Skills and Abilities Mod

[morpheus562]

In the same vein of thinking, how does an Armor Penetration prof sound? It will be the same as spell penetration, but attacks will respectively bypass 5% and 10% of a targets physical damage resistances.

Edited October 2, 2022 by morpheus562

[Endarire]

I like physical defense penetration.

What about defortification, or a % to ignore critical hit immunity?

[morpheus562]

New Fighter Kits coming with the next release.

SHIELD BREAKER: Shield Breakers are a specialized set of fighters whose main purpose is to break the ranks and defenses of an enemy front line. These fighters will rend and penetrate enemy armor and defenses to make them vulnerable, so their allies may exploit this newly exposed weakness. As a result, the Shield Breaker's attacks will not hit as hard since they are made to break armor and shields, not sever bones and sinew.

Advantages:
– Each successful hit bestows a -10% cumulative reduction in the target's physical damage resistance.
– 4th Level: May use Sunder ability once per day and gains an additional use every 4 levels thereafter.

SUNDER: The Shield Breaker sunders the earth before <PRO_HIMHER> striking all enemies within a 15-ft. radius. Enemies struck will receive 2d4 crushing damage, -25% reduction in physical damage resistance for 5 rounds, and falls to the ground for 3 seconds. A successful Saving Throw vs. Spell with a -4 penalty negates the fall.

Disadvantages:
– Weapons receive a -2 penalty to all damage rolls.
– May not use ranged weapons.
– May not use shields.

 

BATTLE MASTER: An expert in two-handed weapons, the Battle Master is able to wreak havok on any battlefield. Their ferocity and resilience is well renowned, and enemies fear the endless barrage of their attacks.

Advantages:
– May use the Relentless Assault ability once per day. Gains one use at level 1, one use at level 5, and an additional use every 5 levels thereafter.

RELENTLESS ASSAULT: The Battle Master is able to unleash a flurry of blows and doubles the amount of attacks they can do for 5 rounds.

– 9th Level: Gains the Indomitable passive ability.

INDOMITABLE: The Battle Master gains +1 bonus to all saving throws. This increases to a +2 bonus at level 13 and a +3 bonus at level 17.

Disadvantages:
– May only attain Grandmaster in two-handed weapons.

Edited October 5, 2022 by morpheus562

[Endarire]

How do your new proficiencies interact with the OlvynTweaks component to remove the limit o 2 proficiency points per proficiency at level 1?  For example, a starting Fighter/Mage is theoretically able to put 4 points into Spellcraft at character creation if S&A is installed before OlvynTweaks.

[subtledoctor]

...sounds like you answered your own question?

[Endarire]

I wasn't sure if these were compatible which is why I checked but thankee!

[subtledoctor]

I don't see why they wouldn't be compatible as a technical matter - I assume the Olvyn mod just overwrites the values PROFSMAX.2da, so if you install that last you will get those values in  your game. Of course, that  doesn't mean the mods are conceptually compatible. Installing Olvyn's mod and overwriting PROFSMAX.2da would destroy the balance design of the mod I'm working on, which specifies its own very particular version of that file. Ultimately it's up to the player to decide how much you want to adhere to the design intent of this or that mod. If you want, you can deviate quite a lot from mods'  intended function. If that makes the game fun, or boring, or glitchy or just weird... that's on the player.

Edited October 6, 2022 by subtledoctor

[polytope]

About your new kits:

On 10/4/2022 at 3:57 PM, morpheus562 said:

BATTLE MASTER: An expert in two-handed weapons, the Battle Master is able to wreak havok on any battlefield. Their ferocity and resilience is well renowned, and enemies fear the endless barrage of their attacks.

Advantages:
– May use the Relentless Assault ability once per day. Gains one use at level 1, one use at level 5, and an additional use every 5 levels thereafter.

RELENTLESS ASSAULT: The Battle Master is able to unleash a flurry of blows and doubles the amount of attacks they can do for 5 rounds.

– 9th Level: Gains the Indomitable passive ability.

INDOMITABLE: The Battle Master gains +1 bonus to all saving throws. This increases to a +2 bonus at level 13 and a +3 bonus at level 17.

Disadvantages:
– May only attain Grandmaster in two-handed weapons.

The Battle Master looks fine, but doesn't really have a disadvantage prior to lvl 9 (when fighters would normally have enough proficiency slots for grandmastery in any weapon) and doubling attacks is really impressive, perhaps delay the "Relentless" ability to lvl 8 and every 4 levels thereafter, whereas "Indomitable" bonuses could be gained at lvls 5, 9, 13.

On 10/4/2022 at 3:57 PM, morpheus562 said:

SHIELD BREAKER: Shield Breakers are a specialized set of fighters whose main purpose is to break the ranks and defenses of an enemy front line. These fighters will rend and penetrate enemy armor and defenses to make them vulnerable, so their allies may exploit this newly exposed weakness. As a result, the Shield Breaker's attacks will not hit as hard since they are made to break armor and shields, not sever bones and sinew.

Advantages:
– Each successful hit bestows a -10% cumulative reduction in the target's physical damage resistance.
– 4th Level: May use Sunder ability once per day and gains an additional use every 4 levels thereafter.

SUNDER: The Shield Breaker sunders the earth before <PRO_HIMHER> striking all enemies within a 15-ft. radius. Enemies struck will receive 2d4 crushing damage, -25% reduction in physical damage resistance for 5 rounds, and falls to the ground for 3 seconds. A successful Saving Throw vs. Spell with a -4 penalty negates the fall.

Disadvantages:
– Weapons receive a -2 penalty to all damage rolls.
– May not use ranged weapons.
– May not use shields.

I have a suspicion that the Shield Breaker's on hit ability will be game breaking: Assuming a buffed fighter can do an average of 19-20 physical damage per hit in the mid game (+3 weapon, GM, strength) the Shield Breaker's -2 damage penalty only matters for the first swing, on the subsequent hit (110% damage) the penalty is negated, and it only spirals thereafter. This assumes that the enemy has zero physical resistances to start, it's even more unbalanced vs highly resistant monsters. For instance, attacking a 90% physical resistant monster (like Adamantine Golem) four hits drop the resistance to 50% and thus all attackers (and not just the shieldbreaker) are inflicting quintuple damage, as good as the Assassination HLA!

The sunder ability looks okay so long as it isn't stackable and maybe should receive less uses/day of it, perhaps, lvls 4, 10, 16, 22.

If you want an "on-hit" ability that's good versus highly damage resistant creatures I'd recommend a simple additional 1d3 extra damage on melee hits through #248, since it will be rounded down to no less than 1.

If you want allies to also benefit from this vs marked creatures it's a bit more complex, you'll need to grant the ability via durational spell with every hit on target type 6. This would call a secondary pair of shell spells through #248, the first protects via 206 from the second and the second inflicts the excess damage. However, any creature directly struck by the Shield Breaker would be temporarily immune to the first spell and thus take extra damage from attacks by any of his allies.

[morpheus562]

12 hours ago, polytope said:

About your new kits:

The Battle Master looks fine, but doesn't really have a disadvantage prior to lvl 9 (when fighters would normally have enough proficiency slots for grandmastery in any weapon) and doubling attacks is really impressive, perhaps delay the "Relentless" ability to lvl 8 and every 4 levels thereafter, whereas "Indomitable" bonuses could be gained at lvls 5, 9, 13.

I have a suspicion that the Shield Breaker's on hit ability will be game breaking: Assuming a buffed fighter can do an average of 19-20 physical damage per hit in the mid game (+3 weapon, GM, strength) the Shield Breaker's -2 damage penalty only matters for the first swing, on the subsequent hit (110% damage) the penalty is negated, and it only spirals thereafter. This assumes that the enemy has zero physical resistances to start, it's even more unbalanced vs highly resistant monsters. For instance, attacking a 90% physical resistant monster (like Adamantine Golem) four hits drop the resistance to 50% and thus all attackers (and not just the shieldbreaker) are inflicting quintuple damage, as good as the Assassination HLA!

The sunder ability looks okay so long as it isn't stackable and maybe should receive less uses/day of it, perhaps, lvls 4, 10, 16, 22.

If you want an "on-hit" ability that's good versus highly damage resistant creatures I'd recommend a simple additional 1d3 extra damage on melee hits through #248, since it will be rounded down to no less than 1.

If you want allies to also benefit from this vs marked creatures it's a bit more complex, you'll need to grant the ability via durational spell with every hit on target type 6. This would call a secondary pair of shell spells through #248, the first protects via 206 from the second and the second inflicts the excess damage. However, any creature directly struck by the Shield Breaker would be temporarily immune to the first spell and thus take extra damage from attacks by any of his allies.

Thank you! I needed to reread my description and it needs to be updated. Any and all weapons that are NOT 2H can only get 2 pips, nothing more. My description does not state this, so I need to change it. As such, it limits relentless assault and double Apr with 2H weapons will only go to 3apr at initial levels.

Shield Breaker is made so allies can benefit from reduced damage resistance. I'm playing around with the exact amount per hit and duration, so I expect it to change (i.e. Instead of -10% for 10 seconds I can do -5% for 3 rounds). Really looking for that happy space so it's balanced throughout the series.

[morpheus562]

Some reworks to Battle Master and Shield Breaker along with a new Fighter/Druid multiclass kit. @Graion Dilach, I never forgot your comment and I have a request out to G3 to split out my kits into a standalone mod that G3 hosts.

BATTLE MASTER - Fight Kit

An expert in two-handed weapons, the Battle Master is able to wreak havok on any battlefield. Their ferocity and resilience is well renowned, and enemies fear the endless barrage of their attacks.

Advantages:
– 1st Level: May use the Dash ability once per day. Gains one use at level 1, one use at level 3, and an additional use every 3 levels thereafter.

DASH: The Battle Master is able to increase his movement speed by +5 for 3 seconds.

– 4th Level: May use the Relentless Assault ability once per day and gains an additional use every 4 levels thereafter.

RELENTLESS ASSAULT: The Battle Master is able to unleash a flurry of blows and doubles the amount of attacks they can do for 5 rounds.

– 9th Level: Gains the Indomitable passive ability.

INDOMITABLE: The Battle Master gains +1 bonus to all saving throws. This increases to a +2 bonus at level 13 and a +3 bonus at level 17.

Disadvantages:
– May only attain Grandmaster in two-handed weapons while all other weapons can only attain Specialized.

SHIELD BREAKER - Fighter Kit

Shield Breakers are a specialized set of fighters whose main purpose is to break the ranks and defenses of an enemy front line. These fighters will rend and penetrate enemy armor and defenses to make them vulnerable, so their allies may exploit this newly exposed weakness. As a result, the Shield Breaker's attacks will not hit as hard since they are made to break armor and shields, not sever bones and sinew.

Advantages:
– Each successful hit bestows a -5% cumulative reduction in the target's physical damage resistance that lasts for 3 rounds.
– 4th Level: May use Sunder ability once per day and gains an additional use every 4 levels thereafter.

SUNDER: The Shield Breaker sunders the earth before <PRO_HIMHER> striking all enemies within a 15-ft. radius. Enemies struck will receive 2d4 crushing damage, -25% reduction in physical damage resistance for 5 rounds, and falls to the ground for 3 seconds. A successful save vs. Death with a -4 penalty negates the fall.

Disadvantages:
– Weapons receive a -2 penalty to all damage rolls.
– May not use ranged weapons.
– May not use shields.

STORMLORD - Fighter/Druid Multiclass Kit

Stormlords wield thunder and lightning like a warrior wields his sword. Because of their command of one of the most destructive aspects of nature, Stormlords are viewed with awe and fear by lesser folk, regardless of their motivation.

Advantages:
– 1st Level: +1 to hit and damage rolls and gains an additional +1 to hit and damage rolls at 6th level and at 9th level.

– 3rd Level: May use Shock Weapon once per day and gains an additional use every 3 levels thereafter.

SHOCK WEAPON: The Stormlord adds 1d8 Electricity damage to their weapon for 2 turns.

– 12th Level: The Stormlord is fully Immune to Electrical Damage.

Disadvantages:
– Restricted to Stormlord weapons (Spear, Throwing Axe, or Dart).
– Does not receive traditional Druid elemental resistances.

NOTE: Stormlords may take the axe proficiency but will only be able to use throwing axes.

Edited October 10, 2022 by morpheus562

[Quester]

Cool kits. The Battle Master and Shield Breaker both sound very powerful. I think the BM needs some more disadvantage to balance out the positives. Think about it: if you wanted to make a two-handed focused fighter, wouldn't you always select this kit over the unkitted fighter?

The trick with making balanced new kits is to not make the true class obsolete.

For the SB, maybe increase their damage penalty to -3? Even so, at high levels I suspect that being able to use Sunder repeatedly will make the SB extremely powerful. Perhaps too much so.

The Stormlord: cool, but could maybe use another ability gained somewhere between lvl 5-10 to flesh it out some more. Maybe some AoE lightning ability? Or, increased chance to crit for a couple of rounds, plus some lightning damage added to said crits? Think Thor on the Bifrost, when he got his level up with the lightning eyes and everything. 

[subtledoctor]

I try not to comment on other mod kits, because a lot of other mods are just not to my taste and that is totally fine. Many mods just add a lot of power and there is a long history of video game mods adding powerful stuff and that's fine. So please take this totally as constructive criticism which you can totally disagree with or just have different feelings about!

1. My first impression is that these kind of seem like better fighters? If I wanted to make a fighter using 2-handed swords, what possible reason would there be not to take the Battle Master kit? (EDIT - ninja'd by Quester.) I like character development choices to involve trade-offs - pay opportunity cost X to gain a bonus in Y. Here, this just seems like the "correct" choice, which personally, rubs me the wrong way. At the very least I would apply Archer rules and limit it to simple proficiency in 1-handed weapons. Maybe no ranged weapon use too? I don't know. If it's going to be the clear best in X niche, then it should be precluded from occupying other niches. (Also, Improved Haste from level 4 seems super powerful... see below about it)
2. The Stormlord has both a damage bonus and... another damage bonus. One is electrical, but it kind of seems redundant. This is the only thing that jumps out at me for this kit. Oh, and do they go from 0% electric resistance to 100% at 12th level? Why not 5% per level or something? Shouldn't a 10th-level Stormlord be more resistant to electrical damage than other druids? Hmmm... maybe add something about their spells? +25% bonus with electrical damage spells, -25% penalty with fire/cold/acid damage spells? That would be minor, but distinct and on-brand. Gives the player a slight incentive to choose lightning spells over fire spells, and really play up the kit's theme. (I made a fire-focused druid kit a long time ago, and it was a lot of fun to really push using only that one element.) Maybe also give them extra spells - Shocking Tough/Lightning Bolt/Chain Lightning seem obvious.
3. General thing that these kits made me think about: how many combats per day do you expect characters to be in?  The Stormlord can use Shock Weapon 4 times per day at level 9... doesn't that basically mean they can basically use it constantly, except maybe for the trashiest of trash mobs?  And the Battle Master can use Improved Haste three times per day at level 12 which lets them be almost always under Improved Haste? Lately I've been looking at the Bhaal Powers as inspiration: two uses per day is a reasonable boost while still making you decide when it is worth it to get that boost. I have a lot of kit abilities granted every 6 levels, so 1/2/3 times per day. If I'm making an ability that can be used 4/5/6+ times per day, I'll think hard about making it toggleable at-will, or else making it a constant passive effect. So like, I might give the Stormlord +1 electric damage to every hit for each 4 levels, permanently, or something like that. I would tone down the Battle Master's Improved Haste, or make it usable more rarely, or implicitly limit it with some cost - if it's non-magical, maybe using it should fatigue the character?

[morpheus562]

@Questerand @subtledoctor, I appreciate the time and effort you both took to leave feedback, it is appreciated. None have been released, and this gives me some good food for thought. 

Shield Breaker: I've played around with the duration and amount each hit reduces damage reduction. I have no issue with a -3 penalty to damage, I just wanted to start it at -2 to see how it does. For Sunder, I'll make it so it is not stackable and cannot be chained.

Battle Master: I like the idea of a 2 round winded effect that reduces movement speed and penalizes damage and thac0 by -2. I feel opening up the weapons to be more inclusive will make this class bump into the more overpowered side. I'm fine going the Archer route, and it was considered to give all non 2h weapons only proficient instead of specialized. With 2h weapons, they are not receiving much APR to begin with, and at level 4 this ability will only bring them to 3 Apr. Not exactly game breaking in my opinion as a vanilla dual wielder will have a passive 2.5 Apr. 

Stormlord: I'm borrowing heavily from the NWN2 Stormlord prestige class here and many abilities mirror what it provides. Uses for Shock Weapon will only be 3, not 4, at level 9 which is a very minor semantics difference. Of note, this is a multiclass, so it will take a total of 180k exp to reach level 9 instead of the normal 90k exp that single class requires. The melee and shock weapon abilities are focused on very commonly overlooked and under used weapons: spears, throwing axes, and darts. The NWN2 version for Shock Weapon improves with boosts to crit damage and sonic damage (I'll need to look to see viability of improved crit damage being applied by an ability), and the ability is unlimited but needs to be activated every 20 rounds. I'm scaling it back by only making it one use per rest instead of something infinitely toggleable. Additionally, I try to lean away from a passive bonus since I, personally as a player, prefer to choose when to activate an ability instead of having it constantly passive. Good feedback on lightning resistance, and I'll probably spread it around and add it in 25% increments. 

Edited October 11, 2022 by morpheus562

[Satrhan]

I like these new classes. You've had some good feedback above so I won't copy that. 

About the battle master, would it's relentless assault also trigger the bonuses from the swiftblade proficiency? Not everyone might use both components, but it would make it even more powerful. 
Some ideas I had to balance/change it up a little;
- Have relentless assault give a malus to THAC0, so that there is a drawback to using it (the winded effect after is a decent drawback for longer fights though)
- Or increase the chance of getting a critical miss
- Or instead of giving the class a self-haste ability, have the extra attacks come from scoring a critical hit;
- Or make it some sort of AOE effect, scoring a crit will also do damage to another opponent in short range (simulating hitting two opponents with one big blow)

[morpheus562]

3 minutes ago, Satrhan said:

I like these new classes. You've had some good feedback above so I won't copy that. 

About the battle master, would it's relentless assault also trigger the bonuses from the swiftblade proficiency? Not everyone might use both components, but it would make it even more powerful. 
Some ideas I had to balance/change it up a little;
- Have relentless assault give a malus to THAC0, so that there is a drawback to using it (the winded effect after is a decent drawback for longer fights though)
- Or increase the chance of getting a critical miss
- Or instead of giving the class a self-haste ability, have the extra attacks come from scoring a critical hit;
- Or make it some sort of AOE effect, scoring a crit will also do damage to another opponent in short range (simulating hitting two opponents with one big blow)

Swiftblade bonuses will not trigger for Relentless Assault similarly to how it will not trigger for Whirlwind or GWW. My Conditioning profs, in particular the Tireless (4 pips) will nullify the winded side effect of Relentless Assault.

I'm personally not a fan of building a kit around crits since there are so many crit immune enemies. It would basically either be a non penalty since the enemy is immune or the desired effect wouldn't trigger because the enemy is immune. Your idea of a thac0 penalty is interesting, and I can do a few options (i.e. player always receives a penalty or as the player level increases the other decreases, etc). Not sure if it's a route I personally want to go, but I'll keep it in mind.