A long time ago, around the time when 4e came out, I was inspired to write up some stuff for a campaign. Unfortunately, I never had the time to actually GM it, and so I left it alone. I did, however, use it as a scratchpad for some ideas. Whether or not I would have implemented them I cannot say, but I'm sure some of you may enjoy seeing them. Although, as a disclaimer, I cannot say that these homebrew rules are balanced. They were merely ideas I quickly jotted down.
I had it all compiled in a wiki (link) along with my campaign ideas. I'd be more than happy if some of you looked over it. Feel free to tell me what you like (or don't like).
Sesark
Their defense bonus breaks a designe rule. At the moment, effects that penalize a single power source are a bad idea.
Feats
Poison Master
This needs to be a feat bonus, and probably shouldn't be allowed to be taken twice.
Sinister Proficiency
While I like the idea of feats like this, it needs to have semi difficult requirements to be reasonable.
Enhanced Scales of the Snake-kin
Sufferes the same problem as the racial ability it improves.
Bloody Curse, Divine Respite, Swan Song
These need to have a range listed, even if the range is line of sight.
Rapid Shot
Not an issue, per say, but what your trying to say is they can make a basic melee attack.
Zeleaous Armor
I would just make it 1/2 your level in temporary HP, and let them stick around until used.
Epic Reflexes, Epic Fortitude, Epic Will
The game already provides with the ability to make 1 defense almost un hittable by every printed monster. These increase the problem. Additionally, while they require the lesser feat, they do not stack with them, meaning you force a character to have a feat that has no effect.
Epic Skill Focus
This makes skill challenges, which are already on the easy side, too easy. Any skill yoou take this for will be nearly impossible to fail. Also doesn;'t stac with it's prerequisite.
Mutli-class feats
Almost all of these are too strong.
New Rules
I like the aid another rule, but the ritual rule seems unecessary, and the Archery Ranger rule is too strong. Isn't it good enough that the character can stand 20 suqares away and still fight, but he needs a +1 to hit as well?
New Rituals
I like all three entires in this section, although the ritual fast cast abilities do make the caster must moe vulnerable to running out of healing surges before everybody else.
I do like your new rituals, especially the idea of Insight base drituals although a few stand out.
I feel that Fast As the Wind is a 2 or 3 levels lowerer than it should be.
Empathy seems almost worthless unless you Fast Cast it. Even then I can't think of a circumstance I would use it in.
Items
I don't see any stick out problems in the potion section.
Your poisons also seem fine, but based on Wizard's poison rules in the Adventurer's Vault, they should probably be a standard action to apply.
Multiclassing
I agree that paragon multi-classing is weak. Although I don't entirely agree with what you've changed it to, it seems to be viable.
Summary
Over all, alot of good things.
Races
Sesark
Their defense bonus breaks a designe rule. At the moment, effects that penalize a single power source are a bad idea.
I see what you mean now. What about a Defense bonus against particular keywords, like psychic, fire, etc. Do those conflict with the design at all?
Feats
Poison Master
This needs to be a feat bonus, and probably shouldn't be allowed to be taken twice.
Sinister Proficiency
While I like the idea of feats like this, it needs to have semi difficult requirements to be reasonable.
Good idea. I should probably add requirements related to specializing in a weapon first before something like this could be taken. I had a rogue / warrior pictured when I made a feat like this, but it does seem pretty easy to get.
Enhanced Scales of the Snake-kin
Sufferes the same problem as the racial ability it improves.
Bloody Curse, Divine Respite, Swan Song
These need to have a range listed, even if the range is line of sight.
What do ya know, I never added any... odd. I'll get around to that. I had viewed Power Feats as little perks for characters in my campaign. Probably too overpowered for anything outside of it.
Rapid Shot
Not an issue, per say, but what your trying to say is they can make a basic melee attack.
Well, I had viewed the power feat Rapid Shot as basically allowing you to make a basic ranged attack quickly while still having a standard action available for that turn. I suppose, since a Ranger can be pretty good at either melee or ranged, it should also allow the possibility for a basic melee attack.
Zeleaous Armor
I would just make it 1/2 your level in temporary HP, and let them stick around until used.
I had viewed Zealous Armor as a panic-button style ability. Since it's an immediate action, it can be used before a big brute comes your way. Conceptually, it was supposed to block about a single hit worth of damage, but having it be a weaker buff that lasts for the rest of the battle works too.
Epic Reflexes, Epic Fortitude, Epic Will
The game already provides with the ability to make 1 defense almost un hittable by every printed monster. These increase the problem. Additionally, while they require the lesser feat, they do not stack with them, meaning you force a character to have a feat that has no effect.
Upon examining it, I suppose it allows a character to boost a particular defense very high. I had originally just found it odd that they did not include an epic version.
Epic Skill Focus
This makes skill challenges, which are already on the easy side, too easy. Any skill yoou take this for will be nearly impossible to fail. Also doesn;'t stac with it's prerequisite.
Well, I figured it wasn't a bad choice compared to the fact that a lot of Epic feats are a bit more potent than a Heroic counterpart, where basicaly this was just the equivalent of a second skill focus. This was also before they made the eratta changes to some of the skill difficulty checks in the DMG, so now I can see how this feat would be less needed.
Mutli-class feats
Almost all of these are too strong.
True, I had fiddled around with these to see if special playstyles could be adapted to certain multi-class combinations, or if they could bridge in any gaps.
New Rules
I like the aid another rule, but the ritual rule seems unecessary, and the Archery Ranger rule is too strong. Isn't it good enough that the character can stand 20 suqares away and still fight, but he needs a +1 to hit as well?
I actually don't remember why I came up with the ritual and archery rules. Hehehe... :D *sweeps them under the carpet*
New Rituals
I like all three entires in this section, although the ritual fast cast abilities do make the caster must moe vulnerable to running out of healing surges before everybody else.
I viewed the fast cast option as a way for casters to use rituals immediately if they were desperate. Someone who depends on this would most certainly be at a disadvantage, but I see this as a more useful option for a string of non-combat encounters.
I do like your new rituals, especially the idea of Insight base drituals although a few stand out.
I feel that Fast As the Wind is a 2 or 3 levels lowerer than it should be.
Empathy seems almost worthless unless you Fast Cast it. Even then I can't think of a circumstance I would use it in.
I did have some difficulties fleshing out Empathy. I wanted it to be a fun ritual to use that could allow for some roleplay opportunities, but in comparison it does seem a bit weak.
Items
I don't see any stick out problems in the potion section.
Your poisons also seem fine, but based on Wizard's poison rules in the Adventurer's Vault, they should probably be a standard action to apply.
I actually haven't read the Adventurer's Vault yet, I think I'll look into that.
Multiclassing
I agree that paragon multi-classing is weak. Although I don't entirely agree with what you've changed it to, it seems to be viable.
I felt it was odd that the Paragon multi-class option did not give you any special features when gaining specific levels, much as you would with a normal Paragon path. I thought it would be nice if, at the levels you'd gain something in a Paragon path, that you would gain something small yet class-related. I'm not too sure if the way I went about it was right, though.
Summary
Over all, alot of good things.
Thank you for taking your time to go over my work. I really appreciate your thoughts on the matter.
Defense against specific keywords should be okay.
I am in favor a feats granting a specific weapon for a rogue. Like a feat Called Sniper Training. Add a prerequisite of some kind, and allow sneak attack with a short bow.
I had a typo in Rapid Shot. I meant to say Ranged Basic Attack. I think it's fine to leave it as ranged only, if you provide a feat to benefit melee ragners as well.
Arcane Trickster
Prerequisite: (Wizard or Warlock), Rogue, Paragon
Benefit: You gain a +4 bonus to your Defenses against attacks of opportunity provoked by Wizard or Warlock powers. You can choose to make a weapon with the offhand property your implement, gaining an implement bonus equal to its enhancement bonus.
Arcane Trickster II
Prerequisite: (Wizard or Warlock), Rogue, Arcane Trickster II, Epic
Benefit: Whenever you move an enemy with one of your Rogue powers, you gain a +2 attack bonus with your Wizard or Warlock powers against that enemy until the end of your next turn. The bonus you gain against attacks of opportunity provoked by Wizard or Warlock powers increases to +8.
Sneak attacks don't apply to Wizard spells by default, so I would search for the rule (I know it exists) that makes sneak attack damage apply to ranged touch and touch spells. Much better that way, and how it should work anyways.
Desperate Prayer
Prerequisite: Cleric
Benefit: Whenever one of your powers with the Healing keyword heals a bloodied ally, you add your Charisma or Wisdom modifier to the amount healed.
Clerics already get Healer's Lore. If this is meant for MC clerics, it should probably check for the Soldier of the Faith feat. This feat should probably also be restricted to cleric powers with the healing keyword.
Sinister Proficiency
Prerequisite: Rogue, Sneak attack class feature
Benefit: Choose one weapon or implement you are proficient with. You are capable of using it to apply Sneak Attack's effects.
This is a bit powerful even with pre-reqs. Not for normal rogues (the rogue attacks require light blades and this feat doesn't change that) or people MC'd into rogues, but rather for a rogue that PMCs into a class that lets him use 2H weapons effectively. It'll increase damage by 3 per W. I'd suggest adding a requirement of: Sneak of Shadows, that way, only people MC'd into rogues can get it, in which case it should be fine as a paragon or epic feat.
Bleeding Wound
Prerequisite: Rogue, sneak attack class feature, Backstabber
Benefit: For each die of sneak attack you sacrifice, you inflict 4 ongoing damage on an enemy. Only one bleeding wound can be present on an enemy.
Not sure what Backstabber is.
Needs a (save ends) bit in there. And too powerful. Standard damage is D6 on sneak attack damage, which is a 3.5 average. This not only deals more than that, but can do so over consecutive rounds.
Crippling Wound
Prerequisite: Rogue, sneak attack class feature, Backstabber
Benefit: For each die of sneak attack you sacrifice, you impose a -1 penalty to an enemy's attack and damage rolls (save ends). Only one crippling wound can be present on an enemy.
Not sure what Backstabber is. Too powerful and not just because it does - to hit and -dmg. At epic, this is a -5 to hit penalty. This power should probably be limited to sacrificing a max of 2 dice, doing to hit only. It should probably also only last until the end of the target's next turn.
Divine Respite
As worded, doesn't work. Should be worded so that the effect lets you and your allies make a saving throw against an effect. For the reroll wording, the trigger would need to be that you rolled a saving throw.
Epic Skill Focus
Prerequisite: Skill Focus
Benefit: Choose a skill you have training in. You gain a +6 feat bonus to that skill.
Bad idea. With someone having a +11 bonus to a skill (5 training, 6 from feats), it'll wind up warping your campaign. For instance, say an elven cleric does this for perception. You're looking at a +2 racial bonus, a high wisdom, 5 for training, and this 6. That cleric will either spot everything or else you'll have to boost the DCs such that nobody else really has a chance.
Improved Implement
Prerequisite: Wizard, Implement class feature
Benefit: You may activate the effects of your implement an additional time per an encounter.
Also a bad idea, unless you apply some sort of fix to Orb wizards. I like TD's suggested fix of only allowing save penalties to apply on the first save.
Archery Combat Style
In addition to Defensive Mobility, it also grants a +1 bonus on ranged attacks using a ranged weapon.
Not needed. Archery rangers have it pretty easy, really needing only dex and wisdom. Dex feeds their AC, so they don't need to move into heavy armors. Plus rangers already get +1 to hit with ranged weapons if they are closest to the target.
Rituals
When the Ritual Caster feat is chosen, you must choose Arcana, Religion (includes Heal), Nature, or Insight to specialize in. You may perform rituals you do not specialize in, but at a -5 penalty. You also have difficulty learning such spells, which are considered two levels higher than normal.
Scribing rituals into your book that you are specialized in take only a quarter as long. The cost of components is also decreased by 25%, and the casting time is halved.
Cost of components decrease is a bad idea, unless you exclude item creation rituals. Otherwise, you've just lowered the cost of a Vorpal sword by about 775,000 gold.
Aspect of Nature
This racial power for the Chosen should probably have a clause that states it can be ended at any time as a free action or ended as a minor action. Otherwise, Aspect of Trees could be bad.
Also a bad idea, unless you apply some sort of fix to Orb wizards. I like TD's suggested fix of only allowing save penalties to apply on the first save.
How about this for a fix: "Before your attack you may activate your orb to apply a save penalty equal to your wisdom bonus to all creatures effected by the spell for their first save against the spell's effect."