energy damage. The target is allowed a power resistance check to negate the effect. If your next attack misses, or if you do not make an attack within 1 round after manifesting this power, the effect dissipates. Augment: For every two additional power point you spend, the damage from this power increases by one die (d6). Energy Shot Psychokinesis (energy) Level: Courser 3 Display: Auditory, visual Manifesting time: 1 swift action Range: 0 ft. Target: One projectile weapon Duration: 1 round or until discharged Saving Throw: None Power Resistance: No (see text) Power Points: 5 You imbue a projectile weapon in your hands with your choice of energy. The next attack you make with that weapon causes an additional 3d6 points of energy damage. The target is allowed a power resistance check to negate the effect. If your next attack misses, or if you do not make an attack within 1 round after manifesting this power, the effect dissipates. Augment: For every two additional power point you spend, the damage from this power increases by one die (d6). Killshot Psychokinesis (Death, Sonic) Level: Courser 6 Display: Auditory, visual Manifesting time: 1 standard action Range: 0 ft. Target: One projectile weapon Duration: 1 round/level or until discharged Saving Throw: None (see text) Power Resistance: No (see text) Power Points: 11 You imbue a projectile weapon in your hands with a deadly psychokinetic harmonic. The next attack you make with the weapon causes normal damage, and the target must roll a Fortitude save or die as its internal organs liquefy. Even if the target saves, it takes 5d6 points of damage. The target is also allowed a power resistance check to mitigate the effect. If your next attack misses, or if you do not make an attack before the power expires, the effect dissipates. Augment: For every 2 additional power points you spend, the damage from this power on a successful Fortitude save increases by 1d6. Strafe Psychoportation Level: Courser 5 Display: Visual Manifesting time: 1 swift action Range: Personal Target: You Duration: Instantaneous Saving Throw: None Power Resistance: No Power Points: 9 You manifest this power at the beginning of your turn, before you take any other actions. You can then use a full-round action to make one attack with a projectile weapon against every target of your choice within one range increment. You can attack a maximum number of targets equal to your manifester level. You expend ammunition normally in these attacks. Augment: For every 5 additional power points you spend, you can make an additional iterative attack against any targets you specify. For example, if you spend 10 extra power points, you can attack targets up to three times when manifesting this power. Regardless of augmentation, you can only make a total number of attacks equal to your manifester level.
InkBlot 06-11-07, 01:17 PM	Energy Shot I have opinions on all your powers, but I'll just tackle this one for now. The rest will have to wait until after breakfast. Energy Shot Psychokinesis (see text) Level: Courser 3 Display: Auditory and visual Manifesting time: 1 swift action Range: 0 ft Target: One thrown weapon or one piece of ammunition Duration: 1 round or until discharged Saving Throw: None Power Resistance: Yes; see text Power Points: 5 You charge a single thrown weapon or piece of ammunition with energy. When you successfully throw or launch to charged weapon, it discharges. The subject of your attack takes an additional 3d6 points of cold, electricity, fire, or sonic damage (as chosen by you). A creature can apply it's power resistance, if any, against the damage. Cold: A shot of this energy type deals +1 point of damage per die. Electricity: Manifesting a shot of this energy type provides a +2 bonus on manifester level checks for the purpose of overcoming power resistance. Fire: A shot of this energy type deals +1 point of damage per die. Sonic: A shot of this energy type deals -1 point of damage per die and ignores an object’s hardness. This power’s subtype is the same as the type of energy you manifest. Augment: For every two additional power points you spend, the damage from this power increases by one die (d6). The power shouldn't target you. If it targets you, then it's a power which gives you the power to imbue your shots with energy. That doesn't make any sense, even in the wacko world of D&D. Psionic powers are more direct than that. Worse yet, since the power targeted you, your enemy wouldn't be able to use his power resistance to reduce the damage (you would have to beat your own PR to use the power at all, but beating your own PR is automatic anyway). Making it a standard action which includes making an attack is messy, and I (as a personal preference) don't like it. If you still want to go that route, I strongly suggest you adopt the style of wording seen in The Tome Of Battle. If a power creates ectoplasm as it's effect, then it's metacreative. If it effects your metabolism or life force, then it's psychometabolic. If it effects your mind or your will, then it's telepathic. If it gives you special knowledge or mystically expands your senses, then it's clairsentient. If it effects or affects movement through space or time, then it's psychoportative. If it produces or controls energy, then it's psychokinetic. If it does none of these, or if it does two or more of these, then it shouldn't be a psionic power.
Celsun 06-11-07, 02:10 PM	The power shouldn't target you. If it targets you, then it's a power which gives you the power to imbue your shots with energy. Good point. Making it a standard action which includes making an attack is messy, and I (as a personal preference) don't like it. If you still want to go that route, I strongly suggest you adopt the style of wording seen in The Tome Of Battle. One I get home I think I'll dig up TOB. The powers were originally standard actions, like dissolving weapon. I really want standard-action single-attack powers; I don't want a character manifesting this power and pulling off a full attack in the same round. Swift actions are too cheap, and standard actions are too expensive in battle. I understand that the XPH doesn't have many of these kinds of attack+effect powers (graft weapon + dissipating touch or ETH, maybe?). If a power creates ectoplasm as it's effect, then it's metacreative. Good catch. I copied the wording from energy wall without paying much attention to it. I'll update it.
Celsun 06-11-07, 02:24 PM	I updated the powers in this thread.
InkBlot 06-11-07, 02:30 PM	Try "As part of manifesting this power, make a single ranged attack with a thrown weapon or projectile." That's how they do it in ToB:BoNS. E.G., hydra slaying strike states "As part of this maneuver, make a single melee attack. If this attack hits, (...)."
Celsun 06-11-07, 03:01 PM	Try "As part of manifesting this power, make a single ranged attack with a thrown weapon or projectile." That's how they do it in ToB:BoNS. E.G., hydra slaying strike states "As part of this maneuver, make a single melee attack. If this attack hits, (...)." Good idea. Should these powers cover thrown weapons as well? I tent to lump them in with melee weapons and melee weapon powers.
Scion of Coldshard 06-11-07, 03:34 PM	I'll take a stab at them ;) Although it looks to me like most of them could be rolled up into a few powers with augmentations. Energy Shot Interesting power. At level 5 you probably only have one or two attacks a round anyway so it isnt too bad. Although at that level I would probably prefer to use energy ray as it would be a touch attack and I could use less pp if I wanted to. It should probably be something like 'Target: projectile or ranged weapon touched', why not throw a bone to throwing weapons? ;) Personally, I would probably rather just make it a longer lasting power which granted something akin to flaming, frost, or whatever while it was active. I forget if there is something like it already or not, but maybe like this: Energy Shot Psychokinesis (see text) Level: Courser 3 Display: Auditory, visual Manifesting time: 1 swift action Range: Touch Target: Projectile or thrown weapon touched Duration: 1 round/level (projectile) or until thrown (up to 1 round/level, thrown weapon) Saving Throw: None Power Resistance: No Power Points: 5 Before you perform any other actions for the round you may manifest this power and touch a single projectile weapon or thrown weapon. When a projectile is fired from the projectile weapon it does an extra 1d4 points of energy damage (with the normal modifiers). When a weapon is thrown it does an extra 5d6 points of energy damage (with the normal modifiers). Augment: For the appropriate weapon type these are your choices for aguments: Projectile: For every 3 additional power points you spend, the damage from this power increases by d4+mod. Thrown: For every 2 additional power points you spend, the damage from this power increases by d6+mod. Energy Volley I would suggest adding this as an augement on the last power actually. Augment: In addition to the other augmentations based on weapon type you may choose the following (points spend on these increase the effect from above for the appropriate weapon type). 1. 2 pp - the extra damage done from this power bursts in a 5' radius around the square that it impacted the creature. The initial creature does not take damage from this burst. Save for half damage (save type as normal for the energy type). 2. 4 pp - double the radius of the burst (5, 10, 20, 40, 80, etc). For every 2 pp spent on any augmentation the save dc for the burst effect is increased by 1 point. One Shot Kill Eh, save or die. Boring and I hate save or dies. For anti-mook kill how about something that works like cleave for the ranged weapon? Ricochet Psychokinesis (see text) Level: Courser 4 Display: Auditory, visual Manifesting time: 1 swift action Range: Touch Target: Projectile or thrown weapon touched Duration: Next shot from a projectile weapon or next ranged attack with a thrown weapon (up to 1 round/level before effect dissapates harmlessly) Saving Throw: None Power Resistance: No Power Points: 7 Before you perform any other actions for the round you may manifest this power and touch a single projectile (arrow, bolt, etc) or thrown weapon. The projectile or thrown weapon gains a property similar to cleave. If it deals more than half of the creatures remaining hp it continues on to the next closest opponent within range (total range is cumulative so range penalties keep going up and eventually the weapon simply cannot go further) but it deals 1 less point of damage (also cumulative). If the weapon did enough damage to drop that creature to less than 0 hp then that hit does not count against it for the damage dropping. No creature may be effected more than once by this attack and some attacks may stop the ranged weapon prematurely (such as the snatch arrow ability or an arrow catching item). The total number of creatures that may be hit with a single shot is half of your manifester level, rounded down. Powers such as energy shot only work on the first target struck. Precision based damage also only works on the first target struck. Augment: 1. 2 pp - the total number of creatures possible to hit increases to your manifester level 2. 4 pp - increase the range increment of your weapon as though you had far shot (if you already have far shot double its bonuses, +100% for projectiles, +200% for thrown weapons) 3. 6 pp - if you have the telekinetic thrust power you may use this augment to hurl an appropriate object which then gains the benefits of this power. Multishot I like it! I would still put some sort of augment on it though so that it can have something to grow into later though. Maybe a 6 point augment to make it a standard action? Possibly a 8 point augment to give a single iterative attack? Then again, it might be ok to reduce the level of it and maybe even the cost of some of these. I would have to play around with it in some of my home scenarios to see what I thought about where it should be. A single arrow to 10 different guys is fun but almost useless. I would suggest some sort of limitation on precision damage though, even with what I just said. Perhaps limit it to one target or maybe even up to 1 target per wisdom bonus. If it was level 3 (base 5 point cost), did not allow for precision damage at all (sneak attack, sudden strike, etc), did not allow for rapid shot to be used (seems that way now), and had an augment of 4 points that allowed for an extra iterative attack then... At level 5 one attack on up to 5 different guys within some range At level 9 two attacks (full, -5) on up to 9 different guys within some range At level 13 three attacks (full, -5, -10) on up to 13 guys within some range at level 17 four attacks (full, -5, -10, -15, if you happen to have that much BAB somehow) on up to 17 guys within some range The first seems ok when comparing with fireball. The last seems ok when comparing to any 9th level spell or power damage and effect wise, especially since you are unlikely to be able to do it without some hefty multiclassing. Strafe I think that this power and the last power should have their names flipped ;) For this guy, spend 7 pp to not allow rapid shot and get basically +0, +5, +10, +15 to hit (under a best case, non-epic scenario). Given that it will normally be +0, +5, +10 for this guy going up to level 20 and you have to give up using rapid shot plus it has to be within the first range increment and it uses up a swift plus a full round action I would probably call this one level 1. At worst I would call it level 1 with a 2 point augment for each attack beyond the second attack on the full attack. Energy Strike Deathblow I would make versions like above for these but with more melee oriented abilities. For the first, d4's constantly. The extra bursting augment I would probably make the same but have the character using the weapon count as having improved evasion vs its damage. For the second I would simply have it be that if the character weilding the weapon has cleave then cleave triggers if you do more than half of the creatures remaining hd but if it does that trigger (instead of the normal one) the next attack only does half damage (divided each time, so it could be possible to go through several guys if they are all really weak and he has a lot of damage).
Celsun 06-11-07, 06:06 PM	Interesting power. At level 5 you probably only have one or two attacks a round anyway so it isnt too bad. Although at that level I would probably prefer to use energy ray as it would be a touch attack and I could use less pp if I wanted to. I didn't think of that. Given that EK:energy ray is available, I think Energy Shot can be more powerful. Personally, I would probably rather just make it a longer lasting power which granted something akin to flaming, frost, or whatever while it was active. The XPH already has that covered with Weapon of Energy, although the power needs an augment. A single arrow to 10 different guys is fun but almost useless. I updated the power in this thread to reflect that. I would suggest some sort of limitation on precision damage though, even with what I just said. Perhaps limit it to one target or maybe even up to 1 target per wisdom bonus. I thought about that, but it complicates the power. A character able to manifest Strafe probably doesn't have significant precision damage to worry about it. I just updated all of the powers after having some time to think about them.