Author Topic: Awakened (Psionic NPC class) [3.5]  (Read 5789 times)

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Prime32

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Awakened (Psionic NPC class) [3.5]
« on: March 11, 2011, 09:20:09 PM »
AWAKENED

An Awakened is a person with minor psionic potential that was forcibly awakened in some manner. Members of this class are commonly found among former illithid slaves, though it is unclear if the mind slayers deliberately granted them their abilities or they are simply the result of prolonged exposure to psychic energy.

Awakened should be considered equivalent to Adepts for the purposes of attracting followers.

HD: d6
BAB: Poor
Saves: Fort poor, Ref poor, Will good

Class Skills (4+Int): Autohypnosis, Bluff, Climb, Concentration, Craft, Gather Information, Handle Animal, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (local), Knowledge (psionics), Listen, Profession, Psicraft, Ride, Sense Motive, Spot, Swim, Tumble, Use Rope


1    Detect psionics, Dream points, Wild Talent
2    Psionics
3    Rapid focus (standard)
4    Oversurge +1
5    -
6    Detect psionics (rapid)
7    -
8    Oversurge +2
9    Rapid focus (move)
10   Detect psionics (sphere)
11   -
12   Oversurge +3
13   -
14   Detect psionics (instant)
15   Rapid focus (swift)
16   Oversurge +4
17   -
18   Detect psionics (expanded)
19   -
20   Oversurge +5


Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The awakened is proficient in the use of simple weapons, but not with armour or shields.

Detect Psionics (Ps): An awakened can use detect psionics as a psi-like ability at will (manifester level equals his character level). At 6th level he immediately gains information as if he had spent 1 round concentrating (skipping to round 2). At 10th level the area of this ability becomes a 60ft sphere centred on him. At 14th level he immediately gains full information as if he had spent 2 rounds concentrating. At 18th level the range of this ability doubles to 120ft.

Dream Points: At the end of every round in which he maintains his psionic focus, an Awakened gains 1 "dream point", up to a maximum of his class level. An Awakened may expend dream points in place of power points when manifesting a power. However, they are not power points and thus he may not transfer them to others (eg. by the bestow power power) or store them in items.

Wild Talent: An awakened gains Wild Talent as a bonus feat.

Psionics: Starting at 2nd level an awakened gains the ability to manifest psionic powers as a wilder of his class level, but does not gain any power points with which to do so (apart from that granted by the Wild Talent feat); single-classed awakened are thus reliant on their pool of dream points. The awakened selects one mantle, which determines his powers known. He also gains the granted ability of the chosen mantle.

Oversurge: An awakened may expend their psionic focus to increase the manifester level of one of their powers by +1 per four class levels (round down) as it is manifested. This functions as the wilder's wild surge ability, except that it does not threaten enervation.

Rapid Focus: At 3rd level an awakened may attempt to gain psionic focus as a standard action. This counts as the Psionic Meditation feat for the purposes of prerequisites. At 9th level he may do this as a move action, and at 15th level he may do this as a swift action.
« Last Edit: March 12, 2011, 09:30:12 PM by Prime32 »
My work
The tier system in a nutshell:
[spoiler]Tier 6: A cartographer.
Tier 5: An expert cartographer or a decent marksman.
Tier 4: An expert marksman.
Tier 3: An expert marksman, cartographer and chef who can tie strong knots and is trained in hostage negotiation or a marksman so good he can shoot down every bullet fired by a minigun while armed with a rusted single-shot pistol that veers to the left.
Tier 2: Someone with teleportation, mind control, time manipulation, intangibility, the ability to turn into an exact duplicate of anything, or the ability to see into the future with perfect accuracy.
Tier 1: Someone with teleportation, mind control, time manipulation, intangibility, the ability to turn into an exact duplicate of anything and the ability to see into the future with perfect accuracy.[/spoiler]

Prime32

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Re: Awakened (Psionic NPC class) [3.5]
« Reply #1 on: March 12, 2011, 12:08:37 AM »
So, I'm a little iffy on the balance of this one as an NPC class. It's worse than an ardent or an Educated Wilder, but it still gets 9th-level powers.

Thoughts?
My work
The tier system in a nutshell:
[spoiler]Tier 6: A cartographer.
Tier 5: An expert cartographer or a decent marksman.
Tier 4: An expert marksman.
Tier 3: An expert marksman, cartographer and chef who can tie strong knots and is trained in hostage negotiation or a marksman so good he can shoot down every bullet fired by a minigun while armed with a rusted single-shot pistol that veers to the left.
Tier 2: Someone with teleportation, mind control, time manipulation, intangibility, the ability to turn into an exact duplicate of anything, or the ability to see into the future with perfect accuracy.
Tier 1: Someone with teleportation, mind control, time manipulation, intangibility, the ability to turn into an exact duplicate of anything and the ability to see into the future with perfect accuracy.[/spoiler]

bkdubs123

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Re: Awakened (Psionic NPC class) [3.5]
« Reply #2 on: March 12, 2011, 02:20:44 AM »
Well, you're wanting it to be on par with the Adept, and it looks like it would be more powerful than the Adept even if you limited their highest level powers to 6th. In fact, all of the NPC classes you make are always more powerful than the existing NPC classes, and I'm forced to wonder what purpose you have in powering up NPC classes of all things.

Bozwevial

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Re: Awakened (Psionic NPC class) [3.5]
« Reply #3 on: March 12, 2011, 02:34:47 AM »
Well, you're wanting it to be on par with the Adept, and it looks like it would be more powerful than the Adept even if you limited their highest level powers to 6th. In fact, all of the NPC classes you make are always more powerful than the existing NPC classes, and I'm forced to wonder what purpose you have in powering up NPC classes of all things.
Making fights with hordes of faceless NPCs more entertaining and threatening, possibly. Imagine a fight with ten or twelve warriors. Now imagine a fight with ten or twelve soldiers.

That said, does Oversurge provide the power points necessary to augment a power like the wilder's Wild Surge, or does it just raise the cap and make you spend the points yourself?

Prime32

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Re: Awakened (Psionic NPC class) [3.5]
« Reply #4 on: March 12, 2011, 11:30:40 AM »
That said, does Oversurge provide the power points necessary to augment a power like the wilder's Wild Surge, or does it just raise the cap and make you spend the points yourself?
The latter.

I considered giving Awakened an ML penalty which they needed to surge to overcome (eg. a 20th-level Awakened would have ML15, or ML20 while surging). Think this would work?
EDIT: Stripped Expanded Knowledge - it simplifies the class and he can still take the feat as normal if he wants.
[spoiler]Expanded Knowledge: At 5th level and every 4 levels thereafter, an awakened gains Expanded Knowledge as a bonus feat.[/spoiler]


EDIT2: Made a few reworks; answer to Boz's question no longer valid. :p Original saved for prosperity.
[spoiler]Detect Psionics (Ps): An awakened can use detect psionics as a psi-like ability at will (manifester level equals his character level). At 6th level he immediately gains information as if he had spent 1 round concentrating (skipping to round 2). At 10th level the area of this ability becomes a 60ft sphere centred on him. At 14th level he immediately gains full information as if he had spent 2 rounds concentrating. At 18th level the range of this ability doubles to 120ft.

Wild Talent: An awakened gains Wild Talent as a bonus feat.

Psionics: Starting at 2nd level an awakened gains the ability to manifest psionic powers as a wilder of his class level, using the psychic warrior's PP/day (in addition to that granted by the Wild Talent feat). The awakened selects one mantle, which determines his powers known. He also gains the granted ability of the chosen mantle.

Oversurge: An awakened may expend their psionic focus to increase the manifester level of one of their powers by +1 per four class levels (round down) as it is manifested. This is treated as the Overchannel feat for all purposes, and cannot be combined with it.[/spoiler]
« Last Edit: March 12, 2011, 02:30:20 PM by Prime32 »
My work
The tier system in a nutshell:
[spoiler]Tier 6: A cartographer.
Tier 5: An expert cartographer or a decent marksman.
Tier 4: An expert marksman.
Tier 3: An expert marksman, cartographer and chef who can tie strong knots and is trained in hostage negotiation or a marksman so good he can shoot down every bullet fired by a minigun while armed with a rusted single-shot pistol that veers to the left.
Tier 2: Someone with teleportation, mind control, time manipulation, intangibility, the ability to turn into an exact duplicate of anything, or the ability to see into the future with perfect accuracy.
Tier 1: Someone with teleportation, mind control, time manipulation, intangibility, the ability to turn into an exact duplicate of anything and the ability to see into the future with perfect accuracy.[/spoiler]

bkdubs123

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Re: Awakened (Psionic NPC class) [3.5]
« Reply #5 on: March 12, 2011, 05:33:10 PM »
I like the interplay created by the nerfs, but it still seems a bit more powerful than an Adept. The extremely limited powers list might balance it out though.

Prime32

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Re: Awakened (Psionic NPC class) [3.5]
« Reply #6 on: March 12, 2011, 07:11:19 PM »
I like the interplay created by the nerfs, but it still seems a bit more powerful than an Adept. The extremely limited powers list might balance it out though.
Do I need to remove Oversurge, or turn it into a "remove penalty" ability?
My work
The tier system in a nutshell:
[spoiler]Tier 6: A cartographer.
Tier 5: An expert cartographer or a decent marksman.
Tier 4: An expert marksman.
Tier 3: An expert marksman, cartographer and chef who can tie strong knots and is trained in hostage negotiation or a marksman so good he can shoot down every bullet fired by a minigun while armed with a rusted single-shot pistol that veers to the left.
Tier 2: Someone with teleportation, mind control, time manipulation, intangibility, the ability to turn into an exact duplicate of anything, or the ability to see into the future with perfect accuracy.
Tier 1: Someone with teleportation, mind control, time manipulation, intangibility, the ability to turn into an exact duplicate of anything and the ability to see into the future with perfect accuracy.[/spoiler]

bkdubs123

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Re: Awakened (Psionic NPC class) [3.5]
« Reply #7 on: March 12, 2011, 07:39:20 PM »
I like how Oversurge and Dream Points work together, but I think the real issue is 9th level powers. Of course, earlier I misread how Dream Points accumulate, so actually, the fact that it takes such a long time to accumulate Dream Points probably keeps this on par with an Adept. I like it.

Prime32

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Re: Awakened (Psionic NPC class) [3.5]
« Reply #8 on: March 12, 2011, 09:33:54 PM »
Next up I'm considering an incarnum NPC class which gains the effects of martial/draconic auras on itself instead of soulmelds, with their bonus determined by how much essentia he invests. Binding one to a chakra causes it to extend from him as a standard aura that can affect others.
My work
The tier system in a nutshell:
[spoiler]Tier 6: A cartographer.
Tier 5: An expert cartographer or a decent marksman.
Tier 4: An expert marksman.
Tier 3: An expert marksman, cartographer and chef who can tie strong knots and is trained in hostage negotiation or a marksman so good he can shoot down every bullet fired by a minigun while armed with a rusted single-shot pistol that veers to the left.
Tier 2: Someone with teleportation, mind control, time manipulation, intangibility, the ability to turn into an exact duplicate of anything, or the ability to see into the future with perfect accuracy.
Tier 1: Someone with teleportation, mind control, time manipulation, intangibility, the ability to turn into an exact duplicate of anything and the ability to see into the future with perfect accuracy.[/spoiler]

bkdubs123

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Re: Awakened (Psionic NPC class) [3.5]
« Reply #9 on: March 12, 2011, 09:40:24 PM »
The concept there is solid, but without something a little more it'll be barely better than a Warrior. Still, I like the idea for sure.

oslecamo

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Re: Awakened (Psionic NPC class) [3.5]
« Reply #10 on: March 12, 2011, 09:58:50 PM »
I see several problems with this class:

1-Mantles are not OGL. Heck, they're not even in the basic Psionics Handbook if I'm not mistaken.
2-Those dudes completely make adepts obsolete in a D&D society, because they can spam their powers all day long. Ok, they have a "cooldown", but still, they completely turn the tables for suposed background characters when they can spam stuff like Major creation all day around. If those guys exist, adepts will be left to beggar on the streets while every society turns to ever-working psionics or is crushed.
3-Oversurge is definetely better than a PC ability. Not to mention Dream Points. I don't think NPCs should have abilities that are just screaming to be tinkered/abused with. Is there a single good reason why he should have it? The Adept doesn't get any spellcasting-boosting ability after all.

Really, this isn't just far stronger than any other NPC class, it's "Let's break the campaign world with min-maxing!" material. It's something I would be willing to play as a main PC, picking up and using and abusing Expanded Knowledge with long-duration stuff.

bkdubs123

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Re: Awakened (Psionic NPC class) [3.5]
« Reply #11 on: March 12, 2011, 10:15:46 PM »
Oslecamo makes many, very solid points.

Catty Nebulart

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Re: Awakened (Psionic NPC class) [3.5]
« Reply #12 on: March 13, 2011, 07:59:49 PM »
Alternate version;

HD: d6
BAB: Poor
Saves: Fort poor, Ref poor, Will good

Class Skills (2+Int): Autohypnosis, Concentration, Craft,  Knowledge (psionics), Profession, Psicraft, Sense Motive.

The class gets powerpoints and maximum power known as a psychic warrior.
Choose one Mantle (or other short list of DM chosen powers), that is their list of powers known. They do not get the mantle ability.

There we go, short and simple and easy to generate in large numbers.
E: "Did they... did they just endorse the combination of the JSDF and US Army by showing them as two lesbian lolicons moving in together and holding hands and talking about how 'intimate' they were?"
B: "Have you forgotten so soon? They're phasing out Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

Prime32

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Re: Awakened (Psionic NPC class) [3.5]
« Reply #13 on: March 13, 2011, 09:32:14 PM »
1-Mantles are not OGL. Heck, they're not even in the basic Psionics Handbook if I'm not mistaken.
There are some free mantles, like the elemental ones. And if I was using that as a guideline I couldn't do that incarnum NPC class. :p
Quote
2-Those dudes completely make adepts obsolete in a D&D society, because they can spam their powers all day long. Ok, they have a "cooldown", but still, they completely turn the tables for suposed background characters when they can spam stuff like Major creation all day around. If those guys exist, adepts will be left to beggar on the streets while every society turns to ever-working psionics or is crushed.
My justification for this is "they're rare".

Quote
3-Oversurge is definetely better than a PC ability. Not to mention Dream Points. I don't think NPCs should have abilities that are just screaming to be tinkered/abused with. Is there a single good reason why he should have it? The Adept doesn't get any spellcasting-boosting ability after all.
Point.
The class gets powerpoints and maximum power known as a psychic warrior.
Choose one Mantle (or other short list of DM chosen powers), that is their list of powers known. They do not get the mantle ability.
The main reason I didn't do this is because mantles aren't 1 power/level - it's possible to have a mantle with two 5th-level powers or none.
My work
The tier system in a nutshell:
[spoiler]Tier 6: A cartographer.
Tier 5: An expert cartographer or a decent marksman.
Tier 4: An expert marksman.
Tier 3: An expert marksman, cartographer and chef who can tie strong knots and is trained in hostage negotiation or a marksman so good he can shoot down every bullet fired by a minigun while armed with a rusted single-shot pistol that veers to the left.
Tier 2: Someone with teleportation, mind control, time manipulation, intangibility, the ability to turn into an exact duplicate of anything, or the ability to see into the future with perfect accuracy.
Tier 1: Someone with teleportation, mind control, time manipulation, intangibility, the ability to turn into an exact duplicate of anything and the ability to see into the future with perfect accuracy.[/spoiler]

oslecamo

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Re: Awakened (Psionic NPC class) [3.5]
« Reply #14 on: March 13, 2011, 10:44:46 PM »
1-Mantles are not OGL. Heck, they're not even in the basic Psionics Handbook if I'm not mistaken.
There are some free mantles, like the elemental ones. And if I was using that as a guideline I couldn't do that incarnum NPC class. :p
Still, why complicate with the mantles when you can just go with "give the awakened one power of each level it can use and go with it". And also limit them to 6th level powers only. It's not like they can't augment them anyway, but a simple NPC able to manifest the strongest powers out there just doesn't feel right to me.

Quote
2-Those dudes completely make adepts obsolete in a D&D society, because they can spam their powers all day long. Ok, they have a "cooldown", but still, they completely turn the tables for suposed background characters when they can spam stuff like Major creation all day around. If those guys exist, adepts will be left to beggar on the streets while every society turns to ever-working psionics or is crushed.
My justification for this is "they're rare".
Then I believe you're missing the main point of the NPC class. NPC classes aren't suposed to be rare. NPCs aren't suposed to be something nations would fight and sacrifice thousands to capture a single one.

NPCs are suposed to be something you can put here and there on the campaign whitout much tought. They're suposed to be expendable minions, mass background workers, ect, ect.

PC classes are suposed to be the rare ones in places of prestige and importance!

The class gets powerpoints and maximum power known as a psychic warrior.
Choose one Mantle (or other short list of DM chosen powers), that is their list of powers known. They do not get the mantle ability.
The main reason I didn't do this is because mantles aren't 1 power/level - it's possible to have a mantle with two 5th-level powers or none.
Then I would sugest simply doing like the adept and picking a list of "safe" psionic powers the awakened can learn from, just like the adept.

bkdubs123

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Re: Awakened (Psionic NPC class) [3.5]
« Reply #15 on: March 14, 2011, 02:09:35 AM »
Then I would sugest simply doing like the adept and picking a list of "safe" psionic powers the awakened can learn from, just like the adept.

This seems like a good idea to me. Also, if you wanted to keep Dream Points, I'd say that you could help nerf them if you forced a limit on the number of Dream Points the Awakened were able to spend each day. Something twice class level. That way they still have to power up some to manifest a 9th level power, but they could only ever manifest two (and that's if they don't manifest anything else at all other than two 1st level powers or one 2nd level power). You could also increase the time it takes for them to gain Dream Points if you wanted.