Thursday, February 9, 2017

The Ghostwalk Eidolon Class, First Draft

I wanted to toss this up here for feedback as I work on the Ghostwalk stuff. The 3E eidolon was one of two classes that ghosts could gain levels in, and I am currently carrying that conceit forward. It was a very barebones class with no proficiencies, no powers, no anything; just a bunch of ghost feats every other level.

Instead of doing that, I am giving it a somewhat more practical advancement track. I've created a form of currency, motes of ectoplasm, to power its abilities. Three of the six ghost paths from Ghostwalk (corruptor, poltergeist, and traveler) are going to be the archetypes for the eidolon. The eidoloncer, the caster-variant of ghosts, will use the other three (dominator, haunt, shaper).

The Path of the Corruptor is mostly done, and is an offensive-focused fighter-alike for ghosts; it will be posted as part of today's entry. Poltergeist will be something of a ranged fighter that animates objects to attack people, and traveler will be more rogue-like and evasive. Dominator possesses the bodies of enemies and uses them like puppets. Haunt is... something. I don't know yet. Shaper does funky stuff with ectoplasm to heal, harm, and create temporary ghost-themed magic items for party consumption.

Anyway, eidolon is below. It's still something of a mish-mash of themes, I find myself struggling to give it a single cohesive set of powers that all feel like they belong together. In particular, Wave of Wrath feels wrong and I will almost certainly replace it.

Needs work overall. Not quite happy with it.

Eidolon


Eidolons are the most common form of ghosts, consisting of those spirits who possessed a martial or otherwise physical bent in life. While they do not possess many overt physical characteristics compared to their living counterparts, eidolons choose a path that defines whether they are a violent ravager of the physical world, a manipulator and possessor of objects, or a fleeting spirit that is hard to pin down.

Class Features

As an eidolon, you gain the following class features:

Hit Points

Hit Dice: 1d8 per eidolon level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 8 + your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 5) + your Constitution modifier per eidolon level after 1st.

Proficiencies

Armor: None
Weapons: Simple weapons, martial weapons
Tools: None
Saving Throws: Constitution, Charisma
Skills: Choose two from Insight, Intimidation, Investigation, Persuasion, and Religion

The Eidolon

LevelProficiency BonusMotes of EctoplasmFeatures
121Force of Presence, Ghost Path, Viscous Ectoplasm
221Ectoplasmic Weapon
322Ghost Sight
422Ability Score Improvement
532Extra Attack
633
733Ghost Fade
833Ability Score Improvement
944
1044Path Feature
1144Wave of Wrath
1245Ability Score Improvement
1355Path Feature
1455Terrifying Reaping
1556
1656Ability Score Improvement
1766Path Feature
1867
1967Ability Score Improvement
2067Rise Again

Force of Presence


While not wearing armor, your Armor Class is equal to 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Charisma modifier. You can benefit from the use of a shield.

Ghost Path


At 1st level, you choose your Ghost Path from among the Path of the Corruptor, Path of the Poltergeist, and Path of the Traveler.

Viscous Ectoplasm


Your body is comprised of ectoplasm, which is both a measure of your metaphysical resilience and a source of your ghostly powers. Beginning at 1st level, you can create 1 *mote of ectoplasm* to power your special abilities. You gain additional motes of ectoplasm as you gain levels in this class. You regain all expended motes of ectoplasm after completing a long or short rest.

You can expend 1 mote of ectoplasm to add your Charisma modifier to the damage of any successful melee or ranged weapon attack you make.

Ectoplasmic Weapon


At 2nd level, you may extrude a portion of your ectoplasm to create a single one or two-handed melee weapon. You expend 1 mote of ectoplasm and use your action to create this weapon. The weapon is considered to have the *ghost touch* quality. The weapon disappears if you drop it or attempt to give the weapon to another creature. You can maintain this weapon on your person for up to 8 hours so long as it is gripped in your hand or visibly "sheathed" somewhere on your body.

When you reach 6th level, your ectoplasmic weapon is considered magical for the purposes of striking creatures with immunity or resistance to non-magical bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage.

Ghost Sight


Beginning at 3rd level, gain darkvision out to a range of 60 feet. If your race already possesses darkvision, you increase the range of your existing darkvision by 30 feet. You can expend 1 mote of ectoplasm as a bonus action to gain blindsight out to a range of 10 feet until the end of your next turn.

Ability Score Improvement


When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2 or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can't increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.

Extra Attack


Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.

Ghost Fade


When you reach 7th level, you may expend 1 mote of ectoplasm and use your bonus action to become *invisible* until the end of your next turn, or until you make an attack or cast a spell.

Wave of Wrath


Upon reaching 11th level, you may expend 2 motes of ectoplasm and use your action to become a wave of violent ectoplasm. You choose one unoccupied location that you can see within 60 feet of you and draw a line between your current position and the desired location. All creatures in the line of effect must succeed on a Charisma saving throw or suffer 8d6 damage as you sheer through their bodies with ghostly fury. You may choose for this damage to be either psychic or necrotic.

A creature that succeeds on their saving throw suffers only half damage. You teleport to the location at the end of the line of effect as part of the wave. This movement does not trigger opportunity attacks.

Terrifying Reaping


Beginning at 14th level, you may expend 1 mote of ectoplasm whenever you reduce a creature to zero hit points to devour a portion of its escaping soul. You immediately gain temporary hit points equal to your eidolon level, and all hostile creatures within 30 feet of you must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or be frightened until the end of your next turn.

Rise Again


An eidolon of 20th level resists the Calling even when they should rightfully be destroyed. Whenever you are reduced to zero hit points by any source of damage, you can expend 1 mote of ectoplasm to immediately regain hit points equal to your level. You gain one level of exhaustion.

Path of the Corruptor


Corruptors are wrathful ghosts, filled with anger at their state of being and capable of wreaking havoc with ghostly weaponry formed from their own bodies. Though they are primarily focused on offense, they possess a small number of abilities to give them greater staying power, so long as they properly manage their ectoplasm.

Resilient Corpus


When you select this path at 1st level, your hit point maximum increases by 1 and increases by 1 again whenever you gain a level in this class. You are proficient in the use of shields.

Leeching Strike


When you reach 10th level, you can expend 1 mote of ectoplasm when you strike a creature with a melee weapon attack in order to restore 3d6 hit points. If this attack is made with your ectoplasmic weapon, you regain additional hit points equal to your Charisma modifier.

Corrupting Touch


At 13th level, whenever you strike a creature a melee weapon attack, you can expend 1 mote of ectoplasm to inflict 3d6 additional necrotic damage. If this attack is made with your ectoplasmic weapon, you increase the damage dealt to 3d8.

Violent Retribution


Upon reaching 17th level, you can expend 1 mote of ectoplasm as a reaction when you are struck by a melee, ranged, or spell attack. You gain resistance against the damage inflicted by the attack, and the damage that you resisted is dealt to each creatures adjacent to you as psychic damage or necrotic damage, at your option.

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Ghostwalk Preview: The Lichebound Dragonborn

Been a couple weeks! Still hard at work on this, but wanted to give a taste of one of the custom elements I've added to the conversion. I present to you the first draft of the lichebound dragonborn (the "liche" spelling deliberate due to standards established in the Ghostwalk campaign setting).

Dragonborn, Lichebound


During the terrible Liche War that laid low the island nation of Inuitea around 100 years ago, the wicked Xaphan and his Cult of Neistra'demos came upon the ancient silver dragon Amrost and her devoted progeny, the dragonborn. Unknown outside of this enclave, the dragonborn had few allies to call upon and were quickly overwhelmed by Xaphan's undead legions. Rather than slaughter the dragonborn wholesale and animate them as mere skeletal or zombified troops, the exarch of Neistra'demos had another fate in mind.

Amrost was made to undergo the vile rites of the dracolich in order to spare the lives of her dragonborn. The once-glorious silver dragon became a terrible undead monster under Xaphan's control, with the dragonborn's mystical bond to their matron intact. Instead of troops of rotting flesh and cracked bone, Xaphan manipulated the dragonborn to serve in his armies as elite shock troops with icy breath weapons and impressive brute strength.

Proximity to the terrible necrotic magics used by Xaphan, as well as their connection to Amrost, slowly turned the shining scales of these dragonborn to a dull grave-gray, and their golden eyes into hollow yellow pits. Though not undead themselves, the dragonborn were tainted by it forever, and when Amrost was slain by mortal champions, the lichebound dragonborn were left without a home, without a master, and without hope.

Though few of them remain, the last lichebound dragonborn are tragic souls wandering a world that fears them for crimes not of their making. They can be found in Manifest from time to time, researching ways to reach across to whatever afterlife dragons go to and bring Amrost back to the world. Others have given in completely to despair, becoming necromancers themselves. As they are humanoid, dragonborn can indeed become ghosts.

Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 2, and your Intelligence score increases by 1.
Age. The only living lichebound dragonborn are well over 100 years old. They have no known upper age limit.
Size. Lichebound dragonborn are tall, but gaunt. You stand anywhere between 6 to 7 feet in height and weigh around 200 pounds.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Necrotic Breath. You can exhale a 15 foot cone of necrotic vapor. Creatures in the area of effect must make a saving throw with a DC equal to 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus. A creature takes 2d6 necrotic damage on a failed save, and half as much damage on a successful save. The damage increases to 3d6 at 6th level, 4d6 at 11th level, and 5d6 at 16th level.
Necrotic Resistance. You are resistant to necrotic damage.
Inured to Undeath. You have advantage on saving throws against effects originating from undead that cause the frightened condition, or which reduce your maximum hit points (such as the enervating touch of a wraith).
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Draconic.

They are pretty similar to existing dragonborn, but themed around undeath due to their history. Though necrotic damage is a relatively common energy type used against players, it is either partially or completely useless against a common enemy of player characters (the undead, of course). The resistance was thus good, but the breath weapon only occasionally so.

Thus, I felt it prudent to give them an extra trick, Inured to Undeath. It might not be good enough, but I'll build on it as I continue my work.

Other races to be added include the deathwarden dwarf subrace (the clan that lives beneath Manifest), the spirit elves (who protect and live near to the Spirit Wood), and an attempt to update the vryloka from late 4E.