I have a request that many of you might find fun.
I want to put sample NPCs into the next iteration of the game, but I suck at making characters. Bores me to tears and I'm terrible at optimisation. So, I would very much appreciate if anyone who's interested would send me a PM so that I can send you the newest rule set and you, yes you, can get a sneak-peek and make a character that will end up in the game. If you give me your full name, I'll even give you a "created by..." credit!
Kudos to Orion for creating such a great product.
I should point out that it's based on Deeds Not Words, which was created by Scott Lynch, and my partner in crime for a lot of the developement of Phoenix (in fact, he was the lead when he was on the project) was Jayson Stevens, although he bowed out a couple of years ago (something about two girlfriends and a kid to take care of... them's some high quality problems right there). My good friend Dan Anderson has been helping me out for about a year and a half, basically playing back-stop on my logic/math. The current document is about 70% me, 30% other people, and at least 25% overlap between the two.
Have you run this before?
Between myself and my co-conspirator, Dan, we've run about a half-dozen games, and there are a few groups in the US and one in Argentina playing, that I know of. I'm going to run another game in the next few weeks, under the most recent updated rules. I'm sure I'll learn more stuff from that.
PS: Am I the only one who's kind of flummoxed that you can't type "c*ck" around here? It's a verb and the name of an animal. That there's pretty silly.
So the idea is you "send to all" and conduct everything via email? The GM would roll all the dice and just tell you what you got, that kind of thing? It's funny, now that I think about it, that could actually go pretty quickly if you have a group of people who are all firing off emails all at once, but boy howdy, it would destroy your day at work.
I can't say I'm a fan of this style of gaming, its always been nothing but a hassle every time I've tried.
PS: Am I the only one who's kind of flummoxed that you can't type "c*ck" around here? It's a verb and the name of an animal. That there's pretty silly.
You think thats bad? Try typing the PROPER NAME Yoshi-tsune without the dash there.
Yo*****une
Yet you can still type shitake (as in the mushroom).
But this is about Phoenix. :P
(And yeah, that's a bit annoying. What other verb are we going to use for... priming(?) a shot gun?)
I want to keep this on the first page. I don't suppose I could get a sticky?
1. Super Speed. It increases your run multiplier. Does this stack with the run feat and others like it? For instance, if I have the Run feat and Super Speed, is my run speed modifier X10 instead of x8?
2. Fast healing. Not real clear on the new version. I don't really like that this is now something that has to be activated and paid for with points. When I think of this power, I think of guys like Wolverine and Deadpool. Not really something you activate, like energy attack, just a part of somebody.
3. Psionic manifestation. Kind shaky on how this is supposed to work, too. The main advantage of psionics in d&d is your ability to enhance the effects by spending more power points to augment the effects. This offsets the fact that psionic powers don't automatically scale up with level. This seems to be removed in Phoenix, making psionics a second class citizen to magic.
On the whole, Phoenix is the best fan made d20 suplement I've seen. Heck, it's better than some of the stuff I've shelled out for. Good to see the project still alive.
Super Speed's multiplier is a set bonus. The text says "For 4CP, increase your multiplier to x8" (emphasis added). This basically keeps the math cleaner. If the people at your table wanted to allow them to stack, the Run feat would add a single multiplier (i.e., x8 would be x9, x32 would be x33, etc.). Remember that "x2" in D&D/d20M actually means "+100%."
The "Regeneration" enhancement on Fast Healing should not have a PP cost. That is a misprint. My bad. Thanks for catching that!
Regarding psionics, I'm going to go ahead and admit that I don't really know how psionics work D&D/d20M. I just transferred the rules from Mystic Spell-Casting down to Psionic Manifestation. I had no idea there were rules about spending extra PPs on it. Frankly, I haven't spent bags of energy on spells and psi-powers because, well, it's a super-power game, and magic/psi seems kind of boring in the midst of all that. But now that you've pointed it out, I'll look at the psi rules more carefully and see if I can translate them into Phoenix.
Take fireball. It does 1d6 points of damage per caster level up to a maximum of 10d6. You don't have to spend extra power points to get the 10d6, just have a higher caster level.
Now take the psionic power energy ball. It does 7d6 points of damage, regardless of what your level is. Unless you spend extras power points to augment it. Then, both the damage and save DC goes up.
Suppose a 20th level mage throws a fireball. Barring metamagic feats, it will do 10d6. On the other hand, a psion can throw an energy ball that will do up to 20d6 (by spending 13 extra points to augment it). It will cost him more of his personal energies than the mage, but the effect will be twice as great.
The touchy part is figuring manifestor level for Phoenix. My gut says use total character level. A little high, but this IS a superhero game. Or you could keep the rule you have (twice the level of the highest level power you know) and add an enhancement to buff your manifestor level.
Just my
.Also, does this mean that the Inherent Healing enhancement for Fast Healing is supposed to be compatibile with Regeneration? If not, why did you decided to change it?
As for caster/manifester levels... there's a real danger that magic/psi could become the "killer build" in Phoenix just because they offer so much sheer variety. That's why I set it to twice the highest level of your power. Its effectiveness rises as you sink more CPs into the power, not as you gain levels. Also, logically, that's how it works in D&D. If you're slinging 5th-level spells, you're at least 9th level, about twice as high. I tell you what, though? Play-test it for me and tell me what you came up with! There's no substitute for testing at the game table.
The base power for Fast Healing is that you just recover from injury really, really well. That's within the realm of possibility for "normals." Regeneration, and its off-shoots, are solidly in the "super-power" range, so I didn't think it was appropriate for them to be traits. That's really the total of my reasoning.
I seem to remember Wolverine's healing factor being effected by things that wouldn't effect traits (being absorbed by Rogue's touch, for example).
Sadly, I'm really in much of a position to playtest. I'm out in the sticks with not a fellow d20 fan in sight.
BTW, the Tongue in Cheek feats from the new version are great. The example for Moral Authority cracked me up.
Sorry to hear you have no gamers nearby. There was some rumbling, above, about doing a play-by-post game. Maybe you could look into that? I'd love to actually play Phoenix, to see what someone else does with the rules.
The Tongue-in-Cheek feats are not mine, sadly. They're from the original Deeds Not Words game, for the most part, but I tweaked them to be more rule-based. I think the original text had an example pretty similar to mine, but I altered it to enhance the comedy. Glad you liked it!
1. Amazing Accuracy and Amazing Fighting have both been changed from untyped bonuses (in ranged and melee attacks, respectively) that stack with anything to competence bonuses which, natually, do not stack with other competence bonuses. Also, they do NOT provide additional attacks, only bonuses. They cost 2 CP per level.
Amazing Combat Skill gives you a boost to Base Attack Bonus giving you not only a bonus to both ranged AND ranged attack AND allows additional attacks. It costs 4 CP per level.
In light of this, why would anybody ever take Amazing Fighting OR Amazing Accuracy? By putting those points into Amazing Combat Skill instead, you get the same bonuses plus additional attacks.
My advice would be to raise the cost of Amazing Combat Skill. In previous editions, it was 5 CP per level, but I personally think 6 CP per level would be better.
2. Need Not Breath costs 4 CP. Water Breathing costs 4 CP. Because Need Not Breath is a LOT more versatile, it seems to me that it's cost should be increased, or the cost of Water Breathing should be decreased.
I changed Amazing Accuracy and Amazing Fighting to competence bonuses basically because I figured they should have one, but you make a fairly compelling case to make it untyped again. That would make them more attractive.
For me, when I have trouble visualizing the fine details of how a particular power works, I think about a comic book character that has that skill. One obvious candidate for having Amazing Accuracy, for example, would be Marvel's Bullseye. Thinking about Bullseye makes me think the competency bonus would be a good idea.
If in doubt, make the untyped thing an enhancement the way some powers can be turned into traits.
Of course, neither Amazing Accuracy nor Amazing Fighting should give extra attacks the way that Amazing Combat Skill does, as that is Amazing Combat Skill's biggest perk.
I have a question about the wording of the Probability Manipulation power. In the heading, it says that the activation time is a swift action. The last line of the description for the Rapid Use enhancement reads: "You can take this enhancement twice, for a maximum of three uses within a single standard action".
Does that mean that if you use the power once in a round it's a swift action, but if you buy the enhancement and use it more than once in a round it's a standard action? Or is it a typo? If it's the former, isn't that penalizing somebody for buying an enhancement?
Personally, I think that using this power should be a non-action. It should be a part of the action you are modifying. For example, I use a move action and then attack somebody. I swing at them and miss. Shouldn't Probability manipulation let me immediately modify my attack roll if I'm willing to pay the power cost?
So I'm going to change its activation to "use-activated (special)" where "special" is "a die roll." But I'm also going to specify that the base power grants only one use per round, and the enhancement increases that. I think that's probably the most clear. Make sense to you?
Oh hey, on a separate note, I'm introducing PP costs "by character level" in this edition, in an attempt to reduce the sheer paper work of keeping track of power points. Please, please, please give me some feedback on that. Is over-powered? Is it easier to deal with? Does the concept seem easy to grasp? Help me out on that one. It's kind of an experimental idea.
One more thing on Fast Healing. Since you changed how it worked in the new edition, you eliminated to ability to regrow and/or reattach extremities. Maybe you could bring back the old Regeneration enhancement and call the new Regeneration enhancement something else. I think "Accelerated Healing" sounds good myself.
Another thing I'd like to see is an enhancement for Telekinesis that mimics the effects of the Mighty Lifting power. It would only effect how much you could lift with TK not your power's strength modifier or how much you can lift physically. What do you think?
I love the idea of Mighty Lifting for TK, but it's also a very, very, very powerful effect, if you think about it. As soon as you can float something of, say, a few tonnes weight, then you can drop that thing onto people. That, my friend, is a game changer. It's not the same as lifting something with your own two hands, because you'd have to then contrive a circumstance in which you could actually drop said thing onto someone. With TK, you can just lift, hang it in mid-air for basically as long as needs dictate, and then let it go. Ironically, letting it go wouldn't even cost PPs even though it'll probably do damage comparable to an Energy Attack.
Beside what's the point of having guys with superstrength and bladed weapons if nobody's gonna loose any limbs? At least, that's always been MY motto. :P
As for the balance issue with TK, I can see that. However, I'm NOT saying that the power cost to lift something should be reduced, just the ceiling amount you can lift in a pinch. So, you COULD lift an object of a few tons, but it would drain most of your power reserves.
The below example is uber-long, but I wanted to be as detailed as possible.
For instance, the PCs are fighting it out with the bad guys on a elevated highway. Suddenly, a stray bolt of something fiery knocks a hole perilously close to a busload full of gray-haired Irish nuns! Let's say the bus weighs about 12 tons. The party psychic, Professor Y is a powerful 20th level psion. He can lift a good ton (100lbs times his level) without spending ANY power points. For every 100 pounds over, he'll spend one point. Now, to lift the bus for one full round and move it out of harm's way, he have to spend a whopping 220. Since the average 20th level psion will only have about 140 power points(assuming he gets 7 points out of a d12), maybe the nuns should have flown.
Let's add another enhancement and call it Reduced Drain just for the sake of this demo. It would double the amount of weight that could be lifted with each power point. That would mean that the good Professor would "only" have to blow 110 of his 140 power points reserve. Assuming Y hadn't spent ANY of his powers in the fight thus far, he would only have 30 points to fight the bad guys. Oy!
Now on to the concerns that a PC could drop a huge weight on a bad guy. First, the idea that you could just levitate a huge object and wait for the bad guys to wander by is cost prohibitive (as seen above). Also, while using the old lift and drop method CAN do a heck of a lot of damage, it does have some flaws.
Okay, lets use Professor Y from the previous demo. Let's assume he's fighting the evil Apocolypso and wants to drop a bus on his head to end his threat once and for all. First, he'd have to lift the bus. This is gonna cost him 110 of his 140 power points. We will assume that Professor Y has all three possible levels of Increased Speed for this TK. Thus, he moves the bus a good 60 feet above Apocolypso. The fomula for damage from falling objects is 1d6 for every 200lbs, for a total of.... argh! 360d6! I feel sorry for the coroners.
The downside is that ol' Apocolyso is going to frickin' well notice Y moving a bus over his head and it doesn't take a massive Intelligence score to now what's gonna happen next. In a game I was running, this would call for a ranged touch attack by Y to position it over the bad dude's head AND a Reflex save by Apocolyso to avoid the bus.
This is also assuming that the bad guy doesn't have a few levels of Mighty Lifting, in which case he smiles, fields the bus, and chucks it right back at the heavily drained Y. Plus, both examples assume an enhancement that does not technically exist in game.
Really, if you want more damage from TK, you are better off bulking up your TK Strength and Dexterity and throwing smaller object with greater force than trying to lob huge objects at foes.
The best damage dealing build I've seen thus far is Energy Attack with lots of levels in Reduced Power Drain mixed with Amazing Accuracy and/or Amazing Combat Skill (everybody loves getting more attacks). That'll beat out the old TK catapult trick easily.
1. "Photographic reflexes": Example: Taskmaster [Marvel]. Basically, if you see it, you can do it. Taskmaster watches security camera footage of various superheroes to learn their moves. He can't shoot eyebeams by watching Cyclops, but he CAN learn to throw Captain America's shield or shoot like Bullseye. Downside is, he can only have so many "borrowed" skill sets at a time and has to spend a while watching tapes to learn it.
As a side benefit. Taskie has learned that he can watch the tapes at high speed and gain a limited form of super speed. He's still bound by his phyisical limitations, however, and can't keep it up for long.
2. "Bullet time": Not super speed per se. "Bullet Time" is to the mind and senses what Super Speed is to the body. It's the ability to to perceive your surroundings at high speeds. Basically, everything around you seems to slow down because your brain is working so fast.
Yeah, the term Bullet Time is competely born of Max Payne, but the basic idea is the same.
And here's something a bit more concrete
"Universal Remote"- A new enhancement for Technopathy, kinda in the same vein as "Wireless". While "Wireless" lets you tap into wireless computer networks and cruise "the Internets", Universal Remote would allow you to operate remote control devices. It would cover everything from your TV to those pesky RC vehicles loaded with high explosive that seem to crop up constantly in comics. While no real skill is necessary to, say work the TV, it WOULD take a Computer Use check to work things like remote control robots or cameras. Also, this power would NOT create remote control access where they was none before. Only if a device is specifically built to be remotely controled would it be vulenerable.
I have though about something like Bullet Time. It would speed up thinking but not actions, so you could make Observation checks in the middle of a fight, you'd get a Dodge bonus because you can see attacks coming, etc. The problem is that that's already a couple of separate powers and I'm not sure it'd be consistent with the game design to stick them together. Ideally, as a player, you'd find a couple of powers that duplicate the effect you're going for and then call it "Bullet Time." Do me a favour, give that a try, and if you can't replicate it, then we'll look at making a new power, eh?
"Wireless." Love it. Will write it up. Great idea.
Did that even make sense? :P
I'd write it up something like this
Two new enhancements for Super Speed
Accelerated Reflexes: Each level of this enhancement gives a +1 bonus to Initiative. A maximum of six levels can be taken.
Lightning Cognition: Observation checks are now a free action.
I capped Accelerated Reflexes at +6 because of the three Initiative boosting feats (Improved, Awesome, and Supreme Initiative) and didn't want things to get crazy while still letting them stack.
Question about Amazing Leap. Does this power remove the limits on how far a character can jump? I think in Modern, you can only jump as far horizontally as your speed and your vertical jump is limited by height (8 feet is the limit for medium creatures).
If the base power doesn't remove the limits, I think an enhancment that does would be appropriate.
BTW, I like the fact that the running start for Seven League Jump was decreased. 600 feet was just to far. 60 feet represents a good distance, but not an overly restrictive one.
Photographic Reflexes (trait)
By spending six hours either observing someone first hand or watching them on TV (or the equivalent), you can exactly copy one of their skills, feats, or class features. Every point of Intelligence modfier reduces the needed study time by one hour, to a minimum of one hour with an Intelligence score of 20.
You can retain one "learned" skill, feat, or class feature per point of Intelligence modifier. They can be retained indefinitely.
Note: You must observe the person carrying out the action you want to mimic. Watching tape of a famous boxer hanging out at a club won't help your fighting skills, for example. Also, you only gain the skills observed. As a kid, Taskmaster almost drowned when he mimiced a famous high diver without knowing how to swim.
Also, you need not have prerequesites for any feat temporarily learned.
Enhancements
Double Time: By watching film sped up to 2x time, you gain several advantages. First, you can act as if under the effects of a Haste spell. This is a strenuous as running, however. Also, you can perform task in half the time.
Learn Opponent: By watching film of a person fighting, you can learn to exploit their weaknesses. You get a +1 to attack and/or defense and/or a +2 to damage rolls for every level of this enhanement that you take. You mix and match your bonuses however you want it.
Able Learner: Once you temporally "learn" either a fear or skill, it's cheaper to actually acquire them. You can buy feats at half price. Feats cost half as many CP and you get skill ranks at two for the price of one. When permanently buying feats, you DO have to have the prerequesites for it.
"Lightning Cognition" is great. I might rename it, but I like it a lot.
The super-powered enhancement for Amazing Leap does indeed remove the distance cap. I assumed that but I didn't specify. Thanks for that!
I'll fiddle with some of the specifics for Photographic Reflexes (for example, we have to specify observable, physical abilities; the Champion's Bombastic Aura is not something you can emulate because it's based on Charisma), but generally, I like it! Thanks for all these suggestions, man. Send me your real name and I'll add you to the credits. All of you, actually. Just PM me or email the address in the book.
Amazing Initiative
[Trait]
Cost: 1CP per +1
For every level of this power, you receive a +1 enhancement bonus to your Initiative score. You can take up to ten levels of this power. Its effects stack.
Limitations
Limitation: Power
Value: 1CP per 2 levels
Activate: free; use-activated (special)
Your Amazing Initiative is a power. You activate it by rolling for Initiative.
Photographic Muscle Memory
[power]
Cost: 1CP per level
Activate: 1PP per CP; use-activated (special)
You can mimic other people's physical abilities through visual observation. By spending 6 hours observing someone employing a physical ability—either first-hand or on a visual recording—you can then mimic that same ability, essentially forever. This includes observing a boxer spar for a day, watching tapes of the last regional gymnastics competitions, or doing a Bruce Lee marathon. You must observe someone performing the actual ability you want to mimic. You can't just rummage around in their character sheet.
[Table: 1CP for 4 Skill Points, 2CP for a feat, 3CP for a Class Feature]
However, you retain only a limited amount/number of mimicked abilities at a time. For every level of the power, you can retain 1CP worth of abilities, going by the standard CP costs (see table, above). Class Features vary slightly in power level and/or utility, and you can emulate only class features that you observe in action (you cannot emulate a Bonus Feat and then pick a random feat, for example).
The cost to activate this power is 1PP for every 1CP's worth of abilities you mimic. You activate this power by observing someone using their physical ability.
The abilities you mimic must be physical in nature, not mental, and mimicking an ability cannot raise your actual ability scores. As a rule of thumb, you can mimic anything based on Dexterity, or something that is learned. You cannot mimic a Champion's Bombastic Aura, for example, because Charisma is a mental comp. You can mimic the number of Ranks someone has in a physical skill (e.g., Tumble, Climb, Swim). You can mimic physical feats, and you do not need that feat's prerequisites (e.g., Combat Martial Arts or Dodge). Finally, you can mimic class features that are based on a physical action (e.g., Uncanny Dodge or Walk Away Unscathed).
Enhancements
Enhancement: Quick Study
Cost: 2CP per level
For every level of this enhancement, reduce your observing time by 2 hour. You can take this feat up to 3 times. The last level reduces your observation time to 1 hour.
Enhancement: Really Quick Study
Cost: 2CP per level
Prerequisite: 3 levels of Fast Learner
For every level of this enhancement, reduce your observing time by 20 minutes. You can take this feat up to 3 times. The last level reduces your observation time to 1 minute.
Enhancement: Super Quick Study
Cost: 2CP per level
Prerequisite: 3 levels of Really Fast Learner
For every level of this enhancement, reduce your observing time by 20 seconds. You can take this feat up to 3 times. The third level reduces your observing time to one minute.
Enhancement: Immediate Study
Cost: 2CP per level
Prerequisite: 3 levels of Super Quick Study
For every level of this enhancement, reduce your observing time by one action type. You can take this enhancement up to 4 time. The 1st level reduces it to a full-round action. The 2nd level reduces it to a standard action. The 3rd level reduces it to a move action. The 4th level reduces it to a Swift action.
Enhancement: Able Learner
Cost: 6CP
If you currently have a mimicked feat or skill in your repertoire and you level up, you can learn that feat or skill at a reduced cost. Feats cost 1CP instead of 2CP, and Skill ranks cost 1CP for 8 point, instead of 1CP for 4 points. If you buy a feat in this fashion, you must have its prerequisites, unlike with the base power.
Super Speed
Enhancement: Fast Observation
Cost: 2CP
The world moves in slow-mo, for you. You can now make Observation checks as a free action.
I'm a little hesitant about it being a power. Not really hesitant, considering how deliberately vague the definition of "power" is in Phoenix, but still.
When you say it must be observed, could you be a bit more specific? For instance, if I was fighting an evil archer and he hit me with Manyshot, would I know he'd used the feat Manyshot or would I just know he'd shot X many arrows at me?
It's not something that's rooted in your anatomy, and it's the kind of thing that I can immagine being nullified or stolen from you, therefore I'm calling it a power. Also, if I called it a trait, there would be no activation cost, and I think this is powerful enough that it should cost a few PPs.
I'll clarify "observation." I was thinking of requiring an actual Observe (Spot) check too, but that seemed excessive. Your character doesn't need to know that someone executed this or that Class Feature, or a specific Feat. She just watches someone do something (manyshot is a great example), and then can do it. Whatever ability (skill, feat, feature) you observed, that's what you absorb. You don't know how you does it. You just does it.
Also, Taskmaster has been noted by various ways not to have any "powers" per se. He's just a regular guy with a singular memory and mimicry skills.
A couple of good parallels to it would be Amazing Accuracy and Supertech Invention. Like Photographic Reflexes, they more like skill sets rather than intrinsic properties like a power would be.
It seems like you're making it similiar to Power Duplication, but with physical stuff. While the effect is the same, the process is different. If that makes sense.
Also, looking at it from a balance issue, there is a big difference between being able to duplicate a feat and a power. The potentially unlimited duration of Photographic Reflexes helps immenesely with this, but even so. Another advantage of Photographic Reflexes is that you don't need to actual person, just a tape of somebody doing something. Still, in sheer power, Power Duplication wins out.
For instance, by buying all four levels of Enhanced Duplication, you can duplicate a 25d6 Energy Attack as a standard action. It would take 26CP sunk into Photographic Reflexes to pick up Many Shot as a standard action.
By virtue of both comic book example and the math, I feel Photographic Reflexes should be a trait.
Thanks for the input, man!
Yeah, a cap would definitely be for the best and the wisdom modifier seems the best choice. Maybe you could add a note that says it only works for what would have been spot checks and not search checks.
"Observe" is a specific check in Phoenix. I combined Spot and Listen and made it all senses at once, so it can include smelling something on the breeze or tasting it what have you. Search is different. It's actually rifling through something.
I know that I, as a player and GM, hate rules that rely on rule 0 to not be broken. On one end, it makes it horrendously easy for a wary GM to overnerf the ability... and on the other, I dislike changing abilities in-game (which is just how this error will come up). At least in my group, I'll end up getting the "but I would have built my character differently if I knew that was the way this power functioned!"
Just my thoughts.
Here's another option. Instead of letting them take a bunch of observe rolls per round, let them take ONE as a free action, but let them take 10 to reflect the PC being the "calm at the eye of the storm".
BTW, I like the skill mergers in Phoenix. Normally, I'm not a fan of attempts to simplify the skill list, but here it is done nicely. Also noticed that your brought back skill synergies in Phoenix. Nice. I missed them in the MSRD.
I'm wary of the skill mergers in general, so I've done only a few. I am deeply unconvinced by the call for an "athletics" roll, because those are all skills that might get you killed, and they shouldn't be that easy to master. Also, most people who call for skill mergers also insist on giving everyone more skill points, which I find suspect. If you have 1/4 the number of skills, you should get 1/4 the number of skill points. It just stands to reason. Naming the synergies was just a matter of now letting people flail in space. Glad you like it!
Also, is it just me or is Thick-Skinned overpowered? For 20CP, everything converts to non-lethal damage. Also, when you knock somebody out with Thick-Skin, do you start doing regular damage or can you coup de grace that sucker? If it's the latter, I can see it being more balanced.
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As for Thick-Skinned, I did worry that it's over-powered, but keep in mind that it doesn't work on Super or energy-based attacks at all (i.e., the bulk of attacks you're going to get from other super-powered characters). Also, yes, you can perform a coup de grace on someone who is Thick-Skinned once you've knocked them out. "If you are rendered unconscious due to having taken too much non-lethal damage, you then start to take lethal damage as normal." "As normal" includes coup de grace.
What about attacks that are both Super and energy based (like the power Energy Attack)?
A super, energy-based attack does lethal damage to someone with the Thick-Skinned base power. There's no more to it than that. Having both effects in one doesn't increase the damage. It just ignores the power (Thick-Skinned).
Yes, 20cp gets you blanket non-lethal damage, but that really just means that if your opponent wants to kill you, they have to do the same amount of damage (your total HPs) and then lop your head off when you pass out (D&D non-lethal rules). It really just means that you're not going to accidentally get killed by a final blow that does more damage than necessary, so much that it brings you to -10Hps. It's an occasional get-out-of-death free card. Not nearly as powerful as it seems.
Unless I'm missing something? I do that sometimes.
Except that DR1 doesn't protect from Super attacks, whereas Super Strength is a Super attack. Also, DR doesn't protect against energy attacks at all. So suddenly, DR isn't nearly as powerful as it seems at first, and I think it needs to be cheaper.
I'm thinking of reducing the base cost to 2CP. Correspondingly, I'd have to change "Origin DR" (1CP per DR1; you have to buy it 5 times for complete protection from powers) to "Super DR" (2CP per DR1: you would have to buy it only once for complete protection from powers). That would, I think, balance it out. The minimum cost for any power that you purchase "by level" is still 1CP per level, but I'd put that text in explicitly, just to be sure.
Alternately, I could change the power such that it does protect against Super attacks, which would eliminate the disparity of costs between DR and Ability Scores, but that effectively means altering the standard rules for Damage Reduction. In the end, it might be simpler for players, though.
What do you think?
Yeah, I see what you mean about Thick-Skinned. Not as powerful as I thought at first. When I read "non-lethal damage", I thought you were using d20 Modern's subdual rules.
I can see how the different non-lethal rules would make Thick-Skinned appear overpowered. But considering the increased power level of Phoenix, D&D's non-lethal rules make more sense. We are distinctly not aiming for realism, here.
True, Thick Skinned doesn't completely block damage, only turn it non-lethal, but it doesn't have a damage cap the way Damage Reduction does either. Plus, it can't be upgraded to block energy attacks, as that is a seperate power.
Seems to me that Damage Reduction is somewhere in the range of being twice as powerful/useful as Thick-Skinned. One changes damage into a different form, but leaves you equally vulnerable when you take the same amount of damage. The other eliminates some of that damage altogether.
I do agree that the various Resistance powers and Damage Reduction make a tangled network of confusing numbers. It would be nice to combine them all into a big, multi-moded power like Energy Attack, but I don't have the energy to face that right now, so it'll have to be a long-term goal.
That's always been a pet peave. Look, I know it's a comic book, but come on.
Also, do you think it would work to be able to pay out CP to improve things like you hit dice and power dice, even if you used a regular Phoenix class?
A caveat: I have not play-tested the Generic Hero yet! 100CPs to build the class is an educated guess, and the freedom of choice it offers is almost inevitably more powerful than a locked class progression. If you use it, be forewarned that it still needs some tinkering to really make it work.
No, you should not buy class features with a regular class. Only do so with a Generic Superhero. If you want to supe-up your character's stats, buy feats and powers. As I say in the text, you really shouldn't mix standard character classes with the Generic class. They are built on very different principles.
When I said "regular" class, I meant a Phoenix class, not a vanilla d20 Modern class. Say I was a Soldier. I wanted the Armsman class skill that the Warrior gets. Now, if I was building a class, I could pay out CP and buy Armsman. Why couldn't I, after gaining the minimum level and a bunch of CPs, buy that as a Soldier?
To the second question: again, I hadn't thought of that. I suppose if everyone has that option, and you have a GM who's willing and able to keep a close eye on unbalancing combinations, sure. As you say, why not?
Diplomacy skill (revised) and Diplomacy-related powers.
Please tell me what you think!
I want to put sample NPCs into the next iteration of the game, but I suck at making characters. Bores me to tears and I'm terrible at optimisation. So, I would very much appreciate if anyone who's interested would send me a PM so that I can send you the newest rule set and you, yes you, can get a sneak-peek and make a character that will end up in the game. If you give me your full name, I'll even give you a "created by..." credit!
Edit:
Here's a sample character, just to get the ball rolling:
Brainchild
Appearance: Brainchild/Kyle Uszkalo wears a light jacket with a white T-shirt that has a cartoony brain stenciled on the front, as well as beige cargo pants (or shorts, if it's warm), and army boots. Back when he was Jr. Mind (see below), he had an Amazing Costume coloured in blue and purple that matched Mr. Mind's, but those days are long gone.
Personality/History: Kyle was a child prodigy whom Mr. Mind, a telepathic superhero, identified early on and trained to be his sidekick (with Kyle's parents' permission). While Mr. Mind specialised in mental communication and projecting illusions, Kyle's ability was geared towards sheer Telekinetic strength. By the age of 12, he could throw a car, if needs dictated. His incredible Telekinetic power was only rivaled by his once bottomless intellect. Sadly, when Mr. Mind was killed in action, Kyle, only 15 at the time, became embittered. He now ignores his intellect as much as possible and long since dropped his flashy superhero costume. He can't quite kick the habit, though, and although he denies that he has any interest in heroism as such (claiming that he "only does it ironically"), the fact is that he's still out there, risking life and limb. He's not really sure why he does it either.
Power Theme: Brainchild's powers are all Telekinetic. He started with simply lifting and manipulating objects, but under Mr. Mind's tutelage, learned to deflect projectiles, and even raise himself into the air. Since Mr. Mind's death, he has developed a bit of a nervous Telekinetic tick. Whenever a threat gets within 10 feet of him, he reflexively blasts his Telekinetic energy in all directions (Energy Attack: Burst [kinetic]). He has learned to restrain himself to the point where these blasts are not lethal, but without Mr. Mind to train him, he doesn't know how to gain more control over this potentially useful ability.
Combat/Tactics: Brainchild's grasp of combat is somewhat limited. He was trained up as a fighter by Mr. Mind, but has little grasp of actual strategy. When his back is to the wall and he feels he needs to fight for his life, he tends to simply throw a dumpster at his attacker, but usually just after Flying to a safe position, above and away from the fight. However, if he is not directly threatened and can keep his wits about him, he will initiate a Telekinetic grapple and simply remove his enemies from the battlefield. Based on his study of architecture, Brainchild is also good at (but reluctant to) do strategic damage to buildings such that they fall down on people. Like dropping heavy weights on them, this is a last-ditch effort on his part as he is not comfortable doing serious bodily harm to anyone. This is not a moral stance, per se, so much as an unwillingness to have it on his conscience.
Class : Soldier 6
Challenge Level: 12 (6 levels + 54cp)
Hit Dice: 6d10 (35hp)
Mass. Damage: 50hp
Initiative: +1
Speed: 30 ft.
Defence: 21 (Class +5, Dex +1, Amazing Deflection +5)
Touch 21; Flat-Footed 20
Knockback: 15
Base Attack: +6/+1
Attacks: Unarmed Strike +0 (1d3nl, provokes)
TK Throw 90 ft. +8/+3 (by weight, 20/x2)
TK Slam 90 ft. +17/+12 (by weight, 20/x2)
TK Burst (kinetic, non-lethal) 10-ft. burst (5d6, +4 to knockback)
Ability Scores: Str 10, Dex 12/+1, Con 10, Int 14/+1 (30/+10), Wis 12/+1, Cha10 +26cp
Size/Reach: Medium / 5 ft.
Allegiance: Slacker
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +6, Will +5
Action Points: 6
Reputation: +3
Occupation: Adventurer
Skills: Craft (mechanical) +10, Demolitions +15, Drive +9, Knowledge (history) +9, Move Silently +11, Observe +11, Repair +19, Survival +11
Proficiencies: Armour (light, heavy), Firearms (personal, advanced), Shields, Weapons (simple, archaic, improvised)
Special Abilities: Evasion, Sneak Attack (+2d6)
Feats: Merciful Mauler, Lightning Reflexes, Weapon Focus (Telekinetic Throw), Iron Will, Great Fortitude, Stealthy
Power Die: 6d6 (21pp)
Origin: Psionic
Powers:
Ability Enhancement Intelligence +16 32cp
Amazing Deflection +5 (power) 7cp
Flight 10cp
Speed 30 ft.
Average Skill,
Air Lift +2000lbs
Telekinesis 20cp
Mental Muscle (loads 532/1064/1600)
Extra Hands I
Maximum Power +2cp
Energy Attack: Burst (kinetic) 8cp
10 ft. radius, 5d6
Knockback
Non-Lethal +2cp
Maximum Power +2cp
BTW, has anybody out there heard of the online novel How to Succeed in Evil?
The Impaler
Appearance: The Impaler is a grim faced, fair skinned man with a shaved head. He has the odd habit of dressing all in black. Short sleeves are the norm. This is because his natural weapons take the form of bone spikes that protrude from the tops of his forearms. When retracted, they are completely unnoticeable.
Personality/background: The Impaler's history is shrouded in mystery and those who dig too deeply are often found dead with their bodies riddled with boney spikes. It is rumored that he is a clone, the result of a rogue government experiment.
One word can easily sum up the Impaler: professional. He is cold blooded, clean, methodical, and thorough. He also has a unique code of morals: he has none other than to keep to a bargain once made. For the right price, The Impaler will do just about anything, anywhere, anytime.
Power theme: The Impaler is all about the ranged combat. His spikes have nice range and inflict terrible damage. Due to the adamantine extra, damage reduction isn't a problem. Becuse they are neither energy nor a power, energy resistance and power resistance can't stop them either.
Combat: The Impaler prefers to hang back and use his excellent ranged attacks to maximum advantage. A favorite trick is to use his Surface Adhesion to ambush his targets from odd angles. His first choice of attack will always be an ambush and he fights to win, not fairly. He will take hostages and use human shields freely.
Class: Soldier 6
Challenge level: 12 (6 levels + 61 cp)
Hit dice: 6d10
Mass. Damage: 50hp
Initiative: +8
Speed: 30'
Defense: 18; +5 class, +3 dexterity
Knockback: 16
Base attack: +6/+1
Attacks: Unarmed (+8/+3; 1d4 lethal, 20/x2), bone spikes (+24/+19; 11d6 lethal, piercing, range increment: 200', crit: 20/x2)
Abilities: Strength: 14 (+2); Dexterity: 16 (+3); Constitution: 16 (+3); Intelligence: 12 (+1); Wisdom: 12 (+1); Charisma: 10
Size/reach: Medium/5ft
Allegiance: None
Saves: fortitude +6, reflex +6, will +3
Occupation: Military
Skills: hide (+12), move silently (+12), observe (+10),
drive (+12), jump (+11), swim (+11), navigate (+10), survival (+10)
Feats: point blank shot, far shot, combat martial arts, two weapon fighting, improved two weapon fighting; precise shot; sharpshooter, weapon focus (natural weapon)
Proficiencies: personal firearms, advanced firearms, simple weapons, archaic weapons, light armor, exotic firearms (grenade launcher), exotic firearms (heavy machinegun), exotic firearms (indirect fire)
Power die: 6d6 (21pp)
Origin: biological
Powers: Natural weapons (adamantine, improved damage [x10], ranged natural weapons [x5], retractable natural weapon; cost: 20),
Amazing accuracy +15 (cost: 30),
Surface adhesion (hands free, fast climb; total: 5)
Amazing initiative +5 (cost: 5)
What name can I put in the 'created by' credit? Also, a word to the wise: if you want to retain copyright (which I'm happy to grant you), then don't post it here!
There are several neat things about his spikes. With a range increment of 200', he can outrange most firearms and at 11d6 it does more damage than a LAW. As a thown weapon, it's pretty much completely silent and, of course, no muzzle flash. Better, the Retractable extra makes them completely invisible when not in use.
If I'd have enough cp left over, I would have bought Invisibility with Invisible attack. Stick yourself to the side of a building, turn invisible, and fire away.
"Hey! Where do all these bone spikes keep coming form?!"
Good times. :D
A few questions
1. I keep looking at Alter Appearance, but don't like how it doesn't effect clothing. I can see the rationale, but virtually every comic book shapeshifter I can think of can effect clothing. Maybe you could alter the Amazing Costume advantage so that it changes along with it's wearer. It still wouldn't effect gear carried, just the outfit. So, a spy with a gun could mimic a medic and have his lab coat, but he would have to hide the gun because it wouldn't just vanish.
2. How about a power (maybe an extra for Super Senses) that boosts the range increment of ranged attacks? I keep thinking about the scene in Hellsing when Seras is setting up to take a sniper shot and her commander tells her that she doesn't need the scope to make the shot because of "what she is" (a vampire). Maybe with a requirement of the Super Sight extra.
3. What about seeing in an expanded spectrum (infrared, ultraviolet, etc)? Is this covered by Unusual Vision: See invisible/darkvision/lowlight vision?
2. I don't want to pump that ability to far into the stratosphere, because I think the range increments are actually kind of important. No matter how well you can see, wind and gravity can still affect your projectiles, and having a good BA and/or other bonuses is really the way to overcome that problem. There's the feat, Far Shot, which multiplies range by x1.5. I could put one or two steps of increased Range Increment into Super Senses, though. I just wouldn't want it to be unlimited.
3. Infrared and ultrataviolet are kinda sorta implicitly part of things like Darkvision and Low-Light Vision and See Invisible. I could certainly put in some flavour text, though, that says "with this power, you can see in X and Y ways, which allows you to see in the dark/see invsible/etc." Would that satisfy that desire, you think?
2. Yeah, a scope only does so much for the range of the weapon. Still, I could see there being more than one level of this, as it states in a Bullet Points article that there could be more that one strength of scope (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=d20modern/bp/20030729a).
3. I was thinking of things that could only be seen in certain types of light. Old blood stains would show up, for instance. Also, think of Gone in 60 Seconds where they write the list of cars they are planning on stealing in a special ink that can only be seen under black or ultraviolet light. A hero with Unusual Vision would have spotted it right away.
BTW, did you ever see the Invisible Man series a few years back? Darien's ability to see other I-Man subjects would be a good example of how See Invisibility works.
You make a good point about infra- and ultra- and all of that. I used the pre-existing types of sight from D&D, but a modern game really ought to have a different set of standards. Do you know of anywhere that has pre-existing rules on those kinds of vision technologies? I'd hate to have to make it all up from scratch.
Good suggestions! Keep 'em coming.
This is what the MSRD has to say about tracking by scent.
A creature with the scent ability can follow tracks by smell, making a Wisdom check to find or follow a track. The typical DC for a fresh trail is 10 (no matter what kind of surface holds the scent). This DC increases or decreases depending on the strength of the quarry’s odor, the number of creatures being tracked, and the age of the trail. For each hour that the trail is cold, the DC increases by 2. The ability otherwise follows the rules for the Track feat. Creatures tracking by scent ignore the effects of surface conditions and poor visibility.
I could also see using super scent to identify things and people by smell. Disguises would be useless if you'd met the person or met the person later. You couldn't just identify a stranger in a mask, though. A successful skill check (probably Knowledge: physical sciences) could be used to identify chemicals and maybe determine their components.
Super hearing? Well, the Super Hearing extras mentions that "You can hear beyond the normal range of frequencies,", but doesn't really say what that means. What if there was another extra for hearing that let you get really crazy and hear things like radio frequencies. You could listen to the emergency bands or better, listen in on the walkie-talkies of the villains security guards.
Super touch? The Super touch extra already covers reading regular print by touch. Touch-based Blindsight covers tracking people by the vibration of their movement.
The best clue I could find for super touch was the entry for Daredevil in the online Marvel Database. It has an entry about Daredevil's super touch abilities. Mostly, nothing useful ruleswise. It does mention that Daredevil can feet and manipulate his internal muscles, organs, and nerves. Says it gives him peak human strength and enhanced agility. Maybe an extra that allowed you to apply your bonus from Super Senses to strength and dexterity related checks?
Edit: Do you know of any other abilities like Scent that are the visual, auditory, and tactile equivalent? I've just been roaming through the appropriate books and couldn't see anything other than the Blindsight entry. If you have any other ideas, let me know.
The hero: Colonel McVenner
Ven was born on January 1st, 1800 at Midnight. Due to the unusual circumstances of his birth (I'll work more on backstory later), he developed unusual powers. In 1821, while working for the English Army, he assassinated Napoleon of France, and made it look like natural causes. He's been kicking around England ever since.
Lv 4 Generic Superhero
Abilities: Str 16, Dex 16 (34w/powers), con 14, wis 17, int 18, cha 17
Gets +3 to all mental abilities for being older than dirt, but his powers keep him from getting frail and such (no physical penalties)
Class Abilities: d12 HD, d12PP, 8 proficiencies, Good BAB, Exc Saves, exc Def, Poor Rep. No class features. The rest (16 more CP) go into skills, still working on that.
Powers: (the fun part)
Longevityx5+Ageless. This guy is 200 years young. Literally.
Ability Enhancement (dex) x18 Ven fights. With swords and guns, plural.
Invisibility
Amazing Defence x1 because I had one more CP to spend.
Comps: Bad Driver Lv 3. Ven is practically medieval, they thought steam engines were ludicrous back then.
Bane: Silver. Being weak to silver is just too cool. Also ingestian toxicity, because its practically free points. Wait. Does this mean that if he goes near silver, his powers stop functioning and he ages 300 years? If so, I should change this.
Bad Rep: This is almost useful, if people found out that Ven was immortal, there would be a big kerfuffle.
Feats: TWF, ITWF, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Weapon Finesse, going for Gun-Fu later to take advantage of his bat**** crazy dex score
Starting Occupation: Military
Fights with twin sabers (does Pheonix/d20m have an oversized TWF feat?) at +10 attack bonus, or a pair of Colt 1911s (because they're the coolest of all guns.)
This character is a WIP. I will edit him later for more coolness/optimization/etc
I've never been happy with the Super Senses entry, but I've never had the energy to fix it. Scent is right out of the RAW, so that's a good place to start. Thanks for pointing that out. Now I have to just find equivalents of that for the other senses. The Str/Dex bonuses on Super Touch is a double-dip, so I won't do that (you can't take a power that duplicates another power). I'll have to come up with something else.
Edit: Do you know of any other abilities like Scent that are the visual, auditory, and tactile equivalent? I've just been roaming through the appropriate books and couldn't see anything other than the Blindsight entry. If you have any other ideas, let me know.
What about the ability to ignore or reduce concealment, and/or see in the dark? Speaking of which, is there any sort of darkvision power?
Also, I have an issue with the secret identity method. I think it should be an opposed check of some sort with the masks giving modifiers- probably Observe or Sense Motive vs Disguise. Otherwise, when Insect-Man rescues his love from his real life as his super-hero life, there is a 1/20 chance of her realising it's him. Even worse, if he rescues a bus full of 30 of his classmates, there is a very good chance that a few will catch on. It gets worse when Insect-Man gets put on channel five news and every single person he knows sees him on TV and they all make a check... I think that you should subtract ten from all of the DCs and turn the difference into a disguise bonus.
Phoenix doesn't include the over-sized TWF feat because that feat is not OGL (to my knowledge), and I'm trying to stick with the spirit of that legal apparatus. I suppose it's a generic enough effect to work in, though, and it's especially appropriate for a game with Super Strength. Yeah, I can work that in.
The CR of villains should follow all the same rule as standard d20, which I won't repeat here because I don't know them off by heart. If your characters (all of them) have CPs that are roughly equal to their level, then you can just use the standard XP tables. What I mean by "equal" is that a 6th-level character should have 60CPs worth of stuff (ads, skills, feats, powers) over and above what they get normally from their class and levels.
If they CPs don't match the levels, then it's pretty easy to come up with an Effective Character Level. Divide the character's CPs by 10, add that to their actual character levels, and then divide the result by 2.
E.g., 6th-level character + 80CPs = ECL of 7
(80 / 10 = 8, 6 + 8 = 14, 14 / 2 = 7)
The reason you do all of that is so that you can (a) stay on the XP tables in the book, and (b) so that the amounts of XP still work out by level. Just using the ECL straight would completely wonk the numbers, because an ECL of 10 usually means a 5th-level character earning 5th level XP.
That's all written up in the GMing chapter, by the way.
So far, Super Sight grant a x2 to range increments. I like the idea of reducing concealment, though. "I can still see your left eye, punk." I'll think about working that in.
I was shooting for something streamlined with recognising people in their masks, so I just plugged in set DCs. You're more than welcome to use opposed checks if you want. Part of the goal, though, as to make recognising people relatively difficult, because it's part of the superhero genre that your best friend or your lover puts on a domino mask and a skin-tight suit and you have no idea who she is. But that's the kind of thing that, as a GM, you can certainly play with at your table. I'm totally open to house rules, man. Please make the game your own.
I was shooting for something streamlined with recognising people in their masks, so I just plugged in set DCs. You're more than welcome to use opposed checks if you want. Part of the goal, though, as to make recognising people relatively difficult, because it's part of the superhero genre that your best friend or your lover puts on a domino mask and a skin-tight suit and you have no idea who she is. But that's the kind of thing that, as a GM, you can certainly play with at your table. I'm totally open to house rules, man. Please make the game your own.
That's why I recommended the opposed roll- as it is, a few ranks in observe and a decent roll are all it takes to spoil someone's secret identity. At level four (the starting level), with maximum ranks in spot and a wisdom of +2, you get a +9 bonus. Against the full face mask (DC 25) you only need to roll a 16 to recognize that the evil super villain is really your gym teacher. That means that about one in four times you see someone, you will recognize them even if they are a master of disguise.
I think it makes more sense for it to be an opposed roll (or maybe force them to take 10) with a bonus from the mask- Full face mask gives a +15 to the disguise roll, meaning that assuming you max your ranks in observe and they max their ranks in disguise (which is unlikely, I guess, but it makes sense by d20 rules) the difficulty will stay fairly constant as you level up (barring super wisdom or charisma).
I'll edit the character post when I have time, probably later today
PS. wow, I totally missed that part of the GMing chapter
I really love when people make suggestions like this, by the way. I am not a god of game design. I'll take good ideas from anywhere. I really like that this is a group-project, to a degree, with myself and a couple of other guys doing most of the heavy lifting, but all kinds of suggestions from all over the place. So seriously, I thank you for your input!
I would like to see a bit more difference between the three different types of Blindsight.
Examples
1. Scent-based blindsight could pick up lingering odors. Not enough to track by itself (this would be a seperate power), but enough to know if a particular person had handled an object or visited a place recently. "This is the room the Impaler was using. I can smell his stink all over the place!"
2. Touch-based would be the only type that would extend underground. For instance, you could detect an enemy tunneling underneath you. On the downside, it would be hard (if not impossible) to pick things up that don't touch the ground, flying or levitating enemies for example.
3. Sound-based would be the most versatile. It could pick up things that didn't have an odor and wasn't touching the ground. I'm thinking it could also work at full strength underwater.
Any other ideas?
Super Sight grants a x2 range increment and I'm thinking of making it subtract 20% off of miss chances for concealment. Strangely enough, it's the one that's stumping me.
1. How well (or even at all) does the Energy attack w/infusion limitation fit together with ranged natural weapons (either from the power or some other source)?
2. A character gets 10 CP per level, but what about virtual levels from templates?
A character starts at 4th, with 40cp
You can play a +2LA template as a 4th(normal) by spending 20cp... buying the LA for 10cp per
or play that +2 LA template char as 2nd level (4th ECL) with 40cp (...maybe??)
1. How well (or even at all) does the Energy attack w/infusion limitation fit together with ranged natural weapons (either from the power or some other source)?
I hadn't thought about combining those, but I suppose, yes, if you took both powers you could Infuse your Natural Thrown Weapons. You'd have to buy both sets of abilities anyway, so you're paying just as much for the relevant bonuses (assuming I've done the pricing right!). Do me a favour, if you try this, could you tell me how it goes? If there's some trick to it, and it ends up being horribly over-powered for some reason, let me know and I can adjust the power(s) in question.
2. A character gets 10 CP per level, but what about virtual levels from templates?
In Phoenix, you buy templates at a cost of 10CP per Level Adjustment. So if you wanted to be a Vampire, you'd have to pay 40cp because the LA is +4 (if I recall correctly, it could be higher). I mention that option in "Character Creation" (Ch 1), but I expand upon it in the as-yet-to-really-be-published "Enemies and Allies" (Ch 9).
You can also build a template out of existing powers and other abilities, if you want. It's more work but you really get exactly what you want in the end. You could, just to continue the above example, build yourself a "Daywalker" by taking increased abilities, regeneration, and a couple of other things, but also include "Blood Lust" as, for example, an Addiction (complication). It's the kind of thing you really want to talk through with your GM, but the system can easily contain this option.
Edit: Didn't see Backstabbist's post. Yes, that's basically right. Given that you start at 4th level, you can also trade those levels for a Template. So again, you could start as a 1st-level character who has the Vampire template (again, assuming it's +4), but you could also spend all your levels and your starting CPs on a template with LA +8, if you really wanted to. Basically, levels are worth 10CP, and you under specific circumstances, you can trade them back and forth.
Suppose I had a bonus to my speed, like the feat Speed of Thought or the Improved Speed feat. If I took the Super Speed power would the bonus be multiplied as well?
Would it be
(base speed + bonus) x speed multiplier
OR
(base speed x multiplier) + speed bonus
Enhancement: Fast Move
Cost: 3CP per multiplier
Activate: none; use-activated (movement)
For every level of this
enhancement, you increase your base
movement rate by x2. For most people,
this means a 30-foot movement rate
becomes a 60-foot movement rate. You
can take this enhancement multiple
times. Each time, it adds another
multiplier (see table).
It doesn't look like it makes a big difference, but it does if you have more than a couple of ranks in this feat. Take for instance the example of Speed of Thought. Add then multipy gives you a speed 10 feet faster per level of this extra over multiply then add.
I cannot believe that I only just noticed that I have the same name for the feat and the enhancement though. Duh. No wonder I couldn't tell what you were saying. I'm going to change that right now!
Also, could the Retractable weapon extra work for a weapon that is created on the spot? Like a mindblade or the beam weapon effects that a lot of anime like to use.
I don't think you'd need to retract a Mind Blade, would you? If you don't want it to be around right now, just don't manifest it. Is there something I'm missing here?
1. Find a good way to quantify the Mindblade class ability in Phoenix. Given the power level in Phoenix is liable to be higher than either DnD or Modern, I wanted to find a way to beef it up a bit. I was thinking about creating a feat like Improved Unarmed Damage, but for Mindblades plus feats for boosting the other aspects of Mindblades.
2. Completely replace the Mindblade with the Natural Weapon power. Mechanically, Natural Weapon power with the Super and Retractable extras isn't that different from Mindblade. However, the power can be beefed up to do as much a 11d6 points of damage while Mindblade does 1d10 (plus weapon enhancements, of course).
-14th level: grant the ability to add Psionic enhancements at 2CP per +1 (or equivalent), and grant equivalent of +4 to the weapon.
-19th level: another +4
That might be over-doing it, now, but you can tell me if you play-test it, eh?
Are you talking about replacing the Mind Blade with a Natural Weapon as a class feature of the Psionicist? Could work, possibly, but you'd want to specific that it's an energy-based weapon, since it's Psionic, right?
BTW, this is exactly the kind of in-house tweaking that I find fascinating. Please do tell me how it goes!
Enjoy.
It's like a magic sword that you can summon at will. Plus, you can change it's enhancements.
This is right out of the SRD
As a move action, a soulknife can create a semisolid blade composed of psychic energy distilled from his own mind. The blade is identical in all ways (except visually) to a short sword of a size appropriate for its wielder.
That's why I say it has more in common with the Natural weapon power.
Thanks, buddy. Good spotting!
Example1 : A 20th level Psion with an Intelligence score of 22 would have 403 power points.
By level, the cost of his powers are a follows
1st level: 1
2nd level: 3
3rd level: 5
4th level: 7
5th level: 9
6th level: 11
7th level: 13
8th level: 15
9th level: 17
Example 2: A 20th level Psionicst from Phoenix would have a maximum of 240 powers points. With average rolls, he'd only have 130.
By level, the cost of his powers are as follows
1st level: 5
2nd level: 10
3rd level: 15
4th level: 20
5th level: 25
6th level: 30
7th level: 35
8th level: 40
9th level: 45
Basically, the Psion has about triple the Psionicist's power points and his powers cost about a third as much. That means he has about nine times the manifesting power.
Also, the Psion has a cooler name. :p
Personally, I think two things should be done. One, use the power point costs right out of the SRD, including the augmentation rules. Two, give psionic characters a discount equal to half their manifester level.
Also, Unearthed Arcana has some rules for point based spell casting that might work nicely.
It's easy to see psionics as just spells that don't require components, but psionics and magic are "priced" pretty differently. With magic, you pay the cost and get an effect. All the variables scale up according to caster level.
Let's look that old chestnut of arcane magic, the fireball spell.
A 10th level wizard memorizes and casts a fireball. That's it. It uses up a 3rd level spell slot and it's range, damage, and saving throw DC are all pretty much set in stone. It's gonna do 10d6 points of fire damage to everything in a twenty foot radius. The center of the explosion can be up to 800 feet away. He could use metamagic feats to boost these specs at the cost of a higher spell slot, but there is no method for boosting them inherent in the spell itself.
A 10th level psion who uses energy ball (the closest proximation to fireball in psionics), however, a decision to make. Unlike spells, psionic powers don't scale automatically. If he wants a bigger bang, he has to shell out more of his personal energies. By paying the bare minimum of 7 power points, he only gets a 7d6 fireball. By shelling out 10 points (the maximum for a 10th level psion), he can not only increase his energy ball to 10d6, but also boost the saving throw DC by three points.
So, if you take fireball and energy ball and make both cost the same amount to use, the psionicist is going to do less damage than the mystic. This is offset however, by the fact that psionic powers don't require veral, somatic, or material components.
Going this route basically makes psionics a weaker, but less demanding form of spellcasting. That's fine if that's what you are aiming for. Personally, I always like the fact that psionics felt and worked differently than magic. For me, that was a big part of it's draw.
What I was trying to do is integrate psi-powers into the exist power-point system (in Phoenix) with as little fuss as possible, knowing that it's probably not going to be an option that a lot of people take, and if they do, they won't go the class-based route. They're more likely to buy Psionic Manifestation as a power (or at least that's what I was aiming for). So my real concern is that that power is balanced, and my secondary concern is that the psion/mystic classes are balanced. Past that, I honestly don't have the time to spare.
What do you think? I'm not even close to an expert in the psionic rules, so I'd appreciate any help you can provide.
Besides, you gotta have something left for the expansion packs, right? :P
I spotted a couple of glitches with the Mystic Spellcasting and Psionic Manifestation powers
1. Mystic Spellcasting and Psionic Manifestation both derive your caster/manifestoer level by the number of ranks you buy in the power. It says that your caster/manifester level is equal to the maximum level power/spell you can use times two. So, if you can your best psionic powers are 7th level, you are a 14th level manifestor.
The problem is that it maxes out your possible caster/manifester level at 18. I'd change the wording of it to read that your caster/manifester level is equal to the number of ranks you have in the power times two. Same basic thing, but now you can boost your level past 18.
2. Both powers say that saving throw DCs and maximum spell/power level are governed by whichever attribute modifes the power die of your current class. Since power die are no longer modified by attributes anymore, you should probably standardize which attibute modifies each. Intelligence for magic and charisma for psionics would probably be the best bet.
You could possibly offer the player the choice of choosing one alternate for each type of power. For example, when you buy your first level of Psionic Manifestation, you would decide if you want Intelligence or Charisma to modify your powers. Once chosen, it would be unchangable. Wisdom would be a good alt for magic, I think.
I set it at equal to the Power Level so that people could, in effect, buy themselves a high caster level right from the get-go. In a regular game, your Caster/Manifester level is never going to go above 20 anyway, unless you get into the epic levels.
So how about this, your Caster/Manifester level is either the total Levels you have in the power or half your CL. That makes the Save DCs 1/2 level + attribute bonus, which is the same as the D&D spell-caster's DCs, and the same as the other DCs in the game (as you say, it's all relative to within the system).
As for the casting/manifesting attributes, you're absolutely right! I'll set Spell-Casting as Wisdom by default, because the Inventor and the Thinker are both Intelligence. Manifesting will be Charisma. Good spotting!
I also kind of like the idea of powers having "ranks" instead of "levels." There's already way too many things that have "levels" in d20. Shifting that language would really help clarity. It'd be a major pain to change all the actual text in the book, but boy it would make it a lot more readable. So thanks for that, too!
Take a newly minted 4th level Soldier, for example, who spends 72 of his 80 starting CPs on Psionic Manifestion. He is now an 12th level manifester with 60 psionic powers (yikes!).
It's not as bad as it looks, however.
The base cost of a power is 1 plus 2 per level above first. So, the base cost of a 7th level power is 13. Out of reach. The second big limitation on his power usage is his limited power point reserve. At best, a 4th level soldier will have 24 power points. On average, he'll have 13. That means if he used a fully maxed out 6th level power, he could only use it twice a day. Then, he'd have a whopping two power points left.
And that's assuming he had the maximim possible number of power points. With an average amount, he could only use it once.
You want massive damage at 4th level?
Energy Attack (ranged, 100' range increment, 20d6 sonic/concussion; extras: reduced drain [x19])
20d6 per attack with no power point expenditure.
Now for something completely different.
I've thrown out some ideas for some powers that SHOULD be included, how about a list of things that really shouldn't.
Bad power ideas
1. Super Smell: You smell REALLY nice.
2. Ability Boast: You have really impressive ability scores and love rubbing people's faces in it.
3. Super Taste: You taste REALLY good.
4. Amazing Wombat Skill: You can do whatever a wombat can. Lucky you.
5. Amazing Deference: You make Switzerland look loud and opinionated.
6. Pratfall: People laugh when you get hurt.
7. Duplicate Shelf: You'll NEVER run out of shelf space again.
8. Need Not Use the Bathroom: Nope, I'm good.
9. Leather Mastery: You have control over all that is leather.
That list is hilarious. Thank you for that.
I know this is months old but I wanted to point out, PsiNinja, that the recent alterations I made with "per level" powers make that Psi build very different.
With Psionic Manifestation, if you're spending a number of PPs equal to HALF your level on a single activation, then it's free. The idea is that you can do little things all day (and what counts as "little" goes up as you go up in levels), but if you want to sling something big, you can do that only a few times. You can conceivably build a character who never actually spends PPs at all.
Whaddaya think?
Self-bump, just so people remember that the project is still alive. I'm just, ah, doing my oral defence this month and teaching two classes, so it's been kinda sssslllloooowwww the last six months or so.