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#1 masenken Mar 17, 2009 13:58:58	I started this class as an interpretation of the show S-Cry-Ed, and for the most part it still is. I used much of the format for the warlock, but wanted to differentiate them in a way that they come into their own in a different. Gaining extra damage through the use of their main at will, and Open Fire and Finisher feature. The latter two described in this preview. When I first started this, it was typically focused on Kazuma, but I was also in the midst of creating a homebrew world, so I used that as a template to create a fighting style that incorporated different disciplines, but all shared a common theme. The world is mostly a steam-punk setting. Heavy industrialization, and ruled by a single goddess. However, it's governed by her 7 children, known as the Elements. These creatures are the embodiment of the fundamentals that comprise the world and due to their unmistakable power have come to be viewed as gods themselves. This class uses their theme. Each discipline taking after an Element and specializing in their respective elemental style. From their, I took a page from the Ranger Setup. Melee specialist, and ranged specialist. However, to distinguish them apart, Alters are very brazen and destructive people. Typically not by choice, since, if you've seen S-Cry-Ed, you'd know just by summoning their Alters, they destroy pieces of the world around them. So for these people, going into battle is big deal. And so they seek to end it quickly to minimize environmental damage. While they can fight at melee and ranged, I went more for mid-range for their ranged counterpart. keeping them relegated to 5 squares, so that they were always in the thick of battle. But then came the part of making them unique as separate disciplines. So I tried to add another theme outside of simply being melee and ranged strikers. When you see the disciplines, you'll only see names... I may change them, but I left as mostly a way to have a name and some roleplay relevance. In this case, they're the names of the Elements (only 4 atm) or they can be the name of old saints, or psionic master fighting styles etc, so that's up to you. However, this preview only shows the initial features. I have the vast majority of the powers written already, and still trying to balance them out, so I'll save that for another post. So let me know of this initial setup as I'm also in the middle of playtesting it. I based the powers with Open Fire and Finisher in mind, so the question is basically is it too much or just enough. As for the intent of the two features, I made them with the idea that they want to finish combat quickly, in most cases, going after the BBEG as soon as possible and laying waste to it. So without further ado... Alter Preview Alter Class Traits Role: Striker. Bestowed with Psionic power from the Elements, the Alter given to you is the key to mastering the world around you. Your Alter act as a living extension of your will, shaping and changing the world around you to decimate your foes wherever they might lie. Depending on your choice of class features and powers, you lean towards either Controller, Defender or Leader as a secondary role. Power Source: Psionic. You are naturally gifted with Psionic talent, manifesting your will into solid matter or elemental destruction. Key Abilities: Dexterity, Charisma, Constitution Armor Proficiencies: Cloth, Leather, Hide Weapon Proficiencies: Simple Melee, Military melee, Simple ranged, Military ranged Bonus to Defense: +1 Fortitude, +1 Reflex Hit Points at 1st Level: 12 + Constitution Score Hit Points per Level Gained: 5 Healing Surges per Day: 6 + Constitution Modifier Trained Skills: Athletics or Acrobatics (your choice) From the class skills list below, choose four more trained skills at 1st level. Class Skills: Acrobatics (Dex), Athletics (Str), Diplomacy (Cha) Dungeoneering (Wis) Endurance (Con), Insight (Wis), Nature (Wis), Streetwise (Cha) Build Options: Assaulting Alter, Protecting Alter Class Features: Alter Manifestation, Open Fire, Finisher Alters are a rare sight in the world. Most are taught by elder Alters how to control their powers, while some seek isolation so that they can’t be of any harm to the people they care about. In either case, both come to grow from their experiences into an awesome warrior. With or without any formal teaching, Every Alter comes to adhere to a similar and strict code of conduct. These self-regulated rules are set in place to help them channel their mental energies to form their Alter, with the final result manifesting into a truly awe inspiring power that commands fear and respect. Alters do not take to battle lightly, knowing their very presence can destroy homes. However, when they do take the call to arms, there will be no mistaking that sometimes you should just let sleeping dogs lie. Creating an Alter Alters rely on Dexterity, Charisma and Constitution for their powers. The two builds listed are the Assaulting Alter and the Protecting Alter. Assaulting Alter Assaulting Alters waste little time when dealing with their foes. Striking without mercy to finish the fight as soon as possible, these fearsome warriors are not to be taken lightly. Highly agile soldiers, Dexterity should be your primary stat with Charisma taking priority as your secondary stat and Constitution as your third score. Choose powers that compliment your preference for close range combat. Suggested Feat: Fast Runner (Human: Human Perseverance) Suggested Skills: Athletics, Endurance, Nature, Perception, Streetwise Suggested At-Will Powers: Flicker Suggested Encounter Power: Counter Blow Suggested Daily Power: Hammer! Protecting Alter As foes come crashing down on you, you stand stalwart in your resolve to let no harm come to your friends. Your eyes glow with fiery determination and strike at any who would threaten your companions. You have little reservation destroying anyone who threatens you or your friends. As mid-ranged fighters, Charisma should be your primary stat. Choose Dexterity as your secondary stat with Constitution being your third stat. Choose powers that take advantage of your preference for burst and blast effects. Suggested Feat: Toughness (Human: Action Surge) Suggested Skills: Acrobatics, Athletics, Endurance, Perception, Streetwise Suggested At-Will Powers: Sanctity Suggested Encounter Power: Wash Out Suggested Daily Power: Repulsion Alter Class Features Your class features help define what Alter abilities you manifest and effects you unleash. Set-Up All Alters know the Set-Up at-will power. This power can be used as a basic attack. You gain this power as well as another at-will power determined by your Alter Manifestation. Alter Manifestation The day you gained your Alter powers, you were blessed with Psionic powers infused with a given element. Alters are created by manipulating the surrounding matter around them and forming it into a weapon to act upon their will. Choose one of the following manifestations: Alhond, Hellstand, Irinis and Rei’Liee. The manifestation you choose determines the following abilities: At-Will Manifestations: Your manifestation determines which at-will power you know. Elemental Mastery: Each manifestation corresponds with a given elemental discipline and grants you certain bonuses when using powers associated with that element. Alter refers to a manifestation of your will; an altered realization of the world around you. Like a spark held within your mind, this spark becomes the basis for your manifestations. When manifesting your Alter, it usually takes on the form of a weapon though it can just as easily be dispersed to break and recreate the world around you before returning back to its normal state. You choose what type of weapon you manifest upon creation. This weapon is formed from the world around you but functions like any other weapon of its kind and can be enchanted as normal. This weapon also counts as an implement for manifesting elemental powers. You can change weapons at any time by retraining, but you must spend any relevant feats and gold as normal to gain proficiency with the new weapon. You can only make one manifestation at a time. Alter overview Characteristics: Alters are close to mid-range fighters that pick their targets from amongst the fodder, zeroing in on targets as they see fit. They prefer quick skirmishes, avoiding a slugfest whenever possible due to the sheer amount of destruction they are capable of causing. Religion: Alters prefer deities that value strength, honor, freedom and tradition such as Bahamut and Kord. Evil Alters often Favor blank or blank. Races: Alters can manifest in any race but are more prominent within Shifters, Humans, Drow, and sometimes Dragonborn. Alhond Manifestation of Wind The Lord of Speed. Alters of Alhond can be as serene as a cool breeze or as wild as a typhoon. These users sweep in the air around them, funneling it into immense energy akin to a miniature typhoon. They use their intense speed and agility to overwhelm opponents while propelling themselves over great distances. Reckless by nature, Alters of Alhond adhere to the principles of Freedom and Loyalty. Gale Blitz: You know the Gale Blitz at-will power. Master of Wind: As long as you are wearing light or no armor, you gain a +1 power bonus to damage with any power that has the force or thunder keyword and gain a +1 bonus to move speed. Hellstand Manifestation of Fire. Wild and Ephemeral. Alters of Hellstand manipulate the kinetic energies of the world to create fires where none exist to incinerate their foes. Alters of Hellstand are typically level headed and kindhearted. They adhere to the principles of Passion and Duty Flicker: You know the Flicker at-will power. Master of Fire: You gain a +1 power bonus to damage to any power that has the fire keyword and gain resist 5 fire. Irinis Manifestation of Water Revered as a saint, Irinis teaches purity of the mind. Alters of Irinis are defensive by nature, taking the surrounding moisture in the atmosphere and using them to create walls of Ice to block enemy passage or creating a small flood to drown them out. Alters of Irinis adhere to the principles of Kindness and Charity. Sanctity: You know the Sanctity at-will power. Master of Ice: You gain a +1 power bonus to damage to any power that has the cold or water keyword and gain a bonus to healing powers equal to your charisma modifier. Rei’Liee Manifestation of Light Twin Sister of Haagan. Born in holy light, Alters of Rei’Liee are a source of inspiration the world over. These users are unique in that their Alter is always aglow with a faint light. The radiant energy pulsing from their spark can be channeled to produce a myriad of dazzling effects both offensive and defensively, creating a balanced fighter. Alters of Rei’Liee adhere to the principles of Wisdom and Respect. Aura Burst: You know the Aura Burst at-will power. Master of Light: As long as you are wearing light or no armor, you gain a +1 power bonus to any power with the divine keyword. You also gain a +2 skill bonus to Diplomacy and Streetwise. Open Fire Once per encounter, the first time you deal damage to a creature that you haven’t attacked in that encounter, that creature takes additional damage equal to your constitution modifier. Finishing Blow Once per encounter, when you attack a foe that is bloodied that you have combat advantage against, as a free action, you can make another attack with any power you have remaining. Alter Powers Your powers are known as Manifestations. These manifestations are a literal explosion of your will and raw power. Each power corresponds to an Elemental Manifestation. While choosing powers of your own affinity can help you reach the greatest amount of potential, you aren’t limited to those powers alone. In fact, many Alters learn a handful of other manifestations to compliment their own. Manifestations used in melee depend on dexterity for attacks; owing much of the damage from the power to combination of agility and your own Alter instead of yourself. While, ranged attacks depend on charisma. As you disperse your Alter, it reacts to your will, creating effects as you deem necessary. Your constitution represents your ability to push your powers beyond your normal physical limits. Manifest Alter Alter Feature The spark in your mind takes form as you pool your mental focus into a tangible object. At-Will ♦ Psionic Minor Action Personal Effect: You manifest a form of matter that occupies your square. You can grab hold of it and shape it to be used as a melee weapon, or it can be dispersed to be used to make ranged attacks. This matter can be destroyed and has hit points equal to your level. You can reconstitute or dismiss another Alter as a minor action Level 1 At-Wills Level 1 At-Will Manifestations Set-Up Alter Attack 1 You deliver a rather unimpressive blow, but that’s just a warning for what’s to come next. At-Will ♦ Psionic, Weapon Standard Action Melee Weapon or Ranged 5 Target: One Creature Attack: Charisma or Dexterity vs. Reflex Hit: 1d6 + Charisma or Dexterity modifier damage and your next attack against the target gains a bonus to damage equal to your Constitution modifier. Increase damage to 2d6 + Charisma or Dexterity modifier at 21st level Special: At first level you determine whether you use Charisma or Dexterity to attack with this power. Once you make that choice, you can’t change it later. If you choose Dexterity, you must use this power as a melee at attack, and if you choose Charisma, you must use this power as a ranged attack. This power counts as a basic attack. Whenever a power allows you to make a melee or ranged basic attack, you can use this power instead. Flicker Alter (Hellstand) Attack 1 Just as you land a decisive blow, your body fades from sight only to reappear close by somewhere else. At-Will ♦ Psionic, Fire, Teleportation, Weapon Standard Action Melee Weapon Target: One Creature Attack: Dexterity vs. AC Hit: 1[W] + Dexterity modifier fire damage and teleport 1 square. Increase damage to 2[W] + Dexterity modifier at 21st level. Gale Blitz Alter (Alhond) Attack 1 With surprising speed you strike your foe with a powerful smash. At-Will ♦ Psionic, Force, Weapon Standard Action Melee Weapon Target: One Creature Attack: Dexterity vs. Fortitude Hit: 1[W] + Dexterity modifier Force damage and push the target 1 square. Increase damage to 2[W] + Dexterity modifier at 21st level. Special: Can be used as part of a charge Sanctity Alter (Irinis) Attack 1 Your alter strikes at each enemy then forms a shield around you and your allies At-Will ♦ Psionic, Cold, Implement Standard Action Close burst 1 Target: Each creature in burst Attack: Charisma vs. Will Hit: 1d6 + Charisma modifier cold damage and each adjacent ally gains a +1 bonus to AC until the start of your next turn. Increase damage to 2d6 + Charisma modifier and +2 bonus to AC at 21st level. Aura Burst Alter (Rei’Liee) Attack 1 You throw a quick feint followed by an unsuspected blow to the chest. At-Will ♦ Psionic, Radiant, Implement Standard Action Close Burst 1 Target: Each Creature in burst Attack: Charisma vs. Will Hit: 1d8 + Charisma modifier radiant damage and gain combat advantage. Increase damage to 2d8 + Charisma modifier at 21st level.
#2 rikiji Mar 18, 2009 14:09:21	It seems to be a fairly power-focused class, so it's hard to make judgements without seeing the powers. The class features are strikerish, but seem a bit week overall - that can be compensated by powers to a degree but you don't want to go overboard there. Offhand, I'm guessing powers for Wind and Light are going to be Dexterity based and powers for Fire and Water are going to be Charisma based. Otherwise AC might be a little weak for some builds. You might want to consider scaling the elemental based damage bonuses by tier. Open Fire seems to be the main strikerish power, which makes it odd that it can only be used once per encounter. Since the actual damage bonus is fairly low, I don't see why it couldn't be allowed at-will (even then it may not compare to other striker abilities since it's worded to affect each creature only once). Finishing Blow is interesting and is probably fine as it is - it might make up for the relatively low damage output of Open Fire. The mechanics for the Alter weapon seem incomplete - I would suggest creating a specific ritual that allows the Alter to enchant the weapon himself and maybe add in an at-will power that allows the Alter to summon and dismiss it. It wouldn't be unreasonable to require a retrain if the Alter wants to change the weapon.
#3 masenken Mar 18, 2009 14:18:35	Hmm, I probably worded it poorly... Open Fire, was meant to be a slightly more powerful blow, against each and every target you attack for the first time, so when you finally engage a new target, it's like giving the impression, "Here I am," and then engaging them normally... I'll post the heroic tier powers within the hour. A simple retrain seems a bit more reasonable than having to pay all over again. I did make it an at will to summon it. Thanks Edit: Added powers from 1 - 10. I know the Set-Up at-will sucks and I'm tryin to revise that to make more sense. The first 10 levels need the most revising as is. It wasn't until around Paragon that I felt I hit my stride, and some of the heroic tier feel a little underwhelming, or even overwhelming for their level, so I know some need to be scaled back, while some can be scaled up. You can see the general idea in trying to bring a different style to each element. Wind charges, Fire teleports and causes a lot of ongoing damage, water has a lot of bursts and light is basically completely defensive, doing everything in defense to or pre-emptively, though it might be too powerful in that regards. I also plan to change the way they hand out status effects. Keeping fire to ongoing, wind to pushing, etc, this way they all can have an effectively unique theme while all serving the same role and giving incentive to take different powers as opposed to sticking to the same discipline, though it works equally as well.