Showing posts with label Arcane Archer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Arcane Archer. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Eldritch Knight Options

Class Options allow you to add particular classes into 13th Age without the need of extensive reinventing of the wheel, so to speak. Instead of having to make an entirely new class, re-flavoring and adding of a few talents and powers here and there would allow you to faithfully render the class you want, with less effort.

That's what usually happens; However, because the Eldritch Knight — written by yours truly — is technically an amalgamation as well as a conversion of D&D "gish" classes, I'm going to make an exception to the goal, and simply provide additional options that would allow you to still faithfully render the character you want, but not necessarily with a particular D&D class in mind.


New Talents

Sigil Mastery

You gain one sigil of your level or lower.  In addition, you can use sigils against nearby targets instead of engaged targets.
(Adventurer Feat): You gain an additional sigil of your level or lower.
(Champion Feat): You can now use sigils against far away enemies, but at -2 to hit
(Epic Feat): Increase your crit range against enemies imbued with your sigils by 2 (usually 18+).

Weapon Finesse

You can use Dexterity for melee attacks with one-handed weapons in place of Strength.  In addition, whenever you roll a natural even on an attack during your turn, you gain a bonus to disengage checks equal to the current escalation die until the start of your next turn.
(Champion Feat): One battle per day, you can also add the bonus to disengage checks on a natural odd attack roll during your turn.
(Epic Feat): Once per round, when an enemy attempts to intercept you, describe how you'll be dodging, parrying, feinting, or using a magical incantation to get past that enemy, then roll a normal save.  Succeeding the save prevents that enemy from intercepting you.

New Feats

Sigils

These are feats that anyone who has at least one sigil known can take.
(Adventurer Feat): After each daily heal-up, choose up to two sigils that you know.  Until your next daily heal-up, they become close quarters spells.
(Champion Feat): All sigils that you know are now close quarter spells.
(Epic Feat): Whenever you crit with a sigil spell, you can release it as a quick action instead of a standard action.

Arcane Archery

(Adventurer Feat): Whenever you roll a natural odd with a ranged weapon attack, you can cast a sigil at a nearby target instead of an engaged target.
(Champion Feat): Whenever you roll a natural odd weapon attack, casting spells before the end of your next turn does not provoke opportunity attacks.

Burning Sigil

(Adventurer Feat): Weapons or ammunition that you use this sigil on will inflict ongoing fire damage equal to your Intelligence modifier each time you hit with it.
(Champion Feat): When you use this sigil on an object then release it, the resulting explosion can affect 1d3+1 nearby enemies.  Instead of making the attack roll to imbue the sigil, you now make the attack roll to hit with the released spell.
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GMs, feel free to have this blow a hole in a wall if players use this in such a manner. You lose the at-will ability to inflict ongoing fire damage, but you can instead damage multiple foes with the released spell.
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(Epic Feat): Critting with this sigil doubles the ongoing damage.

Shocking Sigil

(Adventurer Feat): Imbuing this sigil on a weapon or ammunition will force targets they hit to make a normal save.  Failing to make the save causes them to be weakened until the start of your next turn.
(Champion Feat): Creatures damaged by this sigil when released also become weakened (save ends)

Warding Sigil

(Adventurer Feat): While you are not staggered, increase the AC bonus from this sigil by 1.
(Champion Feat): The AC bonus also applies to PD.
(Epic Feat): The AC bonus also applies to MD.

Dueling Sigil

(Adventurer Feat): Once per round while you have not released this sigil, when the escalation die is even and the target rolls a natural odd on his attack roll, you can make an attack against the target as a free action, dealing half damage on a hit.
(Champion Feat): When you release the sigil, the target also takes 10 damage at the end of his turn whenever he does not end his turn engaged with you.

Vampire's Sigil

(Champion Feat): The target gains additional hit points equal to your level for both the imbued and released effects of the sigil.
(Epic Feat): The target gains temporary hit points equal to three times your Intelligence modifier for both the imbued and released effects of the sigil.

Chaos Sigil

(Champion Feat): When you crit with the imbuing of this sigil, you can repeat the attack against a nearby enemy. [ This can potentially imbue both opponents with the same sigil. ]
(Epic Feat): All save ends effects of this sigil are now hard save ends.

Death Sigil

(Epic Feat): When the target of this sigil dies, the sigil can no longer be saved against, and lasts until it is removed. Until it's removed, it does not count to your normal limit of active sigils, and at the end of each daily heal-up you can choose to give up a recovery to gain one use of Death Sigil.
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This way, as long as your character is alive and able to maintain the sigils, you can keep the dead from coming back.  Eldritch Knights who have this sigil are of particular interest to the Lich King himself, and may attract unwanted attention from him, as this could potentially keep him from using his phylactery to full effect, and prevent him from amassing his necessary armies.  In a future installment of this class I plan on including a sigil that the Lich King might have created himself as a counter to, or a perversion of, this sigil.
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Life Sigil

(Epic Feat): You can now use this sigil's release ability as if it were a Raise Dead Cleric spell.
13th Age and the Icons [plus other elements that might be in the article] are trademarks of Fire Opal Media. This article published by agreement with Pelgrane Press Ltd.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Ranger Options: Arcane Archer (PF) / Seeker (4E)


Class Options allow you to add particular classes into 13th Age without the need of extensive reinventing of the wheel, so to speak.  Instead of having to make an entirely new class, re-flavoring and adding of a few talents and powers here and there would allow you to faithfully render the class you want, with less effort.

The class featured here would actually be two classes: the Arcane Archer, and the Seeker.  Heralding from two systems, and with two very different power sources (the former being arcane magic, the latter being primal spirits), they nevertheless occupy the same niche: the use of magic to enhance their projectiles in order to harm their foes.  This is why it makes sense that their concepts are justified the most by the classes that specialize in ranged weaponry: Fighter and Ranger.  However, because the Ranger already has access to magic in the form of a talent, it only seems "right" that the conversion is primarily dedicated to the Ranger.  For those who may feel that the Fighter is very appropriate as a Seeker, there will be re-flavoring options mentioned to help evoke the feel of a throwing Seeker.

NOTE: For new feats, the prerequisite talent will be mentioned before the actual feat.

Re-Flavoring Suggestions
Fighter and Ranger: If the GM is not too keen on the mechanical effects of damage type -- meaning, he rarely (if at all) brings in resistances, vulnerabilities, and terrain/out-of-power effects of damage type (like for instance, fire damage causing flammable material to be set on fire) -- allow the Fighter and Ranger to change the damage type of his attacks to Cold, Fire, and Lightning (add Radiant and Necrotic to the list at level 6).

Fighter: The GM should consider allowing the Fighter to take Woodland Magic (from the Ranger) as a talent, and perhaps trade one of his own maneuvers for a spell of equal or lower level.  Also, allow the Fighter to change the description of all his ranged maneuvers to be spells that activate on impact.  Finally, Power Attack can be re-flavored to be magical enhancement of attacks.

Spells: all attack spells acquired would be re-flavored as imbuing his arrows with spells


New Talent

Confusing Projectiles
Once per battle when you make an even roll with a ranged attack, each creature engaged with your target pops free.
(Adventurer Feat) When using this talent, each creature engaged with your target takes damage equal to the damage your target took immediately before they pop free.
(Champion Feat) Once per day you can choose to deal no damage to the target and weaken each creature engaged to it immediately before they pop free.
(Epic Feat) Once per day you can cause the target to be confused (save ends), and each creature engaged to the target to be confused during their next turn.  If you do so, your attack deals no damage, and the creatures engaged with your target do not pop free.

New Feats
Double Ranged Attack
(Epic Feat) Once per day, you can make one ranged attack against each visible nearby enemy, but you are weakened for a round after that.  You cannot attack the same enemy twice with this feat.  GM Note: You might want to consider allowing the PC make a single attack roll against all visible enemies instead, but the PC will be stunned instead of weakened (representing the PC frantically trying to get a new quiver out of his pack for an entire round).

First Strike
(Epic Feat) Once per day, when you score a critical hit against a creature with a ranged attack, that creature must make a very hard save or take extra damage equal to half his maximum hit points.

Favored Enemy
(Champion Feat) Once per day, as a quick action you can choose to have your next ranged attack against your favored enemy ignore cover and concealment of all sorts.  Rolling a natural 16+ on the attack allows you to retain the use of this feat.  At level 8, the attack ignores everything between the you and the target.

Lethal Hunter
(Champion Feat) The first time you hit your chosen enemy, it takes ongoing damage equal to twice your level.  This ongoing damage increases to three times your level at level 7.