Proposed new power: Jasmer's Transformation [Archive] - Wizards Community

Proposed new power: Jasmer's Transformation [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Herid_Fel
04-11-08, 05:36 PM Hello,
I've been thinking about playing a martially oriented psion. Egoist works well for my needs, and metamorphosis helps make up for my somewhat-lacking physical ability modifiers. I'm looking at the gap between metamorphosis and greater metamorphosis, and I was interested in making a power similar to the spell "Transformation". I've copied what I came up with below; tell me if you think it looks balanced.

Jasmer's Transformation
Psychometabolism
Level: Egoist 7
Display: Material and olfactory
Manifesting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 1 round/level
Power Points: 13

You become a virtual fighting machine—stronger, tougher, faster, and more skilled in combat. Your mind-set changes so that you relish combat and you can’t manifest powers, even from psionic items.

You gain a +4 enhancement bonus to Dexterity and Constitution, a +4 natural armor bonus to AC, and proficiency with a martial melee weapon of your choice. Your base attack bonus equals your character level (which may give you multiple attacks). Finally, you may use your Intelligence in place of your Strength to determine your melee attack bonus, melee and thrown weapon damage rolls, and Strength checks.

You lose your manifesting ability, including your ability to use power trigger or power completion items, just as if the powers were no longer on your class list.
KyussWren
04-12-08, 04:37 AM Its a spoof on Tenser's Transformation.
I'll allow it, but only if you tell me who this Jasmer person is in some detail and include other powers that they have researched.
I can't remember which one was better, Nightwalker's Transformation or Tenser's Transformation.
zeratulcraft
04-12-08, 04:47 AM Why does Jasmer have to have made other powers? Maybe all the other powers were to his liking and he just made one that filled a gap.

And can you tell anyone anything about Bigby? Mordenkainen? Melf? Leomund?
CrimsonDeath
04-12-08, 11:34 AM And can you tell anyone anything about Bigby? Mordenkainen? Melf? Leomund?

They (along with Evard and Tasha) were, I believe, characters from Gary Gygax's campaign(s). Information on them is available from a simple Google search, but I currently have neither the time nor the inclination to perform it.

Meanwhile, I could've sworn there was already a Psionic Tenser's Transformation power, although I can't seem to remember what it was actually called or what book it was in.
KyussWren
04-12-08, 12:34 PM Oh come on, its only 20 minutes worth of typing and some copy pasta.
Since it does fall under psychometabolism I don't think it falls under the variable rule that you need to have the power one power level higher than the similar spell.

And actually, yes, I can tell people about Bigby, Merdenkainen, Melf, Leomund, Evard, and Tasha.
The_Shaman
04-12-08, 02:34 PM Why does Jasmer have to have made other powers? Maybe all the other powers were to his liking and he just made one that filled a gap.

And can you tell anyone anything about Bigby? Mordenkainen? Melf? Leomund?

I have heard that Melf the elf was the character Gygax's son played at some point. There was an article about it a few issues of Dragon ago about him and the emergence of loot-centric adventuring parties.

IIRC quite a few of them are also iconic mages in their setting, as well, but my Greyhawk lore is practically non-existent.
Herid_Fel
04-12-08, 02:44 PM And actually, yes, I can tell people about Bigby, Merdenkainen, Melf, Leomund, Evard, and Tasha.

I'd like to hear about Merdenkainen.

On a more serious note, I'm well aware that it's based on Tenser's Transformation. That's why I said so in my original post. I considered listing a summary of the changes as well, but I figured that most people would be able to look at the SRD if they wanted clarification.

The two benefits that this power provides over Tenser's Transformation are the lack of material component and the replacement of Strength with Intelligence.

The first part means that it doesn't cost 300 gp each time the power is manifested, and more importantly, it doesn't provoke an attack of opportunity like drinking a potion normally would. The second part means that the psion will be able to use the spell by itself, rather than requiring metamorphosis into another form in order to have a half-decent Strength to begin with. I felt these benefits required something to compensate, so I limited the proficiencies gained, removed the competence bonus to Fortitude, and took out the enhancement bonus to Strength (which isn't needed so much anyway).

I had also raised the level to be on the safe side. If it seems more like a level 6 power still, then I personally wouldn't have a problem lowering it. This is a power that my psion Jasmer was researching, so I don't need you to allow it for my game. I'm solely interested in the mechanics, since the power creation rules are more like suggestions than anything else.

I'll also point out that psions are much less likely to research multiple powers because of their limited powers known. Erudites might research more powers, but they probably wouldn't be creating discipline-specific powers either.

If there is already a psionic version of Tenser's Transformation, I'd like to take a look at it. I didn't see it in the XPH or CompPsi, or in any of the books with a couple scattered powers in them (Magic of Eberron, Cityscape, a few others).
InkBlot
04-12-08, 02:57 PM Meanwhile, I could've sworn there was already a Psionic Tenser's Transformation power, although I can't seem to remember what it was actually called or what book it was in.

Combat Transformation from the Mind's Eye.

And can you tell anyone anything about Bigby? Mordenkainen? Melf? Leomund?
They were all character played in Greyhawk. They went on to become major parts of the campaign setting, and appear in many Greyhawk novels. They also each have a page about them on Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigby_%28Greyhawk%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordenkainen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leomund
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rary
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenser

Melf is only mentioned on the page about Greyhawk itself.
"Melf, an elf who violates his queen's isolationist policies to fight wickedness."

Psionic powers aren't named after people. Wizards name their spells after themselves because, in order for another wizard to learn that spell, it must be directly copied from the wizard who created it. Psions don't need to do this. Any psion can independently develop the ability to manifest any power her mind is strong enough to hold.

Compare the rules for developing new spells (page 198 of the Dungeon Master's Guid) to the rules for developing new powers (page 64 of the Expanded Psionics Handbook). A wizard must have access to a well stocked library. A psion only needs peace enough to meditate.

Your character may name her power after herself, but other psionicists are in no way beholden to keep calling it that. Another psion could simply witness "Jasmer's Transformation" in use, then go home and discover it for herself, without ever even hearing your character speak of the power.
Herid_Fel
04-12-08, 03:09 PM Combat Transformation from the Mind's Eye.

Psionic powers aren't named after people. Wizards name their spells after themselves because, in order for another wizard to learn that spell, it must be directly copied from the wizard who created it. Psions don't need to do this. Any psion can independently develop the ability to manifest any power her mind is strong enough to hold.

Compare the rules for developing new spells (page 198 of the Dungeon Master's Guid) to the rules for developing new powers (page 64 of the Expanded Psionics Handbook). A wizard must have access to a well stocked library. A psion only needs peace enough to meditate.

Your character may name her power after herself, but other psionicists are in no way beholden to keep calling it that. Another psion could simply witness "Jasmer's Transformation" in use, then go home and discover it for herself, without ever even hearing your character speak of the power.

Thanks; it looks like Combat Transformation is even closer to Tenser's Transformation than my version, and doesn't include a material component. I think that the Intelligence/Strength swap could be covered by removing the competence bonus to Fortitude saves, the enhancement bonus to Strength, and eliminating the ability to augment the power.

I'm also not worried about the name being changed. Wizards aren't beholden to keep the name of a spell the same either, but it seems like a lot of them do so anyway.
InkBlot
04-12-08, 03:29 PM You can use Int instead of Str by manifesting control body on yourself, and using solicit psicrystal to maintain it while you fight (or having a schismed mind manifest it for you).

You can gain the stat boosts by just augmenting animal affinity.

Natural armor is easy to get with thicken skin.

The bonus to attacks from high BAB can be duplicated with offensive precognition, but I don't know of any power which grants extra attacks (other than the ones that grant natural attacks).

I just thought I'd bring up those points, as they seem relevant to guaging the balance of transformation. Of course it's going to be stronger than those, since it's higher level, but all you're really gaining (assuming you already had most of those powers) is a couple few rounds of buff-time. Of course, the buff time depends on whether or not you're using schism, or Quicken Power, or if you have a buff left over from last battle.

And all that still allows you to manifest powers.
Herid_Fel
04-12-08, 08:51 PM Thanks again for the suggestions. I hadn't thought of the trick of using control body on myself. I've tended to use my psicrystal more offensively (through sharing a metamorphosis) rather than using solicit psicrystal.

Since my character hasn't taken schism or Quicken Power (I've had enough concerns about going nova), I'm better served by the single power and the single action to manifest it, even with the drawback of no other powers manifested during its duration.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Herid_Fel 04-11-08, 05:36 PM	Hello, I've been thinking about playing a martially oriented psion. Egoist works well for my needs, and metamorphosis helps make up for my somewhat-lacking physical ability modifiers. I'm looking at the gap between metamorphosis and greater metamorphosis, and I was interested in making a power similar to the spell "Transformation". I've copied what I came up with below; tell me if you think it looks balanced. Jasmer's Transformation Psychometabolism Level: Egoist 7 Display: Material and olfactory Manifesting Time: 1 standard action Range: Personal Target: You Duration: 1 round/level Power Points: 13 You become a virtual fighting machine—stronger, tougher, faster, and more skilled in combat. Your mind-set changes so that you relish combat and you can’t manifest powers, even from psionic items. You gain a +4 enhancement bonus to Dexterity and Constitution, a +4 natural armor bonus to AC, and proficiency with a martial melee weapon of your choice. Your base attack bonus equals your character level (which may give you multiple attacks). Finally, you may use your Intelligence in place of your Strength to determine your melee attack bonus, melee and thrown weapon damage rolls, and Strength checks. You lose your manifesting ability, including your ability to use power trigger or power completion items, just as if the powers were no longer on your class list.
KyussWren 04-12-08, 04:37 AM	Its a spoof on Tenser's Transformation. I'll allow it, but only if you tell me who this Jasmer person is in some detail and include other powers that they have researched. I can't remember which one was better, Nightwalker's Transformation or Tenser's Transformation.
zeratulcraft 04-12-08, 04:47 AM	Why does Jasmer have to have made other powers? Maybe all the other powers were to his liking and he just made one that filled a gap. And can you tell anyone anything about Bigby? Mordenkainen? Melf? Leomund?
CrimsonDeath 04-12-08, 11:34 AM	And can you tell anyone anything about Bigby? Mordenkainen? Melf? Leomund? They (along with Evard and Tasha) were, I believe, characters from Gary Gygax's campaign(s). Information on them is available from a simple Google search, but I currently have neither the time nor the inclination to perform it. Meanwhile, I could've sworn there was already a Psionic Tenser's Transformation power, although I can't seem to remember what it was actually called or what book it was in.
KyussWren 04-12-08, 12:34 PM	Oh come on, its only 20 minutes worth of typing and some copy pasta. Since it does fall under psychometabolism I don't think it falls under the variable rule that you need to have the power one power level higher than the similar spell. And actually, yes, I can tell people about Bigby, Merdenkainen, Melf, Leomund, Evard, and Tasha.
The_Shaman 04-12-08, 02:34 PM	Why does Jasmer have to have made other powers? Maybe all the other powers were to his liking and he just made one that filled a gap. And can you tell anyone anything about Bigby? Mordenkainen? Melf? Leomund? I have heard that Melf the elf was the character Gygax's son played at some point. There was an article about it a few issues of Dragon ago about him and the emergence of loot-centric adventuring parties. IIRC quite a few of them are also iconic mages in their setting, as well, but my Greyhawk lore is practically non-existent.
Herid_Fel 04-12-08, 02:44 PM	And actually, yes, I can tell people about Bigby, Merdenkainen, Melf, Leomund, Evard, and Tasha. I'd like to hear about Merdenkainen. On a more serious note, I'm well aware that it's based on Tenser's Transformation. That's why I said so in my original post. I considered listing a summary of the changes as well, but I figured that most people would be able to look at the SRD if they wanted clarification. The two benefits that this power provides over Tenser's Transformation are the lack of material component and the replacement of Strength with Intelligence. The first part means that it doesn't cost 300 gp each time the power is manifested, and more importantly, it doesn't provoke an attack of opportunity like drinking a potion normally would. The second part means that the psion will be able to use the spell by itself, rather than requiring metamorphosis into another form in order to have a half-decent Strength to begin with. I felt these benefits required something to compensate, so I limited the proficiencies gained, removed the competence bonus to Fortitude, and took out the enhancement bonus to Strength (which isn't needed so much anyway). I had also raised the level to be on the safe side. If it seems more like a level 6 power still, then I personally wouldn't have a problem lowering it. This is a power that my psion Jasmer was researching, so I don't need you to allow it for my game. I'm solely interested in the mechanics, since the power creation rules are more like suggestions than anything else. I'll also point out that psions are much less likely to research multiple powers because of their limited powers known. Erudites might research more powers, but they probably wouldn't be creating discipline-specific powers either. If there is already a psionic version of Tenser's Transformation, I'd like to take a look at it. I didn't see it in the XPH or CompPsi, or in any of the books with a couple scattered powers in them (Magic of Eberron, Cityscape, a few others).
InkBlot 04-12-08, 02:57 PM	Meanwhile, I could've sworn there was already a Psionic Tenser's Transformation power, although I can't seem to remember what it was actually called or what book it was in. Combat Transformation from the Mind's Eye. And can you tell anyone anything about Bigby? Mordenkainen? Melf? Leomund? They were all character played in Greyhawk. They went on to become major parts of the campaign setting, and appear in many Greyhawk novels. They also each have a page about them on Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigby_%28Greyhawk%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordenkainen http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leomund http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rary http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenser Melf is only mentioned on the page about Greyhawk itself. "Melf, an elf who violates his queen's isolationist policies to fight wickedness." Psionic powers aren't named after people. Wizards name their spells after themselves because, in order for another wizard to learn that spell, it must be directly copied from the wizard who created it. Psions don't need to do this. Any psion can independently develop the ability to manifest any power her mind is strong enough to hold. Compare the rules for developing new spells (page 198 of the Dungeon Master's Guid) to the rules for developing new powers (page 64 of the Expanded Psionics Handbook). A wizard must have access to a well stocked library. A psion only needs peace enough to meditate. Your character may name her power after herself, but other psionicists are in no way beholden to keep calling it that. Another psion could simply witness "Jasmer's Transformation" in use, then go home and discover it for herself, without ever even hearing your character speak of the power.
Herid_Fel 04-12-08, 03:09 PM	Combat Transformation from the Mind's Eye. Psionic powers aren't named after people. Wizards name their spells after themselves because, in order for another wizard to learn that spell, it must be directly copied from the wizard who created it. Psions don't need to do this. Any psion can independently develop the ability to manifest any power her mind is strong enough to hold. Compare the rules for developing new spells (page 198 of the Dungeon Master's Guid) to the rules for developing new powers (page 64 of the Expanded Psionics Handbook). A wizard must have access to a well stocked library. A psion only needs peace enough to meditate. Your character may name her power after herself, but other psionicists are in no way beholden to keep calling it that. Another psion could simply witness "Jasmer's Transformation" in use, then go home and discover it for herself, without ever even hearing your character speak of the power. Thanks; it looks like Combat Transformation is even closer to Tenser's Transformation than my version, and doesn't include a material component. I think that the Intelligence/Strength swap could be covered by removing the competence bonus to Fortitude saves, the enhancement bonus to Strength, and eliminating the ability to augment the power. I'm also not worried about the name being changed. Wizards aren't beholden to keep the name of a spell the same either, but it seems like a lot of them do so anyway.
InkBlot 04-12-08, 03:29 PM	You can use Int instead of Str by manifesting control body on yourself, and using solicit psicrystal to maintain it while you fight (or having a schismed mind manifest it for you). You can gain the stat boosts by just augmenting animal affinity. Natural armor is easy to get with thicken skin. The bonus to attacks from high BAB can be duplicated with offensive precognition, but I don't know of any power which grants extra attacks (other than the ones that grant natural attacks). I just thought I'd bring up those points, as they seem relevant to guaging the balance of transformation. Of course it's going to be stronger than those, since it's higher level, but all you're really gaining (assuming you already had most of those powers) is a couple few rounds of buff-time. Of course, the buff time depends on whether or not you're using schism, or Quicken Power, or if you have a buff left over from last battle. And all that still allows you to manifest powers.
Herid_Fel 04-12-08, 08:51 PM	Thanks again for the suggestions. I hadn't thought of the trick of using control body on myself. I've tended to use my psicrystal more offensively (through sharing a metamorphosis) rather than using solicit psicrystal. Since my character hasn't taken schism or Quicken Power (I've had enough concerns about going nova), I'm better served by the single power and the single action to manifest it, even with the drawback of no other powers manifested during its duration.