Energy Mages

[Username17]

The Zombie template only goes up to 20 hit dice.

It would need more powers by 20th level to keep itself from being a laughingstock.

-Username17

[Bigode]

Uh, I'm not well-versed in monster lore, and the idea the it could be rather arbitrarily capped wouldn't ever cross my head. But what about 12 of 20 HD at 12? Though I don't consider that SO over-the-top, but it does seem somewhat too much.

[Koumei]

Aha! I figured it out. The word was probably supposed to be "goop", however "k" was accidentally pressed instead of "p", making an old-fashioned racist term that is filtered out.

I only realised when I saw an old post with "Gobbledy-[EDITED]" written.

[Koumei]

So, any answer on the familiar front, Frank?

One DM allowed my 3rd level Puppeteer to have an Effigy Dire Weasel (which would be what, CR 3?) as a familiar, so I see this actually being a useful class feature, somewhat like the Druid's Animal Companion, as opposed to a regular shitty familiar.

But what was the actual intention? "Take normal familiar animal, change type to construct" or something?

The character's "pet zombie" (keeps juicing it up with more lightning every now and then to keep it going) is an Elasmosaurus, flopping about pathetically on those flippers. So it does create a somewhat comical appearance.

[Username17]

But what was the actual intention?

Undead Familiar and Construct Familiar are actual feats that allow you to have a familiar from Pet Cemetery or Clash of the Titans respectively. They aren't good.

It's a feat that allows you to have a familiar which is in general not as good as one of the better +3 to XXX familiars. It's not completely useless by any means, but it's pretty minor as such things go.

-Username17

[Prak]

One of those things not worth a feat in the least.

[Koumei]

...Pet Cemetary and Clash of the Titans? Okay, what do WotC call those two books? I haven't heard of those before *chuckling*

So, I'm lucky I managed to swindle something decidedly useful out of it. And I can't really see it being a problem in game, given the class features are mostly "useful, level-appropriate for the most part, but by no means amazing". It'll just make the character a bit of a Pokemon Trainer - much of their power lies within their "cohorts".

[CatharzGodfoot]

1203292147[/unixtime]]...Pet Cemetary and Clash of the Titans? Okay, what do WotC call those two books? I haven't heard of those before *chuckling*

One's a Steven King novel, the other a campy film about Perseus.

[Koumei]

Oh, right. I thought they were just names given to WotC books, in the same vein as "It's Cold Outside".

[virgil]

When a corpse collapses after the 10 minute duration from Puppet the Dead, can it be reanimated again with the same ability?

Also, when you put a magic item on your minion, do you use your level, or the minion's HD?

[Maxus]

While I'm semi-motivated to pursue this...

I'm kicking around ideas for the Cryomancer abilities. Aside from the Energy Mage's usual features, like the Resistance and Magic abilities, and Immunity at level 4...

-Brittling: At level 2, a Cryomancer can freeze someone or something, inflicting 1d6 Cold damage and (ideas: Slowing the target for a round or two, denying the Dex bonus for a round or two, or making them take extra damage when struck with a weapon for a number of rounds equal to Cha bonus or some such. Objects lose half of their hardness when affected by this.)

-Skate: The Cryomancer does not need to make balance checks to walk on slick ice. In fact, she's so at home on it, she can skate along a smooth surface of ice by making a layer of ice just ahead of her. Treat this as the psionic power Skate except the Cryomancer can move over relatively calm water, as well. (Idea: Later on, this lets them travel through the air, Iceman-style).

-Create Ice: You can create ice objects and weapons up to Medium size, within short range of you as a standard action. This ice has a hardness of 10 + 1/2 character level + Cha modifier. You can create up to 12 pounds of ice per character level, and the object's shape can't be terribly complex. Examples of easily creatable items include caltrops, piercing or slashing weapons, and poles. An ice item has three-quarters of the weight of the real thing, and takes double damage when subjected to fire (whether a fireball spell, or walking through a burning building or suffering a sunder attempt by a flaming weapon.)

-Create More Ice: Lets them make enough ice to make walls and grounds freezes and so on.

-Pall of Frost: Move action to activate, everyone within 10 feet of you takes 1d6 Cold damage.

-Never-Melt Ice: Your ice weapons don't melt and are immune to fire, and are essentially permanent.

-Scrying: All 'mirrors' you create from ice are linked through the Quasi-Elemental Plane of Ice, and at will you can use one to look and speak through any others you have created, from any distance. Anyone else present at the other end of this effect can see and hear you--and your surroundings--as clearly as if you were on opposite sides of a window from each other. (Idea: Later, using the mirrors to transport yourself and others)
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I'm unsure what offensive abilities to give it. I remember there were some interesting [Cold]-descriptor Spells in the Spell Compendium. Even if I don't use them, there's "Medium Ranged Touch Attack" (like Ice Beam) and "Area of Effect" (Like Blizzard).

Anyone have any suggestions?

[Maxus]

Icewalker

Hit Die: d8
Class Skills: The Icewalker's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Concentration (Con), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (-), Ride (Dex), Search (Int), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), and Use Rope (Dex).

Skills/Level: 4 + Intelligence Bonus
BAB: Medium (as Cleric), Saves: Fort: Good; Reflex: Good; Will: Good

Level Special
1 Cold Resistance, Cold Magic, Pall of Frost, Snowball, Frozen Heart
2 Brittling, Create Ice, Skate
3 Frost’s Bite, Ground Freeze.
4 Cold Immunity, Encumber
5 Icebeam, Let It Snow
6 Freeze, Never-melt Ice
7 Skate on Air, Create More Ice
8 Blizzard, Wall of Ice
9 Mirror Mirror On The Wall
10 Through the Looking Glass
11 Animate Snow
12 Create Tons of Ice

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The Icewalker proficent with all simple weapons, all martial swords and piercing weapons, and any three exotic piercing or slashing weapons you want. The Icewalker is proficent with light armor but not with shields.

Cold Resistance (Ex): At level 1, the Icewalker gains Cold Resistance equal to her character level

Cold Magic (Ex): All Cold spells are considered spells known for the purposes of magic item activation.

Coldfire (Su): At level 1, the Icewalker may form a semi-solid ball of pure cold energy and then throw it at an enemy as an attack action, where it'll burst upon impact. This is a ranged touch attack with a Short ranged.

Pall of Frost (Su): At level 1, the Icewalker may frost herself over and chill the air around herself within 10 feet, inflicting 1d6 cold damage to everyone within the radius. While frosted, the Icewalker is considered armed, and all of her melee attacks do 1d6 extra cold damage.

Frozen Heart (Su): An Icewalker gets her Charisma bonus or her character level (whichever is lower) to Cold damage.

Brittling (Su): At level Level 2 the Icewalker may concentrate her will upon a person or object within medium range. This always hits, and does 1d6 cold damage, and makes the target lose their Dex bonus to AC.
Create Ice Object (Su): At level 2 and Icewalker may create any object or objects you’ve seen before--out of ice. Choose what square they appear in, 10 lbs per level, short range, a number of objects equal to your character level. Hardness equal to 10 + ½ Character level + Charisma Modifier, but takes 1d6 damage each round it’s in non-freezing temperature (which the Icewalker can get around).

Skate (Su): At level 2, The Icewalker may skate at will, as per the psionic power, on a line of ice you create as she moves. The trail remains iced over for one round. Can cross water using this.

Frost’s Bite (Su): At level 3, the Icewalker’s ice abilities generate a bitter cold. Her cold abilities penetrate Cold immunity, resistance, and hardness.

Ground Freeze (Su): At level 3, the Icewalker may freeze over four 5-foot squares per character level as a standard action. The ice in any square can be thawed using a fire spell. Also, the Icewalker may now fix Ice objects onto horizontal and vertical surfaces.

Cold Immunity (Su): At level 4, the Icewalker does not fear cold, and is immune to it.

Encumber (Su): At level 4, the Icewalker’s creation abilities are getting better, allowing her to do more and more things. She may spend a standard action to attempt to wrap someone in heavy, restricting ice—as much as she can make with Create Ice--encumbering them with the weight, with a Reflex save for half the weight.

Icebeam (Su): The icewalker's mastery of coldfire has expanded to allow her to fire a ray of it. Long-range ray as a standard action, 1d6 Cold Damage per character level.

Let It Snow (Su): You make it snow in a medium-range radius, in as wide or as small an area as you want (within the radius). Starts off with a foot of snow, and goes up a foot every round until you tell it to stop.

Freeze (Su): At level 6, the Icewalker may bind someone up with ice. Treat as a Hold Monster, but with a Reflex save instead.

Never-melt Ice (Su): At level 6, the Icewalker’s ice creations are immune to all fire and won’t melt.

Skate In Air (Su): At level 7, the Icewalker may now skate through the air by creating a sheet of ice to travel across. The largest angle at which the Icewalker can travel upwards is 45 degrees. The Icewalker gains even more speed going downhill, gaining

Create More Ice (Su): At level 7, the Icewalker may create create 100 lbs of ice per character level within medium range. She may now make three separate objects per character level.

Blizzard (Sp): As the spell, at will.

Wall of Ice (Sp): At level 7, the Icewalker gains Wall of Ice as an at-will spell-like ability.

Mirror Mirror on the Wall (Su): All of the Icewalker’s ice creations come from the Plane of Ice, and, as such, as linked. At level 9, an Icewalker has gained enough mastery to link any two smooth reflective surfaces made from her ice like a window as standard action.

That is to say, the Icewalker stands in front of a mirror, chooses one of her other mirrors, wherever it may be, and then may see out the other mirror as if looking through a window.

Anyone or anything present on the other side can likewise see and communicate through their mirror. This effect lasts until the ice mage dismisses it as a free action. Only two surfaces may be linked as such.

Through the Looking Glass (Su): An Icewalker using her Mirror Mirror On The Wall ability may pass through the mirrors as easily as climbing through a window, stepping through an open door, or falling down a hole. Others may also come, as long they form a chain by holding hands and the first person through is the Icewalker

Animate Snow (Sp): At level 11, the Icewalker may use Animate Snow, as the spell, at will.

Create Tons of Ice (Su): At level 12, the Icewalker can create 1,000 lbs of ice per character level. It can be created within long range.



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Notes:
-Need to put in all the proper rules-lawyering language.

-Need to decide what weapons group they're proficient with. I'm thinking swords and clubs.

-Need to figure out later level abilities (Offensive? Or stuff like Animate Snow.) Tempted to make Create Ice a series of abilities--item creation, ground-icing, encumbering, freezing, and so on.

-Simulcrum would thematically fit with the idea of making stuff out of snow and ice, but I'm leery of putting it in.

-Given the amount of interesting Cold-based spells out there, this could be the first Energy Mage to make it to level 20.

[CatharzGodfoot]

Rather than letting them penetrate cold resistance and immunity to cold, I'd change "snowball" to "icicle" and make it deal piercing damage. In general, every physical manifestation of ice should probably deal (primarily) physical damage, while actually causing things to freeze would deal cold damage.

That's my take on it, anyway.

[Maxus]

Tentative update.

I'm also uneasy with making them shoot spikes as their level-1 attack, if only because it doesn't really fit in with the other Mages. I guess I could call it some bullshit like Coldfire or whatever...

[Cynic]

I don't have much to say about the mechanics of the Icewalker right now but I've never agreed with the flavor of the Ice mage being that of Mr. Freeze or Ice man.

That just makes it basically a slightly tweaked Fire mage. While this might also have a place in the tome, I don't know what exactly the Ice mage should be.

It was suggested that he could be made into an illusionist along the lines of the arcanist from IH with semi-real illusions.
~

But going back to your icewalker, maxus, Mirror Mirror is a damned cool ability but it seems really out of place for the character to have when compared to everything else he gets.

[Maxus]

I don't have much to say about the mechanics of the Icewalker right now but I've never agreed with the flavor of the Ice mage being that of Mr. Freeze or Ice man.

That just makes it basically a slightly tweaked Fire mage. While this might also have a place in the tome, I don't know what exactly the Ice mage should be.

It was suggested that he could be made into an illusionist along the lines of the arcanist from IH with semi-real illusions.
~

But going back to your icewalker, maxus, Mirror Mirror is a damned cool ability but it seems really out of place for the character to have when compared to everything else he gets.

If I were playing this, I'd be abusing the ice creation stuff, and leaving trails and patches of ice around to inconvenience enemies.

At higher levels, I'd be causing debates about how much damage a 900-lb chunk of ice falling from 50 feet does to something.

I've toyed with the idea of a list of effects you can do with your icemaking awesomeness. Mirror Mirror is a holdover from that list, which included dazzling people with the reflective surface in sunlight and doing things like making handholds to climb walls and stipulating that if an Icewalker wants something they've created to be grippable, it'll be grippable.

Mirror Mirror and Through the Looking are, yes, based on the thematically similar Fire Mage/Puppeteer abilities--I felt the need to give them something useful for getting around. I had some flavor text about all the Icewalker's creations being connected through the Quasi/Para-elemental Plane of Ice, through which the Icewalker can travel. I like the ability, anyway. Given a sufficiently complicated space, an Icewalker could play havoc with a party by having lots of 'mirrors' made by freezing walls and floors.