Ruby Disciple 3.5: Please review this adaptation [Archive] - Wizards Community

Ruby Disciple 3.5: Please review this adaptation [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Karkaras
09-22-07, 10:11 PM I would like to receive constructive critics about this adaptation to 3.5.
A player in the game I DM is a Favored Soul of Sardior, so I think this PrC (found in http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/psi/psi20030124c ) is a tool for character evolution. Sadly, I found that the augmentation mechanics in 3.5 represented a problem for using this 3.0 PrC.

I am enumarating the changes here:

Requirements:
Alignment: Instead of "any neutral" I made it restricted to Lawful Neutral, True Neutral and Chaotic Neutral. Neutral Good or Neutral Evil just didn't feel right in my eyes.
Manifesting: 4th level psionic power. Telepaths shouldn't had any preference in getting this PrC.
Feats: Replaced "any divine feat" for Heighten Spell, and "Psychoanalyst" for any psionic feat.
Unified list of class features.
"Spell Use" can be used to have Sardios's mantle powers.
A Ruby Disciple has both Spell Use and Power Use. I don't think it can be broken.
Breath Weapon's DC now improves as the Ruby Disciple advances in levels.
Egoist and Psywars now have a Cone of Dehydratations, like Topaz Dragons.

Also please note that I am using this information for Sardior:

Domains: Knowledge, Dragon, Trickery, Mind
Mantles: Knowledge, Mental Power, Dragon???
(The Dragon mantle would be like a mix from the powers found in http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20030926b )

All changes has been marked in bold

"We see you . . . move along now."

Even though Sardior's clergy tend to be welcomed everywhere much as bards are, they know not everyone is as friendly as they seem. A small group of his clergy trains to be a martial arm of the church, serving not only as a defense but also as a show of force so that they can keep potential thieves away. This group is known as the ruby disciples. They seek the power of Sardior, the ruby dragon, to enhance their combat capabilities. Both cleric and psions enter the service of the dragon, and while their training is similar, they have marked differences in their abilities. A character possessing both cleric and psionic levels must choose to be a divine ruby disciple or a psionic ruby disciple.

Hit Dice: d8.

Requirements
To qualify as a ruby disciple, a character must meet the following criteria.
Alignment: Lawful Neutral, True Neutral, or Chaotic Neutral.
Spells/Manifesting: Ability to cast a divine spell of 4th level or higher, or ability to manifest a 4th-level psionic power.
Feats: Combat Casting and Heighten Power, or Combat Manifestation and Inquisitor (Previously "any psionic feat").
Skills: Bluff4 ranks, Diplomacy 4 ranks.
Special: Must be a worshiper of Sardior.

Table: The Ruby Disciple

Level BAB Fort Ref Will Special Powers known/Spells known

1st +0 +0 +0 +2 Ruby eyes, spell use, power use
2nd +1 +0 +3 +3 Claws +1 divine or manifester level
3rd +2 +1 +1 +3 Natural armor (+2) +1 divine or manifester level
4th +3 +1 +1 +4 Breath weapon
5th +3 +1 +1 +4 Ruby eyes +1 divine or manifester level
6th +4 +2 +2 +5 Natural armor (+4) +1 divine or manifester level
7th +5 +2 +2 +5 Breath weapon
8th +6/+1 +2 +2 +6 Ruby eyes +1 divine or manifester level
9th +6/+1 +3 +3 +6 Natural armor (+6)
10th +7/+2 +3 +3 +7 Breath weapon +1 divine or manifester level

Class Skills
The ruby disciple's class skills are Autohypnosis (Wis) Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Diplomacy (Cha), Gather Information (Cha), Knowledge (any) (Int), Psicraft (Int), Spellcraft (Int).
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Class Features
Armor and Weapon Proficiency: Ruby disciples become proficient with all types of armor (light, medium, and heavy). They also gain proficiency in simple and martial weapons, though many prefer to use their claws exclusively when they gain that class ability.

Spells per day/Powers Known: A Ruby Disciple may continue her magical or psionic training while becoming a vivid image of Sardior. At every level except 1st, 4th, 7th and 9th level, the character choose to gain new spells per day (and spells known, if applicable) as if she had also gained one level in a previous divine spellcasting class, or gain additional power points per day, an increase in manifester level, and access to new powers as if she had also gained a level in whatever manifesting class to which you belonged before adding the prestige class level.
She does not, however, gain any other benefi t a character of that class would have gained (improved chance of turning or destroying undead, metapsionic or item creation feats, and so on). If the character had more than one spellcasting or manifesting class in which she could cast 4th-level spells or 4th level powers before becoming a void disciple, the player must decide to which class to add each void disciple level for the purpose of determining spells per day and spells known.[/B]

Spell Use (Sp): Ruby disciples gain access to the mantles granted by Sardior as clerical spells starting at 1st level. They can select psionic powers from those mantles to replace normally granted spells per day. They can use the Heighten spell metamagic feat to treat a spell as if it has been augmented.

Power USe (Sp): Ruby disciples can discover Sardior's domain spells as though they were psionic powers of equal level. Discovering a spell this way replaces one of the normal powers discovered by the psionic ruby disciple. Ruby disciples can discover domain spells as powers only when gaining a level of psionic ruby disciple.

Ruby Eyes (Ex): At 1st level, the ruby disciple's eyes transform into rubylike crystal. They have an inner glow and can act as a holy symbol. At 1st level, this transformation gives the ruby disciple low-light vision. At 5th level, they also grant darkvision. If the character already has either of these, their range is doubled. At 8th level, their eyes grant them true seeing, usable up to 10 minutes per day.

Claws (Ex): The ruby disciple gains retractable claws that do a base d8 damage. Extending or retracting the claws is a free action, but doing so can be performed only once per round.

Natural Armor (Ex): As the ruby disciple gains levels, his skin undergoes a transformation. Initially, his skin becomes pale red in color, as though sunburned. As the transformation progresses, his skin gets deeper red in color and turns into faceted scales, as though covered with plates of ruby. This translates into a natural armor bonus of +2 at 3rd level, which increases to +4 at 6th level, and then to +6 at 9th level.

Breath Weapon (Su): Starting at 4th level, the ruby disciple gains a breath weapon. The type of breath weapon varies depending on the former class of the ruby disciple as shown on the chart below. Using the breath weapon is a full action, and can be used once per day. The power of the breath weapon increases at 7th- level and again at 10th-level. The save DC against is 10 + Class levels + Con modifier.

Table: The Ruby Disciple's Breath Weapon
Former class Breath Type 4th level 7th level 10th level

Egoist or PsyWar Cone of Dehydratation 2d8 4d8 6d8
Nomad Cone of Sound 2d8 4d8 6d8
Savant Line of Force 2d8 4d8 6d8
Shaper Cone of Fire 2d8 4d8 6d8
Spellcaster or SeerCone of Sound 2d8 4d8 6d8
Telepath Cone of Light 2d8 4d8 6d8

*Note: Ardents and Divine Minds can choose any Breath Weapon. Wilder's Breath weapons depends over from which discipline she choosed most of her powers.

Thanks for any advice you can give me.
RavinRay
09-23-07, 03:42 AM I would like to receive constructive critics about this adaptation to 3.5.
I did my own update at the defunct Third Eye, and put it into a PDF with the rest of The Legends of Sardior articles. Here's where mine differs.
Alignment: Any non-evil and non-good.
The wording of "any neutral" can be confusing because does it mean having a neutral component like a druid's required alignment, or just morally neutral (LN, N, CN)? I think Mark and Scott meant the latter. However, feel free to clarify the wording.
Spells/Manifesting: Ability to cast a divine spell of 4th level or higher, or ability to manifest a 4th-level psionic power.
I kept the original as is. All psions can learn telepathy powers not restricted to telepaths.
Feats: Combat Casting and Heighten Power, or Combat Manifestation and any psionic feat.
I didn't change the divine feats, used the Inquisitor psionic feat instead.
Spell Use (Sp): Ruby disciples gain access to the mantles granted by Sardior as clerical spells starting at 1st level. They can select psionic powers from those mantles to replace normally granted spells per day. They can use the Heighten spell metamagic feat to treat a spell as if it has been augmented.
I didn't include mantles because I restricted myself to the XPH. This one sounds good though.
Table: The Ruby Disciple's Breath Weapon
Former class Breath Type 4th level 7th level 10th level

Egoist or PsyWar Cone of Dehydratation 2d8 4d8 6d8
Nomad Cone of Sound 2d4 4d4 6d4
Savant Line of Force 2d8 4d8 6d8
Shaper Cone of Fire 2d10 4d10 6d10
Spellcaster or SeerCone of Sound 2d6 4d6 6d6
Telepath or Wilder Cone of Light 2d6 4d6 6d6

*Note: Ardents and Divine Minds can choose any Breath Weapon
Doc Draco suggested the Wilder share the same breath weapon as the Savant, now the Kineticist, which I did. I used d8 for all breath weapons, because of an analogy with the half-dragon: the 3E version used different dice for different base dragons, while the 3.5E version was the same throughout. We also kept the cold breath for egoists and Psychic Warriors.
Karkaras
09-23-07, 10:22 PM My main concern with allowing a 3rd level telepathy powers to fill the requirements is that it puts the telepathy discipline above all others. Something I don't like, given that Sardior should treat all disciplines equally.

Inquisitor is a good choice for a fixed requirement feat. I will think about it, and is probably that I will edit the post to add Inquisitor.

The problem I saw with a "divine" Ruby Disciple is how would they cast the converted psionic powers which had augmentation. Would they freely "augment" them as caster level gets higher? Would they cast always the unaugmented psionic power? I decided to replace the divine feat for Heighten Power. And besides, a divine feat doesn't feel too much psionic for me :-)

Thanks for pointing me the Breath Weapon damage error. I will fix it soon. I will definitely keep Dehydratation as the breath weapon for egoist and psychic warriors, but what would you think to use a d6 for only Dehydratation damage? After all, noone is immune to Dehydratation.
Wilders and the new classes in CPsi are a wild guess for me. I am currently tempted to give them a breath weapon based on from which discipline they take most of their powers. For example a wilder who has the majority of his known powers from the Psychokinesis Discipline, would have a Line of Force.
Karkaras
09-30-07, 06:24 PM So... any advice, critics or questions this forum would like to formulate?

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Karkaras 09-22-07, 10:11 PM	I would like to receive constructive critics about this adaptation to 3.5. A player in the game I DM is a Favored Soul of Sardior, so I think this PrC (found in http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/psi/psi20030124c ) is a tool for character evolution. Sadly, I found that the augmentation mechanics in 3.5 represented a problem for using this 3.0 PrC. I am enumarating the changes here: Requirements: Alignment: Instead of "any neutral" I made it restricted to Lawful Neutral, True Neutral and Chaotic Neutral. Neutral Good or Neutral Evil just didn't feel right in my eyes. Manifesting: 4th level psionic power. Telepaths shouldn't had any preference in getting this PrC. Feats: Replaced "any divine feat" for Heighten Spell, and "Psychoanalyst" for any psionic feat. Unified list of class features. "Spell Use" can be used to have Sardios's mantle powers. A Ruby Disciple has both Spell Use and Power Use. I don't think it can be broken. Breath Weapon's DC now improves as the Ruby Disciple advances in levels. Egoist and Psywars now have a Cone of Dehydratations, like Topaz Dragons. Also please note that I am using this information for Sardior: Domains: Knowledge, Dragon, Trickery, Mind Mantles: Knowledge, Mental Power, Dragon??? (The Dragon mantle would be like a mix from the powers found in http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20030926b ) All changes has been marked in bold "We see you . . . move along now." Even though Sardior's clergy tend to be welcomed everywhere much as bards are, they know not everyone is as friendly as they seem. A small group of his clergy trains to be a martial arm of the church, serving not only as a defense but also as a show of force so that they can keep potential thieves away. This group is known as the ruby disciples. They seek the power of Sardior, the ruby dragon, to enhance their combat capabilities. Both cleric and psions enter the service of the dragon, and while their training is similar, they have marked differences in their abilities. A character possessing both cleric and psionic levels must choose to be a divine ruby disciple or a psionic ruby disciple. Hit Dice: d8. Requirements To qualify as a ruby disciple, a character must meet the following criteria. Alignment: Lawful Neutral, True Neutral, or Chaotic Neutral. Spells/Manifesting: Ability to cast a divine spell of 4th level or higher, or ability to manifest a 4th-level psionic power. Feats: Combat Casting and Heighten Power, or Combat Manifestation and Inquisitor (Previously "any psionic feat"). Skills: Bluff4 ranks, Diplomacy 4 ranks. Special: Must be a worshiper of Sardior. Table: The Ruby Disciple Level BAB Fort Ref Will Special Powers known/Spells known 1st +0 +0 +0 +2 Ruby eyes, spell use, power use 2nd +1 +0 +3 +3 Claws +1 divine or manifester level 3rd +2 +1 +1 +3 Natural armor (+2) +1 divine or manifester level 4th +3 +1 +1 +4 Breath weapon 5th +3 +1 +1 +4 Ruby eyes +1 divine or manifester level 6th +4 +2 +2 +5 Natural armor (+4) +1 divine or manifester level 7th +5 +2 +2 +5 Breath weapon 8th +6/+1 +2 +2 +6 Ruby eyes +1 divine or manifester level 9th +6/+1 +3 +3 +6 Natural armor (+6) 10th +7/+2 +3 +3 +7 Breath weapon +1 divine or manifester level Class Skills The ruby disciple's class skills are Autohypnosis (Wis) Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Diplomacy (Cha), Gather Information (Cha), Knowledge (any) (Int), Psicraft (Int), Spellcraft (Int). Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier. Class Features Armor and Weapon Proficiency: Ruby disciples become proficient with all types of armor (light, medium, and heavy). They also gain proficiency in simple and martial weapons, though many prefer to use their claws exclusively when they gain that class ability. Spells per day/Powers Known: A Ruby Disciple may continue her magical or psionic training while becoming a vivid image of Sardior. At every level except 1st, 4th, 7th and 9th level, the character choose to gain new spells per day (and spells known, if applicable) as if she had also gained one level in a previous divine spellcasting class, or gain additional power points per day, an increase in manifester level, and access to new powers as if she had also gained a level in whatever manifesting class to which you belonged before adding the prestige class level. She does not, however, gain any other benefi t a character of that class would have gained (improved chance of turning or destroying undead, metapsionic or item creation feats, and so on). If the character had more than one spellcasting or manifesting class in which she could cast 4th-level spells or 4th level powers before becoming a void disciple, the player must decide to which class to add each void disciple level for the purpose of determining spells per day and spells known.[/B] Spell Use (Sp): Ruby disciples gain access to the mantles granted by Sardior as clerical spells starting at 1st level. They can select psionic powers from those mantles to replace normally granted spells per day. They can use the Heighten spell metamagic feat to treat a spell as if it has been augmented. Power USe (Sp): Ruby disciples can discover Sardior's domain spells as though they were psionic powers of equal level. Discovering a spell this way replaces one of the normal powers discovered by the psionic ruby disciple. Ruby disciples can discover domain spells as powers only when gaining a level of psionic ruby disciple. Ruby Eyes (Ex): At 1st level, the ruby disciple's eyes transform into rubylike crystal. They have an inner glow and can act as a holy symbol. At 1st level, this transformation gives the ruby disciple low-light vision. At 5th level, they also grant darkvision. If the character already has either of these, their range is doubled. At 8th level, their eyes grant them true seeing, usable up to 10 minutes per day. Claws (Ex): The ruby disciple gains retractable claws that do a base d8 damage. Extending or retracting the claws is a free action, but doing so can be performed only once per round. Natural Armor (Ex): As the ruby disciple gains levels, his skin undergoes a transformation. Initially, his skin becomes pale red in color, as though sunburned. As the transformation progresses, his skin gets deeper red in color and turns into faceted scales, as though covered with plates of ruby. This translates into a natural armor bonus of +2 at 3rd level, which increases to +4 at 6th level, and then to +6 at 9th level. Breath Weapon (Su): Starting at 4th level, the ruby disciple gains a breath weapon. The type of breath weapon varies depending on the former class of the ruby disciple as shown on the chart below. Using the breath weapon is a full action, and can be used once per day. The power of the breath weapon increases at 7th- level and again at 10th-level. The save DC against is 10 + Class levels + Con modifier. Table: The Ruby Disciple's Breath Weapon Former class Breath Type 4th level 7th level 10th level Egoist or PsyWar Cone of Dehydratation 2d8 4d8 6d8 Nomad Cone of Sound 2d8 4d8 6d8 Savant Line of Force 2d8 4d8 6d8 Shaper Cone of Fire 2d8 4d8 6d8 Spellcaster or SeerCone of Sound 2d8 4d8 6d8 Telepath Cone of Light 2d8 4d8 6d8 *Note: Ardents and Divine Minds can choose any Breath Weapon. Wilder's Breath weapons depends over from which discipline she choosed most of her powers. Thanks for any advice you can give me.
RavinRay 09-23-07, 03:42 AM	I would like to receive constructive critics about this adaptation to 3.5. I did my own update at the defunct Third Eye, and put it into a PDF with the rest of The Legends of Sardior articles. Here's where mine differs. Alignment: Any non-evil and non-good. The wording of "any neutral" can be confusing because does it mean having a neutral component like a druid's required alignment, or just morally neutral (LN, N, CN)? I think Mark and Scott meant the latter. However, feel free to clarify the wording. Spells/Manifesting: Ability to cast a divine spell of 4th level or higher, or ability to manifest a 4th-level psionic power. I kept the original as is. All psions can learn telepathy powers not restricted to telepaths. Feats: Combat Casting and Heighten Power, or Combat Manifestation and any psionic feat. I didn't change the divine feats, used the Inquisitor psionic feat instead. Spell Use (Sp): Ruby disciples gain access to the mantles granted by Sardior as clerical spells starting at 1st level. They can select psionic powers from those mantles to replace normally granted spells per day. They can use the Heighten spell metamagic feat to treat a spell as if it has been augmented. I didn't include mantles because I restricted myself to the XPH. This one sounds good though. Table: The Ruby Disciple's Breath Weapon Former class Breath Type 4th level 7th level 10th level Egoist or PsyWar Cone of Dehydratation 2d8 4d8 6d8 Nomad Cone of Sound 2d4 4d4 6d4 Savant Line of Force 2d8 4d8 6d8 Shaper Cone of Fire 2d10 4d10 6d10 Spellcaster or SeerCone of Sound 2d6 4d6 6d6 Telepath or Wilder Cone of Light 2d6 4d6 6d6 *Note: Ardents and Divine Minds can choose any Breath Weapon Doc Draco suggested the Wilder share the same breath weapon as the Savant, now the Kineticist, which I did. I used d8 for all breath weapons, because of an analogy with the half-dragon: the 3E version used different dice for different base dragons, while the 3.5E version was the same throughout. We also kept the cold breath for egoists and Psychic Warriors.
Karkaras 09-23-07, 10:22 PM	My main concern with allowing a 3rd level telepathy powers to fill the requirements is that it puts the telepathy discipline above all others. Something I don't like, given that Sardior should treat all disciplines equally. Inquisitor is a good choice for a fixed requirement feat. I will think about it, and is probably that I will edit the post to add Inquisitor. The problem I saw with a "divine" Ruby Disciple is how would they cast the converted psionic powers which had augmentation. Would they freely "augment" them as caster level gets higher? Would they cast always the unaugmented psionic power? I decided to replace the divine feat for Heighten Power. And besides, a divine feat doesn't feel too much psionic for me :-) Thanks for pointing me the Breath Weapon damage error. I will fix it soon. I will definitely keep Dehydratation as the breath weapon for egoist and psychic warriors, but what would you think to use a d6 for only Dehydratation damage? After all, noone is immune to Dehydratation. Wilders and the new classes in CPsi are a wild guess for me. I am currently tempted to give them a breath weapon based on from which discipline they take most of their powers. For example a wilder who has the majority of his known powers from the Psychokinesis Discipline, would have a Line of Force.
Karkaras 09-30-07, 06:24 PM	So... any advice, critics or questions this forum would like to formulate?