13th Age - It's D&D with Modern Mechanics, True Ways and Moar Owlbears

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Earthorn: Jul 18, 2012

Apparently the Gencon 13th Age events sold out in 30 minutes!

Word is more will be added soon.

# ¿ May 18, 2014 19:32

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# ¿ May 17, 2024 04:43

Earthorn: Jul 18, 2012

Ryuujin posted:

Once per Level stuff seems kind of blah to me too. I am not sure I would spend any resources on selecting one, unless it came with something more useful.

Once-per-level is actually a thing I had already implemented on a couple of classes* I'm working on-- and I agree it should be reserved for pretty spectacular effects. Not necessarily an "I win" button (or even the cleric's "you didn't lose" once-per-level resurrection), but something that changes an encounter or possibly the campaign in a cool way.

I've even debated once-per-tier effects, but the way some classes in the latest playtest packet/the game's official designers value certain game elements may mean I change them back to once-per-level.

*Assassin, Brute, Destined, Seelie Knight, Wyrmkin and a couple others are almost ready to go. The "scene-stealing" discussion of the Stalwart I created gave me pause, but in the end I don't really see the point of creating a new game element (like a class) that does what other classes can already do, as long as the overall utility/power of that new element is not out of line with existing ones.

# ¿ May 20, 2014 10:43

Earthorn: Jul 18, 2012

RyvenCedrylle posted:

I finished writeups for the Eldcaller, Theurge and Martial Artist and they're all available here. G+ announcement in the morning.

As always, I am impressed by the ready-to-publish nature of your work.

Nice work on the Martial Artist. I particularly like how you can switch forms basically at-will, instead of being locked in to some "uber-lawful" move progression. On the other hand, I actually wanted a Monk that was MORE wuxia/anime... seems like I have a new project.

I'll take a closer look later at the Theurge-- I had started work on a talent-only caster class after the Stalwart, but it really never came together. Curious to see your completed class.

# ¿ Jun 20, 2014 10:39

Earthorn: Jul 18, 2012

RyvenCedrylle posted:

It's funny you'd say that because I'm actually very annoyed by the fact that the official Monk ISN'T locked into an uber-lawful move progression, or rather that following an uber-lawful move progression doesn't give you some kind of extra bonus.

Well, you're right: a Monk doesn't HAVE to stick to the progression-- unless he wants to use any sweet flow and finishing attacks.

A talent that gives monks a cumulative bonus every time they complete a form would be amusing, although definitely not my style.

# ¿ Jun 20, 2014 22:26

Earthorn: Jul 18, 2012

SirFozzie posted:

I was thinking something like this for Monk:

Note: This is just wild off the wall stuff I've pulled from my tuckus.

Pick a Descriptor.

Air: Air-Style Monks use Dexterity as their key stat. They are flexible and tend to string together small attacks, chipping away at the opponent while dodging the opponent's retribution. Air Monks generally use unarmed attacks (d6 damage base, but get a bonus to defensive abilities).

Earth: Earth-style monks use Constitution as their key stat. They are solid and tend to absorb blows, shrugging off damage and then returning the favor with a massive strike. They generally use solid weapons like staves, staffs and the like. (D10 damage to start, but the least amount of flexibility, the powers they have are more focused on absorbing damage, with only their dailies providing offensive flexibility

Fire: Fire-style monks use Strength as their key stat. They are generally fierce fighters, striving for bodily perfection more than spiritual enlightenment. in battle they tend to strike furiously at a target, only moving to a new target once the current one has been defeated. They generally used paired weapons such as chains or butterfly swords. (d8 damage, but a huge amount of flexibility with powers.. but need to make a Normal save to disengage from a target before it's been defeated)

Jade (or Void): Jade/Void Style Monks use Wisdom as their key stat. Jade/Void Monks are the antithesis of the Fire-style.. where the Fire-style monk attempts to overwhelm the target, the Jade/Void Monk attempts to redirect the target into a disadvantageous position. They have been known to use Ki attacks to redirect their opponents chi. (d6 damage, but can use abilities to boost allies, or hinder opponents. One ability I was thinking, "Divert the Raging River" is a daily that turns the escalation die into a penalty for one target as long as they continue to strike each turn (Continually redirecting the opponent's chi to keep them from recovering their equilibrium). Their at-wills are like the Chaos Mage (they get a random at-will form depending on a die roll), the situation shapes the Jade/Void Monk's response.

Water: Water monks are generally more bookish, nearly scholar like as they seek to gain and use knowledge to change the world. They use Intelligence as their key stat. One of their abilities is a Fail Forward style way to move the plot. "Ah yes, Master Song told me about the Wizzywig. They are fierce guardians, but go into a torpor after eating meat. So all we need to do is to feed it a sheep, and we'll be able to sneak into the wizard's tower while it sleeps off the meal." They use esoteric weapons like the scholar's fan, and the nine-ringed staff. They are generalists in combat

Make a ton of forms, with at least two at-wills and one daily being exclusive to each type of monk.

This is some great flavor here!

This sounds a little like the "Mystic Fist" class I've been working on, except with mine you choose a body(physical) and spirit(mental) stat. Your choice gives different starting benefits (choosing dex or con is it's own reward, to start with)which can be expanded upon with adventurer/champion/epic feats.

I kept the ability score choice separate from any talents or techniques, however.

# ¿ Jul 22, 2014 11:14

Earthorn: Jul 18, 2012

Mr. Lobe posted:

I think giving 4 talents is a serviceable fix

I think 6 talents is closer:

A cleric is much better than a strength druid in terms of durability-- increasing base hp by 1 does not really make up fro the four point discrepancy in AC. The druid then spends 3 talents on elemental/terrain caster to get the cleric's spell progression. Wild healer adept (2 talents) starts out weaker than the cleric's heal class feature, and ends up stronger (and the cleric doesn't have to spend feats to access at-will spells).

So, six talents is what I would do. Gonna recommend that to the druid in my fiancee's game.

Edited because I forgot that druids now start with wizard AC.

Earthorn fucked around with this message at 22:19 on Aug 6, 2014

# ¿ Aug 6, 2014 11:59

Earthorn: Jul 18, 2012

Zero Suit Ridley posted:

My 13 True Ways came today, hurrah! I'm still waiting on my Bestiary though - has anyone else got that one or am I being premature to expect it to have arrived already?

If you pre-ordered the bestiary, you should contact support@dyingeath.com and let them know what's up.

Did you move since pre-ordering?

I did, and replied correctly to the address check email, but my change slipped through the cracks and now another copy of the bestiary is on it's way.

# ¿ Aug 13, 2014 16:32

Earthorn: Jul 18, 2012

Raenir K. Artemi posted:

If you take a Chaos Mage spell you start drawing stones like a Chaos Mage to see when you can use it.

That seems reasonable. I'd like an "official" quote on the matter, though.

# ¿ Aug 31, 2014 23:16

Earthorn: Jul 18, 2012

Jackard posted:

Has anyone ever seen Quirks used in a game?

We did a little for the first couple sessions, and it has now been reduced to a couple characters each having a specific intelligent item with it's own agenda. This seems to work much better for our group.

# ¿ Sep 6, 2014 18:31

Earthorn: Jul 18, 2012

drunkencarp posted:

What's the reasoning behind the Champion and Epic feats for the paladin's Smite Evil not being folded into the class feature itself? Most other damage bonuses scale w/ level or tier already; Smite seems like the odd one out. +1d12 is a substantial damage boost at low levels, but becomes pretty minor before long. Is Smiting meant to be less of a thing at higher levels? As is, the investment of the epic feat causes the damage boost to be about a quarter of an average monster's hit points at 8th level, which is exactly the same as first level.

Our group will likely end up giving the paladin the scaling smite feats for free.

Jackard posted:

Was there ever a paladin that didn't take the cleric talent?

Ours took the cleric talent.

# ¿ Sep 7, 2014 20:54

Earthorn: Jul 18, 2012

CaptCommy posted:

As someone who knows nothing about Glorantha, can someone sell me on this?

I know next to nothing about Glorantha, but this at the 13thageinglorantha site caught my eye:

"Entirely new classes include:

The earth queen devoted to Ernalda, who shapes her adventuring party as an Ernaldan family in which disparate elements make each other stronger.

Transformational classes include:

The Wind Lord devoted to Orlanth, who can start as a fighter, ranger, or rogue but gains new talents and abilities unique to Wind Lords. Not quite as many options as 13th Age druids. But a similar multi-faceted treatment.
The berserker, a more involved development of the barbarian class dedicated to either Storm Bull or Babeester Gor.
The Sword of Humakt, an honor-bound undead-hating master warrior who may be a rather severe transformation of the paladin OR may be an entirely new thing, we�re trying it both ways.

Class Adapations

Class adaptations that include occasional new talents, spells, and powers include:

Modified clerics and druids for Ernalda.
Barbarians, commanders, monks (!), and sorcerers re-flavored as Orlanth-worshippers.
Humakti commanders, fighters, and melee rangers."

# ¿ Sep 7, 2014 21:00

Earthorn: Jul 18, 2012

Ratpick posted:

My understanding of it is that the median of Dex/Con/Wis to AC is the general rule and not really a class specific element. That having been said, I don't think it'd break anything.

Back in the 13A playtest, when the monk had a strength-for-dex talent, the developers specifically stated (in the playtest doc itself iirc) that the swap didn't apply to AC.

Edit: And as you said, not really gamebreaking-- you're basically refluffing the character's "wisdom" as "charisma," IMO.

Earthorn fucked around with this message at 10:45 on Oct 2, 2014

# ¿ Oct 2, 2014 08:21

Earthorn: Jul 18, 2012

01011001 posted:

The only really confusing part about the druid is that it gives you the impression that you can get away with diversifying because you have both casting stuff and noncasting stuff, and that is absolutely not the case. Also focusing your stuff will still leave you with a mess of a character, sporting either a gimped spell list or stats that you'd not ever want to throw into an engaged situation despite that being your theoretical MO.

Two simple house rules I came up with are to either give the druid the occultists 4/5/6 talent progression (this is what the caster druid in our just-hit-level-7 group is doing) or to bump the druid's base ac to 12 and hp to 7 (as it was in the playtest and is with the druid redo 01011001 posted above). The second option seems like it would be good for shifter/warrior druids.

# ¿ Oct 25, 2014 13:35

Earthorn: Jul 18, 2012

01011001 posted:

I'm not a fan of the more-talents solution because a) an adept/adept terrain/elemental caster has as many spells at level 5 as most casting classes have at level 10 and b) druid doesn't have many talents so most druids are going to end up shelved into like two or three viable archetypes. I'm also not a huge fan of occultist loading up on 2/3 of its talent list, though, so take that with a grain of salt I guess.

I guess I'm okay with a druid that has many more spells than, say, a wizard. A wizard also has three talents in addition to their spells, plus cantrips and ritual casting. A character possessing most of the possible talents from it's class is always a problem, though, as you said.

# ¿ Oct 25, 2014 16:35

Earthorn: Jul 18, 2012

lenoon posted:

Has anyone tried running the Druid with four talents? It seems from a read through that the major:minor system just produces a character who is average at one thing and bad at another, wouldn't a Druid being average at two things be a quick and dirty fix or is there some math problem I'm missing (usually is when I try and think of a fix to a class).

Our druid actually has 5 talents at heroic tier (and is one the occultist talent track). so far, the character is not over(or under)powered.

# ¿ Dec 3, 2014 00:31

Earthorn: Jul 18, 2012

Offhand, I don't recall any RAW about meeting Icons, one way or the other.

I do know, as the party approaches level 8, we recently met the priestess and are about to have an audience with the Dwarf King in order to obtain an important MacGuffin. We will then proceed to the Necropolis to obtain whatever remains exist of the White (possibly encountering the Lich king in the process) and will probably close the campaign in a final confrontation with the Black.

# ¿ Jan 14, 2015 22:29

Earthorn: Jul 18, 2012

Hello, all

I have not been completely idle since designing the Stalwart:

The Nemesis - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FIpk-bh6TRlnY3NAx15mCXUpmD-ovC9nrAjTRnpMLHg/edit?usp=sharing

This is a WIP, so feedback is appreciated, as is discretion re: sharing.

I hope to have a few other classes up for review shortly.

# ¿ Jan 28, 2015 12:46

Earthorn: Jul 18, 2012

-Fish- posted:

So far I'm a big fan of the Nemesis, it's a pretty solid option for a Jedi Exile type character. Out of curiosity, what's the reason for Blurred Nemesis taking up two slots? That's a hefty cost.

Two talents for being able to pump dex instead of str seems reasonable. I may drop it to one talent for the attack roll and adventurer feat for damage.

Love the Jedi thing, cause it's not at all what I had in mind!

# ¿ Jan 28, 2015 17:11

Earthorn: Jul 18, 2012

Ryuujin posted:

Well the biggest problems I see are that there are not enough Talents and Feats to get everything I want.

But on a more serious level it looks like only the Multiclass 0th level has a level multiplier for HP. It is easy to figure out by looking at another class but I thought I would point it out.

Two talents to get to use DEX for Attack and Damage seems pretty harsh. The Stalwart had a talent for STR in place of DEX. Actually looking at it it looks like the Nemesis uses STR for ranged attack already, so a talent like Iron Limbs would pretty much just be adding STR to ranged damage and STR to AC instead of DEX to AC.

Now DEX tends to be more useful for a number of things, but STR seems more likely to be used by the class for some of their likely background rolls, and for some of their features having a high STR rather than DEX seems to make more sense. Particularly Juggernaut, which will probably call for a number of STR checks as they go about bursting through doors or what not, and Supernatural Strength, while not requiring rolls, just makes more sense with a character that has a high STR rather than DEX.

Personally I would prefer something like Iron Limbs from Stalwart to the Blurred Nemesis from the Nemesis. Though the latter has some interesting daily options with higher tier feats.

Gaining more Escalation Powers through feats is okay, though they also gain them from leveling. But I would almost rather see feats that allow them to have more than one Escalation Power active at the same time, then again that might be too powerful.

I really like that if you have the right stat distribution, and take the right talents and feats, you can build a blackhole of a character. At least against certain enemy types. Elemental Aura, possibly, to deal damage equal to your level to enemies engaged with you at the start of their turn, a feat makes it so they take the damage again if they attack you with an odd roll. Nemesis's Grasp to give a penalty to disengage, that gets better with a feat and a good WIS, more feats to give penalties to attack those other than you, a greater disengage penalty and greater damage if they manage to actually disengage with you, as well as a capstone feat to follow someone that disengaged from you even if they teleport. If facing aberrations, constructs, demons, devils or undead can add in To There You Shall Return to add more damage at the start of their turn while engaged to you, more attack penalties if their HP is low, and with feats can up the damage and make it so attacking you applies the damage again.

Could possibly throw in Spelleater to mess up things that try to teleport away, or cast a fly spell or something to escape. Or add Void Aura to give some enemy types a penalty to hit you.

Speaking of odd rolls. A number of talents, or other features, mention odd or even rolls. Either made by the player or by the enemy. Are these the natural rolls? Or rolls after modifiers?

Thanks for all the feedback!

First, sorry for the typos with hp progression and ranged damage.

I may yet scale back Blurred Nemesis to one talent. Still debating...

And finally: using more than one escalation power at once?
I am pretty sure you already can? I guess I need to be clearer about that, thank you. Hopefully this doesn't make the class overpowered (obviously, I think not, but input is welcome).

I am glad you are seeing the possibilities for a "black hole" type of character. That was definitely a possibility I was trying to bake into the class, among others.

# ¿ Jan 29, 2015 01:21

Earthorn: Jul 18, 2012

PublicOpinion posted:

I�ve been thinking about taking my own crack at writing a character class. I had an idea for a pyromancer character, but when I needed to fit it into the game�s mechanics none of the existing options really did it for me. I started thinking about what I was interested in mechanically, and started putting together this concept.

The Elementalist�s main gimmick is its �power pool�, a set of d6s that it builds and manipulates. You start a fight with no power and have only an at-will ability that does slightly sub-standard damage. When you use this power, you roll a d6 and put it in the pool (or maybe choose between one d6 set at the value you choose or two random d6s). Having a single d6 lets you access the next tier of powers (which I think of as the �bolt� power). Spending a single d6 from the pool lets you cast a bolt of the appropriate element (1 or 2 = Cold, 3 or 4 = Lightning, 5 or 6 = Fire). Bolts would be at better-than-average at-will levels of power. If you save up and get two or more d6s with the same number, you get Blasts. The basic Blast would cost two dice, spending more of the same value would increase its power, having more than one set would let you get off more than one Blast. I figure Blasts would start off at Encounter power levels of damage, going higher as you add dice. If you have three d6s in a run (and you can wrap around going 5-6-1), you get the Storm powers at Daily levels of damage ramping up to murderpocalypse if you go all the way from 1 to 6. You choose one die from the Storm�s run to set its element. There would be some mechanic to carry some or all of your accumulated power through a short rest if a you were saving up and a fight ended unexpectedly. Misses with attacks that require spending dice would let you reroll some or all of them and put them back in the pool or choose a portion to keep. There�d need to be some way to carry power through short rests so you don�t spend all fight building towards something only for a series of lucky crits to end it before your next turn.

The main bulk of the Talents would be specialties, two per element, that give bonuses to casting your spell using a specific number. They�d be offensive/defense-utility pairs, like Lord of Hellfire would make spells constructed with 6s better at murdering and Hearthfire would give not-directly-harmful benefits to you and your allies if you build a spell with 5s. There�d be a Mastery talent to let you manipulate pool dice into your chosen element. There�d be an Elemental Buddy talent that gives you a familiar most of the time that can transform into a combat ally 1/day. Maybe two more element-agnostic talents (one to let you mix it up in melee, maybe a freeform elemental bullshit talent?) so that it can have the 3-4-5 talent progression and you can either go broad or not be forced to spend talents on other elements if you want to go full pyromancer/cryomage/stormlord.

I�m figuring they'd get damage increases at 3-5-7-9 and even levels would add a way to get better spells slightly quicker, because that lets me do slightly weirder damage expressions than just level*dX with only the variable being the die size. Maybe a �power reserve� that refreshes daily that you can pull specific dice out of, so you can empty it to drop a Storm in round one or pull a 3 out of it to finish your inside straight. I picture it as Charisma primary, maybe a talent to swap to Wisdom? Probably Arcane in terms of implements.

That�s what I�ve got so far, does that sound like a fun character?

First off, as creator of the other 13A Elementalist, feel free to use that name. My Elementalist was a, uh, valiant first attempt at class design.

I like the bolt/blast/bolt idea by spending your pool of points, and the talents sound like they would round the class out well (especially like the freeform and elemental buddy ideas). Not so sure about the randomizing of the element choice, though (that may just be a taste thing, as the chaos mage is something I would never play).

# ¿ Jan 29, 2015 14:35

Earthorn: Jul 18, 2012

Ryuujin posted:

Hmm I may have been going off the Escalation Powers fade at the end of a round when the new round begins thing, and not cumulative, to be about only one active at a time. I thought I had seen something else about it too. But I may have misread/misunderstood. If multiple could be active at the same time that would be nice, it would also help with the feeling that AC might be a bit low for a non Blurred Nemesis build. Having multiple Escalation Powers up at the same time does mean I am going to want more of them. If only one could be active at a time then I wouldn't feel the need to have much more than one or two, possibly Augmented, ones.

I expanded on and clarified (I hope) the section on Escalation Powers not stacking with themselves, thanks. I also made it clear that Escalation Powers stack with each other, which is designed to not overpower the class. For instance, the standard versions of Escalating Lethality. Might, and Vitality don't actually do anything until the escalation die reaches 2.
For the AC issue, I didn't want a nemesis with Augmented Escalating Resilience to have a "base" AC that topped off above a paladin with a shield and Bastion-- meaning 18 (with Augmented Escalating Resilience and a rare 6 on the escalation die). Also, a nemesis is probably investing in Con and/or Wis (and Dex with Blurred Nemesis) so that may give you a couple more points of AC to start with.

I am very curious about how the nemesis will play out at other tables. If anyone ends up playing one (or seeing one played), please feel free to post an impression or PM me with detailed feedback.

# ¿ Jan 30, 2015 09:05

Earthorn: Jul 18, 2012

Okay, here's another class for you guys to look at.

The Gladiator - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UOEa3nn8PQqNO6GW66AtOSxPNjCa0o5ddQ_CPd1n4_U/edit?usp=sharing

As before, please don't copy and paste all over the internet, yadda yadda

Of course, please do feel free to use the class at your table, to give your impressions here, and to PM me with any detailed feedback.

Thanks!

# ¿ Jan 31, 2015 09:50

Earthorn: Jul 18, 2012

PublicOpinion posted:

Got my Elementalist filled out a bit more: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lJWaE9sNJFlkzX7TsHHDo0y2Elp1FykqVmD7gDHE6T8/edit?usp=sharing
Enough to take it for a test drive, at least. Damage expressions on some of the spells are slightly weird which won't bother me because I'll be on roll20 and people playing in real life probably already have a system going for when they need to roll 9d10+15+4d12+9d20+3d10. I was pretty confident it was balanced before I started working on the talents, but they may have added too much power.

This is a nice "simple" caster (meaning using talents rather than a power/spell progression)! Your sense of balance seems good. I'm still a little fuzzy about the reserve pool vs. the power pool, but I had a late night. Will read through again.

PS I like that there is an option to "choose" your element, though it is at a cost.

# ¿ Feb 1, 2015 22:14

Earthorn: Jul 18, 2012

Covok posted:

If we're sharing builds, as a backup for a game I'm in, I decided to stat up what I call a Death Knight (Necromancer/Paladin). By saying "gently caress attack spells" and focusing solely on summons and forms, I was able to circumvent Wasting Away since a positive constitution modifier didn't hurt me. Paladin defenses still gave me a decent defense spread and my HP and to-hit bonus are still decent.

I had a similar idea for a character. For me, Death Knell + Death's Call seems like it would make a fairly tanky Death Knight.

# ¿ Feb 8, 2015 13:31

Earthorn: Jul 18, 2012

Captain_Indigo posted:

Can someone clarify recharges for me, please? Is the following correct?

If you fail a recharge roll on a power or magical item, that power or item's power is unusable until the next full-heal. You don't get the chance to recharge after every fight, only the powers that were used in the fight that just finished.

According to the glossary (p313 13A Core):

"After each battle, when you get a quick rest, you can roll for each of your used, rechargeable powers, including those used in a previous battle, to see if they recharge."

So you get to attempt to recharge them during each rest.

# ¿ Feb 8, 2015 14:22

Earthorn: Jul 18, 2012

Hey, here are some races I put together for other players in my group:

Giantkind

Kitsune

Shapeshifter

Feel free to use these as you see fit. Hope some of you get a little fun out of them!

# ¿ Feb 9, 2015 13:38

Earthorn: Jul 18, 2012

Ryuujin posted:

Been looking back through your posts to see if there was any comment on changes to the Nemesis, and saw this. Any word on these other classes? Did one of them turn into the Nemesis? Real curious about Brute and Wyrmkin.

First, thanks for your interest and input!

Brute and Wyrmkin had a lot of their bits absorbed by Nemesis, with the bulk of the remnants coalescing into another class I've been spending a lot of time on lately, and into a couple racial talents that are also in the pipeline.

Assassin wasn't really doing much the Rogue couldn't do already ("Hmm... this assassinate-outta-nowhere feature is a lot like an Improved Sneak Attack plus Shadow Walk") and I probably won't return to it. I think it's a testament to the designers that the Rogue class came with so many fun possibilities.

Destined may yet see the light of day. It just need to fins a comfortable space between Commander, Jester, and Occultist.

Seelie knight was mostly just me halfheartedly porting Swordmage/Battlemind stuff from 4E. I think many others have done a more impassioned and considered job of this.

Ryuujin posted:

So glancing through this again it looks like you changed Blurred Nemesis to one talent? Any other changes made? Or should I just look through the whole thing again and try and figure out any changes?

Sorry about not calling out a pretty significant change to one build for the Gladiator. There just wasn't a lot of interest expressed for these two classes on here, so I didn't want to clutter things up with micro-updates.
As far as I remember, other changes are just editing for clarity, formatting, and grammar.

Ryuujin posted:

While I am asking you questions, on the Gladiator, if they take Enduring twice can they take the feats for Enduring twice? Or still only once? Since one of the feats has a choice of two options. Though if they can take the feats twice that would be a lot of Recoveries.

Yep, you can take the feats both times you take the talent. Spending two adventurer feats and two epic feats gives you 14 recoveries before magic items. A fighter spending an adventurer feat and a champion has 12 recoveries, so this seems about right.

# ¿ Feb 13, 2015 15:20

Earthorn: Jul 18, 2012

Raenir K. Artemi posted:

it wasn't even that she's casting as a level 3 wizard and these were level 5 monsters

Maybe my math is bad at 3AM, but a standard level 5 monster should have close to 80 HP, and each evoked bolt should do 40.

This doesn't sound like a fight that would make it past the first couple of rounds with most 13A parties, or is that the point? Longer fights are what is desired?

# ¿ Feb 20, 2015 10:29

Earthorn: Jul 18, 2012

Covok posted:

They had 70 HP, IIRC, and we had managed to hit them hard out the gate as we usually do. By the end of round 1, this final, 5 bolt strike, knocked them all to 5 or less HP. The wizard pulling that off was the shocking moment since it was sudden and ended the battle hard. It wasn't a one-shot, it just was such a surprising, RAW, completely normal thing any Wizard could do (and do better) that it stuck out.

See, this has been the thing for a while since the combat system and character optimization really clicked for our group: we just barrel through the fights by round 2. We have managed to take down 2x and 3x encounters (as in encounters that would be balanced for groups twice and three times our size) without anyone dropping to 0 HP and within 3 or less rounds. I don't know if it's us being good, a mistake on encounter building on his part, or how he runs the battles, but this has been the case for the last few months. The campaign started last April, by the way.

Edit: IIRC, the encounter today was balanced for a party about 1.5x our size.

This is similar to the experience In our game. Once everybody got used to their characters and the system (after a few months) balanced encounters became way too easy, so the GM has (reluctantly at first, not wanting a TPK) been amping up the difficulty, and we are now back to challenging.

On an unrelated note, I've made a few minor changes to Gladiator and Nemesis . I'll be putting them up on Google+ and the 13th Age Vault as well.

# ¿ Feb 21, 2015 15:26

Earthorn: Jul 18, 2012

Earthorn posted:

Brute and Wyrmkin had a lot of their bits absorbed by Nemesis, with the bulk of the remnants coalescing into another class I've been spending a lot of time on lately, and into a couple racial talents that are also in the pipeline.

Here are those racial talents (and bonus feats):

Dragonic, Expanded

Half-orc, Expanded

# ¿ Feb 26, 2015 13:17

Earthorn: Jul 18, 2012

Err... it seems the version of half-orc that I put up was half-finished.

Fixed now.

Half-orc, Expanded

Earthorn fucked around with this message at 01:53 on Feb 27, 2015

# ¿ Feb 27, 2015 01:42

Earthorn: Jul 18, 2012

While thinking about a way to bring over from 4E my version of an F20 character who could turn into metal, and incorporating some other metal-controlling ideas, I came up with this:

Metallurge

I would really like some feedback on this one: I am making it explicitly for my own use, and I don't want to unbalance or clutter the game I am in with "cool" things that are bad rules.

# ¿ Mar 7, 2015 14:03

Earthorn: Jul 18, 2012

Evil Mastermind posted:

Okay, version 2.0.

I'm not in love with that epic feat.

It's starting to shape up nicely!

Hope it sees use. Personally, I think you should have at least as many classes that can effectively punch enemies as you do ones that can spellcast at them.

# ¿ Mar 13, 2015 23:36

Earthorn: Jul 18, 2012

M.c.P posted:

Stalwart more has a few builds available, from grab control to doing crazy weapon poo poo to Caber tosses like cruise missiles.

There may be more space for a Melee type more focused on grabs and various holds l, locks, and debuffs.

I'd be interested in seeing a character with an array of different holds and strikes that have different effects on the humanoids (or giants or dragons or oozes whynot) you are fighting.

# ¿ Mar 14, 2015 07:59

Earthorn: Jul 18, 2012

Mr. Prokosch posted:

Tier 3 (Serious problems. Not garbage, but there's usually a better option. Either there's actively un-fun elements or the numbers just don't work.)
10. Fighter
11. Ranger
12. Monk
13. Paladin
14. Rogue
15. Occultist
16. Druid (bad builds)

This would be hilarious if really true: the bolded classes are the ones that have been played in our nearly-two-year campaign that should finish up the next session (the Monk and a Warrior Druid are what I played during the 13TW playtest). None of my homebrewed classes, though we did houserule the other (caster) Druid some more talents.

Anyway, going from levels 2 through 8, we only had one near-TPk and a handful of other difficult fights. The GM almost always used encounters a couple levels higher. If the classes played in the soon-ending campaign are really that weak, I 'm a little concerned we're going to be completely unchallenged (combat-wise) by Eyes of the Stone Thief when we switch characters.

Edit: I'd personally put the Rogue in a higher tier, as the one in our game has consistently inflicted and avoided more damage than the other characters.

# ¿ Mar 15, 2015 13:32

Earthorn: Jul 18, 2012

-Fish- posted:

LAST TIME ON 13TH AGE Z

Dragon Ball Xenoverse is really really great. This time I made Frost Demons (Frieza's Race), Majins, and Bio-Androids.

Bio Androids
Frost Demons
Majin

Edit: Links fixed

I never watched much DBZ, but this looks like fun stuff!

Absorb Foe is awesome, I just wished it keyed off the for more-- like a damage-typed attack against PD from an enemy who had one, or a healing power from a self-healing enemy, etc.

# ¿ Mar 15, 2015 22:32

Earthorn: Jul 18, 2012

ProfessorCirno posted:

which mostly leaves the rogue and stalwart, and I've found the rogue tends to do more damage with sneak attack.

I will say that I'm not sure about monks being more mobile. Rogues that use their actual powers are ridiculously slippery and can disengage like it ain't no thing before or after they attack.

CaptCommy posted:

It probably is heavily talent based, but Shadow Walk has to be one of the coolest powers if you ask me. Just the ability to start every fight by totally disappearing and then re-appearing the next turn nearly anywhere and shanking the gently caress out of someone is so awesome (and effective).

Yeah, our rogue makes good use of Improved Sneak Attack, Shadow Walk, Tumble, and Tumbling Strike. They can move both move and inflict heavy damage almost at-will.

PublicOpinion posted:

Flying might be my favorite thing about playing a monk. Flying is dope.

I just wish you didn't have to use a limited daily resource-- or hope you just used the right (flow) attack when you want to fly-- to fly for one turn.

To me, it's like you are playing a cleric (another magically powered middleweight melee fighter) and one of your daily spells is actually a recharge 16+ that let's you fly for one turn.
I think that would be a terribly underpowered spell.

Edit:

Prison Warden posted:

One of my favourite moments in our game is still when a few of the mook Kobold ninja squad they were fighting tried their disappearing trick and hosed up their attacks afterwards, then the Rogue player Shadow Walked and killed like five of them or something. "Let me show you what a real ninja looks like."

That is awesome.

# ¿ Mar 16, 2015 09:27

Earthorn: Jul 18, 2012

Covok posted:

I also picked the majin race for the above to point out that I have trouble believing that the strength option really scales properly. I will admit that I did not calculate out the math for it, but +2 to damage just doesn't seem like something that remains useful when enemies start to have 500 HP and your attack will, on average, do 35 to 55 damage + 3x Damage Modifier. It will be better at lower levels, but really peter out at champion tier. Perhaps, it's balance by the fact it's a +2 to all damage until end of battle. However, you have to first drop a non-mook enemy to 0HP so it could be later in battle when this happens.

As for the rest of races, as far as powers are concerned, they seem fine. Like I said, though, terminology needs to be updated from 4th edition terminology to 13th Age terminology.

I would definitely tweak the power of the Absorb Foe options (+2 MD will often give you nothing), but I'm still trying to figure out a way to base what you get on the Foe you Absorb...

Choose one of the following options that applies:

1)Gain a +2 to MD or PD depending on which stat was higher than yours (or choose if both)

2)If the foe had the ability to heal damage, regain hp equal to their level at the start of each turn you are staggered

3)If the foe resists an energy type, gain resist 16+ to that type

4)If the foe had an attack that could target the PD of a nearby creature, gain the following close attack you may use once this battle as a quick action:
Attack: Your highest ability mod + absorbed foe's level vs. PD
Hit: Damage equal to 1d6 X foe's level of the same type as the absorbed attack
Miss: Damage equal to foe's level

5)If the foe had an AC of at least your level +17 add +2 to your AC

6)If the foe had a melee attack that did more damage than one of your average recoveries, add it's level to the damage of your melee attacks

Earthorn fucked around with this message at 14:31 on Mar 16, 2015

# ¿ Mar 16, 2015 14:28

Earthorn: Jul 18, 2012

-Fish- posted:

I like what you've got going on there Earthorn, I may use that as written.

If I can find the links to them I'll repost the Saiyan, Namekian, and Notable Human for you guys to look at too. Phoneposting right now so my access is limited, last I checked Drive won't let me create links on the app. I'll check again really quick though.

Should I add a movement option to Absorb Foe? Like if the enemy had flight, teleport, burrow, etc, you can do that once this battle?

I like the Nemekain power. Regen is neat (need more PC regen in 13A imo).

The notable human Ensui Taffi Dansu shouldn't scale. +1 to AC and PD is pretty much just as useful at level one as at level 10. Ditto +5. Maybe just make it a flat +2, or a d4?

Strength from Anger seems just powerful enough, and a nice simple rage-type racial power.

# ¿ Mar 16, 2015 16:57

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# ¿ May 17, 2024 04:43

Earthorn: Jul 18, 2012

-Fish- posted:

I had a couple requests in my PM inbox to put the DBZ races into a shareable folder, so I done did that.

https://drive.google.com/folder/d/0BwaST0JQ2KVcUVZzVDhlU3RmTW8/edit

Awesome!

# ¿ Mar 16, 2015 18:28

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Traditional Games > 13th Age - It's D&D with Modern Mechanics, True Ways and Moar Owlbears

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