Cultural Traits and Life Paths

[plaguewraith]

Cultural Traits
These simple traits offer minor benefits to an individual based on their background. All characters begin play with two of the following background traits representing some of their background, special skills, or training before they started their career as adventurers. Unless otherwise noted, a cultural trait can only be selected once.

Skilled
You are more able to pick up skills than others.
Prerequisites: Int 13
Benefits: You gain four extra skill points at first level and one additional skill point each level thereafter. This background trait can be selected multiple times.

Unusual Training
You have had some training that does not normally relate to your field of study.
Prerequisites: Int 13
Benefits: Choose a number of skills equal to your Int mod, these skills are always class skills for you. This background trait can be selected multiple times.

Resilient
You are tougher than most others.
Prerequisites: Con 13
Benefits: You gain one hit point per character level.

Militia Training
You were trained in the art of war before becoming an adventurer.
Benefits: You gain proficiency with all simple and martial weapons (Adapted from the Militia feat in Player's Guide to Faerun).

Wild Talent
You have tapped into an internal well of psionic power.
Prerequisites: Int, Wis, or Cha 13
Benefits: You gain one power point per character level.

Street Rat
You have learned from living on the streets most of your life.
Benefits: You gain double the normal benefits from flanking and deal an extra 1d4 points of damage when flanking an opponent or when the are denied their Dex mod to their AC.

Monastic Origin
You were raised in a monastery for the first few years of life.
Prerequisites: Wis 13
Benefits: You gain Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat. In addition, your unarmed strikes deal damage as if you were one size category larger.

More to Come.

Life Paths
A life path is a representation of a persons background, destiny, and talents brought into a cohesive whole. Each life path grants a number of benefits as they increase in power gaining benefits at 1st level and every three levels thereafter. All characters begin play with a single life path. Unless otherwise noted, the abilities from a life path are extraordinary abilities.

Path of the Gish
Prerequisites: Ability to Cast Arcane Spells
01st - Light Armor Proficiency, Martial Spellcaster
04th - -5% Arcane Spell Failure
07th - Infused Essence +1
10th - -10% Arcane Spell Failure
13th - Infused Essence +2
16th - -15% Arcane Spell Failure
19th - Infused Essence +3

Reduced Spell Failure (Ex): You reduce the arcane spell
failure of armor you wear by the amount indicated on the
table above

Martial Spellcaster (Su): You gain a bonus equal to half
the level of the highest level spell you can currently cast +1
(rounded down, maximum 5) on attack and damage rolls with
melee weapons so long as you have at least one spell available
to cast.

Infused Essence (Su): Any weapon you wield gains the
indicated enhancement bonus as your magic infuses it. The
weapon looses this bonus one round after it leaves your hand.


Path of the Awakened Mind
Prerequisites: Naturally Psionic or Cha 13
01st - Hidden Talent, Tap Potential
04th - Psionic Awakening (1st)
07th - Focused Mind
10th - Psionic Awakening (2nd)
13th - Power of the Mind
16th - Psionic Awakening (3rd)
19th - True Psionics

Hidden Talent: You gain Hidden Talent as a bonus feat.

Tap Potential: Your manifester level for the powers gained from
this path is equal to half your character level. You gain bonus power
points for a high Charisma score.

Psionic Awakening: You gain one power of the indicated level
and one of the level below the indicated level.

Focused Mind: You can gain psionic focus as a move action. If
you have the Psionic Meditation feat, you can gain psionic focus as a
swift action.

Power of the Mind: You can gain a second psionic focus, however,
you take a -10 penalty on the Concentration check to gain this second
focus.

Phrenic Mind: Powers gained from this path cost one lesspower
point than normal to manifest.


More to Come


These are meant for medium-high power level games

[Amechra]

Looks like this may have some promise, though do you really want humans able to get 12 extra skill points at first level? It would make them the go-to for skill monkeys.

[plaguewraith]

I'll mostly be converting weaker feats to cultural traits

[Amechra]

Ahh, I see. What will you adapt for life paths? If you don't already have a mechanic in mind, bloodlines would fit quite well, replacing taking Bloodline X 3rd 6th and 12th with taking, let's say, rogue 3rd, rogue 6th, and assassin 12.

Of course, looking at what your trying to do, making a set of general ACL might be a better idea.

[plaguewraith]

The life paths are going to be a way of giving characters options, for example, i'm making a path of the gish, it will offer armor proficiency and reduction to ASF

[plaguewraith]

Added the Resilient trait and Path of the Gish

[Amechra]

Looking good.

There needs to be something on along the lines of Hidden Talent, but for wizards. You could use that for the Path of the Arcane Dabbler, perhaps.

[plaguewraith]

Looking good.

There needs to be something on along the lines of Hidden Talent, but for wizards. You could use that for the Path of the Arcane Dabbler, perhaps.

I'll work on it. I was actually going to make an arcane, psionic, and divine dabbling set of paths, along with incarnum and pact magic. I'm also working on a warrior, sniper, thief, healer, and invoker paths

[Amechra]

This is shaping up better than I expected.


Now I have to wait 'til you've finished a couple more. Then I'll try my hand at some weirder ones.

[plaguewraith]

Added a few more cultural traits

Also, i have hit a snag in the "spell dabbler" paths, specifically what abilities should they gain or should they only gain limited spellcasting abilities. Also, up to what level should the spells go and how many should be able to be cast each day. I was originally thinking up to 3rd level spells at a maximum of 3/day each (for wizardry) or 4/day (for sorcery)

[Amechra]

Here's an idea for the arcane dabbler:

Path of the Arcane Dabbler
Prerequisites: Does not belong to a class that grants arcane spellcasting
01st - Iron Will, Prestidigitation
04th - Rerserve 2
07th - Metamagic reserve 2
10th - Reserve 4
13th - Metamagic Reserve 3
16th - Reserve 6
19th - Metamagic Reserve 4

Prestidigitation (Sp): You may cast prestidigitation as a 1st level wizard a number of times per day equal to 1/3 of your character level.

Reserve (Su): You gain the ability to take reserve feats as if you were able to cast spells of the level indicated above. You may use these reserve feats as if you have a spell slot, taken up by a spell of the proper subschool, of the level listed a number of times per day equal to your Int modifier +1.

Metamagic Reserve (Su): You gain the ability to apply a metamagic feat that increases the level of a spell by the number listed above. You may use this ability you Int modifier/2 times a day.

This look good?

[ShriekingDrake]

I understand, from your description, that this is supposed to be for a high-powered campaign.  But I'm wondering if this is too disruptive. For instance,

Militia Training
You were trained in the art of war before becoming an adventurer.
Benefits: You gain proficiency with all simple and martial weapons (Adapted from the Militia feat in Player's Guide to Faerun).

would let, say, a wizard or druid gain access to weapons ordinarily not available to them, with no penalty, no feat cost. It's a limitation on the class--especially tier 1 classes such as these--that gets effectively removed.

I'm not opposed to high-powered campaigns, but I'm just wondering what's grounding the choices here.  What, if I wanted to contribute to this endeavor, should I be thinking about to make good suggestions rather than just suggestions that let, say, fighters sneak attack like a rogue or a bard rage like a barbarian.  I know these examples are not what you've got down, so far, but I want to get a sense of what mechanically you're thinking the limitations should be.

--ShriekingDrake

[veekie]

I understand, from your description, that this is supposed to be for a high-powered campaign.  But I'm wondering if this is too disruptive. For instance,

Militia Training
You were trained in the art of war before becoming an adventurer.
Benefits: You gain proficiency with all simple and martial weapons (Adapted from the Militia feat in Player's Guide to Faerun).

would let, say, a wizard or druid gain access to weapons ordinarily not available to them, with no penalty, no feat cost. It's a limitation on the class--especially tier 1 classes such as these--that gets effectively removed.

This is essentially trivial though, unless you're working with a revised proficiency system that grants additional effects. Classes not proficient with common weapons still have BAB 1/2, which makes it impractical to use those weapons anyway, and if they multiclass to have more, they'd gain said proficiencies anyway.

[plaguewraith]

I'm not opposed to high-powered campaigns, but I'm just wondering what's grounding the choices here.  What, if I wanted to contribute to this endeavor, should I be thinking about to make good suggestions rather than just suggestions that let, say, fighters sneak attack like a rogue or a bard rage like a barbarian.  I know these examples are not what you've got down, so far, but I want to get a sense of what mechanically you're thinking the limitations should be.

--ShriekingDrake

The background traits should be abilities similar to feats but have only stat prereqs if any. They should, with a few exceptions, be extraordinary abilities and should not offer anything that directly alters the character. Maybe give a heritage related ability (similar to the heritages from Complete Mage), offer a few cantrips or orisons a limited number of times per day, but nothing that directly mimics a class feature. A lesser version (like from street rat) is fair game as long as it doesn't scale.

Here's an idea for the arcane dabbler:

Path of the Arcane Dabbler
Prerequisites: Does not belong to a class that grants arcane spellcasting
01st - Iron Will, Prestidigitation
04th - Rerserve 2
07th - Metamagic reserve 2
10th - Reserve 4
13th - Metamagic Reserve 3
16th - Reserve 6
19th - Metamagic Reserve 4

Prestidigitation (Sp): You may cast prestidigitation as a 1st level wizard a number of times per day equal to 1/3 of your character level.

Reserve (Su): You gain the ability to take reserve feats as if you were able to cast spells of the level indicated above. You may use these reserve feats as if you have a spell slot, taken up by a spell of the proper subschool, of the level listed a number of times per day equal to your Int modifier +1.

Metamagic Reserve (Su): You gain the ability to apply a metamagic feat that increases the level of a spell by the number listed above. You may use this ability you Int modifier/2 times a day.

This look good?

It is interesting, but not for the arcane dabbler. A dabbler would only have weak spells (meaning your prestidigitation ability is perfect), but what you suggest requires feat investment to work. A life path should not require investment outside what the path gives to gain the benefits. As a rule of thumb, two abilities should be gained at 1st level, the ability gained at 4th level should scale, and the rest can be nearly anything that is appropriate for the level and offers an option appropriate for the path.

[Amechra]

Now I see.

Then it's simple: make the Path of the Arcane Dabbler give Prestidigitation, then just add new features to it/advance the features it already has when you get your PotAD upgrade. Simple, and it makes it feel unique.

[plaguewraith]

Sorry for taking so long to reply but i've been having computer trouble, i will be updating this as often as possible to get something that works and is balanced

[plaguewraith]

Added the Path of the Awakened Mind

[Amechra]

Liking the awakened mind...
Might be a little powerful in conjunction with feats that require a psionic focus; isn't there a psionic feat that lets you autocrit someone each time you threaten a critical?