With Spheres of Guile out, I began to see again some of my builds for the Spheres system and maybe rewrite the characters that can benefit from the new rules.
Rico the dwarf ranger is one of them. There are two ways to integrate skill talents in its build, though. This one is the less invasive (I liked him pretty much as a Folk Healer, after all, and the only Guile archetype for rangers until now is not compatible with that one).
Rico Vulfsson Skadein, the Generous
Male dwarf ranger (Folk Healer) 1
NG Medium humanoid (dwarf)
Init +3; Senses Perception +5/+7
Defense
AC 18, touch 13, flat-footed 15 (+5 armor, +3 Dex). +4 dodge against monsters of the giant subtype.
hp 14 (1d10+4)
Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +5. +2 racial bonus vs. poison, spells, and spell-like abilities.
Defensive Abilities defensive training
Offense
Speed 20 ft.
Melee throwing axe +4 (1d6+3)
Ranged throwing axe +4 (1d6+3)
Special Attacks favored enemy (monstrous humanoids +2)
Guile
Skill Leverage 1; Trade Tradition Keeper; OAM Wis (+5)
Herbalism Sphere - Skill Profession (herbalism) 1 rank; Talents none; Utility Talents Remedial Curative
Vocation Sphere - Utility Talents Farmer, Guide, Handler, Racer
Magic
Caster Level 1; MSB +1; MSD 12; Concentration +6
Tradition Apothecary (Material Casting, Skilled Casting [Craft: Alchemy]; +1 spell point, +1 for every 3 levels in a spellcasting class); CAM Wis
Spell Points 7
Life Sphere - DC 15; Duration None; Range Touch; Talents Diagnose, Instill Life, Restore Health; Drawbacks Medicinal
- Cure (1d8+2)
- Diagnose
- Instill Life
- Invigorate
- Restore
- Restore Health
Statistics
Str 16, Dex 17, Con 16, Int 13, Wis 20, Cha 12
Base Atk +1, CMB +4, CMD 17 (21 vs. bull rush or trip while standing on the ground)
Traits Artisan, Caretaker
Feats Eschew Materials, Studied Healing*
Skills Craft (alchemy) +7, Craft (smith) +7, Diplomacy +5, Heal +10, Knowledge (nature) +6, Profession (herbalist) +9/+13, Profession (smith) +11/+15, Survival +10
Languages Common, Dwarven, Undercommon
SQ craftsman, folk remedy, industrious urbanite, surface survivalist, skilled healer, stonecunning, weapon familiarity
Gear healer’s kit, lamellar armor (horn), ranger’s kit, throwing axe, 8 gp.
Special Abilities
Favored Enemy (Ex) At 1st level, a ranger selects a creature type from the ranger favored enemies table. He gains a +2 bonus on Bluff, Knowledge, Perception, Sense Motive, and Survival checks against creatures of his selected type. Likewise, he gets a +2 bonus on weapon attack and damage rolls against them. A ranger may make Knowledge skill checks untrained when attempting to identify these creatures.
At 5th level and every five levels thereafter (10th, 15th, and 20th level), the ranger may select an additional favored enemy. In addition, at each such interval, the bonus against any one favored enemy (including the one just selected, if so desired) increases by +2.
If the ranger chooses humanoids or outsiders as a favored enemy, he must also choose an associated subtype, as indicated on the table below. (Note that there are other types of humanoid to choose from—those called out specifically on the table below are merely the most common.) If a specific creature falls into more than one category of favored enemy, the ranger’s bonuses do not stack; he simply uses whichever bonus is higher.
Folk Remedy By drawing on her training in medicine, the folk healer can prepare special herbal remedies to aid in the healing process. The folk healer can brew potions that use the Life sphere, even if she does not have the Distill Compound feat. Furthermore, when she creates them, she may increase the DC of her crafting check by +5 to include a Life talent she does not possess. She may also use her Heal skill to make the crafting check.
This replaces tracker.
Herbalism Sphere Operatives of the Herbalism sphere are able to utilize their knowledge of herbal lore and remedies to bolster their allies, as well as restore them from many of the afflictions that befall adventurers in the field.
Associated Skill: Profession (herbalist).
When you gain the Herbalism sphere, you gain 5 ranks in Profession (herbalist), plus 5 ranks per additional talent spent in the Herbalism sphere (maximum ranks equal to your Hit Dice). If you already have ranks in Profession (herbalist), you may immediately retrain them.
Skill Leverage: You unlock skill leverage with the Profession (herbalist) and your choice of the Heal or Knowledge (nature) skill.
You also acquire the Herbal Lore and Naturalist's Eye abilities.
Herbalism: Herbal Lore (Ex) Choose two of the following herb types. You learn the practical applications of these herbs, and where they can be found in the wild. Gathering a batch of herbs requires 1 hour, and may be done during the same period of time required to prepare spells or other daily abilities. You may gather an additional batch of herbs at any time by spending 1 hour gathering herbs. Herbs may be gathered anywhere that plants or fungi grow, including caves or densely packed cities but not a lifeless demiplane.
A single batch of herbs contains a number of herbs equal to your ranks in the associated skill + your operative ability modifier, and contains any combination of herbs you can gather. A gathered herb loses its potency after 24 hours. You may only gather a number of batches per day equal to your operative ability modifier.
Unless otherwise specified, consuming a herb is a standard action, and grants its benefits for a number of rounds equal to 1/2 your ranks in the associated skill + your operative ability modifier, or until the user benefits from the herb, whichever comes first, unless otherwise indicated.
Bitter Herbs: Known for their restorative properties, a bitter herb can be consumed to heal 1 point of ability damage after 10 minutes has elapsed.
Bland Herbs: Used to slow or hasten natural bodily processes, a bland herb can be consumed to reduce the next instance of weapon damage received by an amount equal to your operative ability modifier. Alternatively you may reduce the value of the next instance of bleed damage you would suffer by an equal amount.
Cool Herbs: Used to boost cognitive functions, a cool herb can be consumed to gain a +2 competence bonus to the next Intelligence-, Wisdom-, or Charisma-based ability check or skill check the user attempts within the herb’s duration.
Dry Herbs: Utilized to protect the body and mind, a dry herb can be consumed to allow the user to reroll the next saving throw they attempt within 1 round. The user can spend a swift action chewing the herb to extend the duration for an additional round (to a maximum number of rounds equal to the herb’s duration).
Spicy Herbs: Used to enhance and alter physical abilities, a spicy herb can be consumed to gain a +2 competence bonus to the next Strength-, Dexterity-, or Constitution-based ability check or skill check the user attempts within the herb’s duration.
Sweet Herbs: Known to encourage natural healing processes, a sweet herb can be consumed to gain fast healing 1 for a number of rounds equal to your operative ability modifier.
Herbalism: Naturalist’s Eye [approach] (Ex) You may adopt this approach as a swift action. While you maintain this approach, you gain a +1 insight bonus to Knowledge (nature) and Survival checks, increasing by 1 per 4 ranks in the associated skill you possess.
Additionally, you can always determine the condition of plants that you can see, such as if they are healthy, damaged or wilting, poisoned, etc. This includes plant creatures, as if you had succeeded at a Heal check to assess its health (page 50). If you attempt a check to determine the source of damage or anomalous conditions on a plant, you can spend 1 use of skill leverage to treat the check as though you had rolled a 15 on the die.
Finally, you regain 1 skill leverage when you successfully identify a plant or plant type creature that you have never encountered before.
Herbalism: Remedial Curative (tonic) [utility]
Cost: 1 herb
As long as this tonic is imbibed at least 1 hour before a rest, this tonic allows them to recover twice the number of hit points and ability damage whenever they would have a full night's rest (or any similar form of natural healing).
Twists
1 spicy herb: The imbiber treats their character level as being an amount higher equal to your operative ability modifier (minimum 1) for the purposes of determining the amount of healing gained from rest.
1 bitter herb: The imbiber also heals 1 point of ability drain to all ability scores after 8 hours of rest, and an additional 1 point of ability drain if they spend a full day of downtime resting.
1 sweet herb: Any creature attempting a Heal check to provide first aid to the imbiber may take 10 when doing so, even if distracted or in combat. Additionally, creatures gain a +4 alchemical bonus to Heal checks attempted to treat the imbiber.
Life Sphere You wield the powers of life. All Life sphere effects are subject to spell resistance.
Medicinal You must select the Instill Life talent with the bonus talent granted by this drawback, and you can only use your Life sphere abilities through this talent.
Incompatible: Glorious, Sympathetic
Life: Cure As a standard action, you may spend a spell point to touch a target and heal it an amount of damage equal to 1d8 + your caster level. To living creatures, this is a harmless positive energy effect, but it is harmful to undead and other creatures normally damaged by positive energy (Will half).
Life: Invigorate As a standard action, you may invigorate a touched creature, granting them temporary hit points equal to your caster level (minimum 1). Unlike normal temporary hit points, this ability can only be used on an injured target and cannot raise a target’s current hit points plus their temporary hit points to be higher than their total hit points. This benefit lasts for 1 hour (Will negates [harmless]).
Life: Restore As a standard action, you may touch a target and spend a spell point to restore their health (Will negates (harmless)). When using restore, you must choose to restore mind, body, or soul. If affecting multiple targets, this choice becomes the same for all targets.
If restoring mind, this accomplishes all of the following:
Removes the dazzled condition.
Removes the shaken condition or lessens frightened to shaken, or panicked to frightened.
Removes the staggered condition.
If restoring body, this accomplishes all of the following:
Removes the battered condition. (See Spheres of Might.)
Removes the fatigued condition or lessens exhaustion to fatigued.
Removes the sickened condition or lessens nauseated to sickened.
If restoring soul, this:
Heals 1d4 points of ability damage to one ability score of your choice.
If the condition targeted is part of an on-going effect, restore instead suppresses the condition for a number of rounds equal to your caster level. This cannot be used to remove curses or instantaneous effects.
Life: Diagnose As a swift action, you can learn any conditions that are affecting a living creature (unconscious, dying, nauseated, panicked, stunned, poisoned, diseased, confused, etc.) within range of your Life sphere abilities.
By increasing the casting time of this ability to a standard action or by spending a spell point, you can learn the details of any condition they are under, such as whether they have been affected by a spell or the nature of any disease or poison they are afflicted with. You may use this on a deceased creature to determine how they died, so long as the target has been dead for no more than one day per caster level.
You may also use this ability on any ally that is currently under the effect of one of your Life sphere abilities regardless of range or line of effect (such as allies who currently possess temporary hit points from your invigorate ability), as long as they are on the same plane of existence. You always know the direction and distance to your ally.
Life: Instill Life (Instill) As a standard action you may touch a small container of liquid and instill a cure, a restore, or an invigorate used in conjunction with the Greater Invigorate talent, or a use of the Affliction talent, which functions as a potion or oil. This cannot be augmented by the Empathic Healing talent.
An instilled liquid remains potent until you rest to regain spell points. If you have equipment on hand (such as an alchemy lab), the cost of bottles and water is considered negligible.
You may target food but not an already-magical item, such as a potion. All spell points must be spent and all variables of the sphere effect must be chosen at the time the instilled liquid is created. You cannot instill multiple effects in a single liquid, nor create multiple instilled liquids with a single action.
Life: Restore Health Your cure ability heals an additional 1 hit point per caster level. When restoring a target’s body, the exhausted and nauseated conditions are completely removed rather than lessened, and you may attempt a magic skill check against the DC of any poison or disease the target is suffering from. On a success, this removes that poison or disease from the target. This does not reverse damage the target may have suffered from the poison or disease (such as ability damage), but it does stop the poison or disease from causing any more.
Material Casting Your magic requires the expenditure of specific materials: precious metals, rare components, etc. The exact nature of this material should be worked out with the GM, but as a rule of thumb, this should cost a silver piece worth of materials per caster level per ability used. A player who does not want to track the cost of such material components can instead simply spend 10 gp per caster level per month on components, which is assumed to cover his costs for spells cast and research performed. You must possess a spell component pouch or otherwise have access to your components to use your magic. The gp cost of materials listed in this drawback are certainly not the only metric that can be used to reflect the role of magic materials in a setting, and GMs are encouraged to consider what role magic materials might play in their game.
Perhaps magic in one world requires a pearl to use per spell point, and players must track how many pearls they possess. Perhaps magic is fueled by a rare mineral, the buying and selling of which is heavily regulated by powerful kings, merchants, and other world powers; in such a world, Material Casting might even be worth two drawbacks to reflect its rare usage.
Skilled Healer (Ex) The folk healer gains the Studied Healing feat as a bonus feat. At 3rd level, the folk healer gains a +2 insight bonus to her Heal checks. This bonus increases by +1 for every odd level after the 3rd, and she does not suffer a penalty to her Heal skill for not having a healer’s kit. She can also provide long term care to herself.
In addition, she gains the skill unlocks for the Heal skill as appropriate for her number of ranks in that skill.
This replaces favored terrain.
Skilled Casting You must create your magic through singing, drawing, or performing some other activity. Your magic is tied to a particular Perform, Profession, or Craft skill (although with GM permission another skill may be substituted). You must succeed at a skill check to use any sphere ability. The DC of this skill check is 15 + the ability’s caster level. For every 2 points by which this skill check falls short of this DC, the ability manifests at -1 caster level. If this reduces the ability to a caster level below 0, the manifested ability fails and any spell points used are lost.
A caster with Skilled Casting must be able to perform their skill to use their magic, which is similar to but not the same as possessing other drawbacks. For example, a caster who must draw to create magic must have at least one hand free, although unless he also possesses Somatic Casting he may do so while wearing any armor without a chance of arcane spell failure. Likewise, a caster who uses music to create magic must be able to speak, but unless he also possesses Verbal Casting he can do so by whispering and thus not automatically break stealth.
At the GM’s discretion, this drawback may count as two drawbacks if the skill involved requires bulky equipment or the use of both hands (for example, the Perform (strings) skill, or Craft (stonework)).
Vocation: Farmer (trade) [utility] You gain Appraise, Handle Animal, Knowledge (nature), and Ride as class skills. You receive a +1 competence bonus when taking 10 or 20 on skill checks.
Vocation: Guide (trade) [utility] You gain Knowledge (geography), Knowledge (nature), Ride, and Survival as class skills. You can attempt a Ride check in place of a Handle Animal check to interact with a mount that is helpful to you while you are touching it.
Vocation: Handler (trade) [utility] You gain Handle Animal, Knowledge (nature), Ride, and Survival as class skills. You may spend 1 use of skill leverage to take 10 with one of these skills even in combat if you have unlocked skill leverage with that skill.
Vocation: Racer (trade) [utility] You gain Fly, Handle Animal, Ride, and Swim as class skills. All of your movement speeds or those of any mount you are riding increase by 5 feet whenever you or they take a run action.
Build
Rico is built with a 4d6 roll, discard lower system and 175 gp starting wealth. Favored Class Bonus is +1 hit point. If using a lower point buy, you can lower Intelligence and Charisma. If using a higher point buy (or rolling really well), your most important attribute is Wisdom. Wisdom is your casting statistic and affects the save DCs of all your magic and martial talents and your spell pool, increases your Will saving throws, and bolsters your survival, profession, and healing skills. Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution are important too, to have a better attack and damage roll and more hit points.
Playing Rico
Rico is gentle, wise, and peaceful. Dedicated to his arts, he keeps to himself in the forest’s heart, cures ill animals, creates tools for the villagers and helps wounded travelers. As a surface dwarf, he lacks the rudeness and greed of his subterranean kin, and often offers his advice and work for free.
Future Abilities
Magic Talents Deeper Healing, Friend to Wildlife (animals), Greater Invigorate, Greater Restore, Materials of Legend, Metal Mastery, Nature sphere (Metal package), Reforge Mastery, Rejuvenation.
Skill Talents Healing Poultice; Utility Efficient Healer
Feats Close–Quarters Thrower*, Distance Thrower*, Endurance, First Response, Herbal Components, Master Alchemist, Nature Soul, Pinpoint Targeting*, Precise Shot*, Quick Draw, Toxic Recovery, Two–Weapon Fighting*, Weapon Focus (light hammer), Weapon Focus (throwing axe)
Skills Craft, Heal, Profession, and Survival are the most useful skills for you. Put some ranks in Appraise, Diplomacy, Perception, and Sense Motive too.
Choose the Throwing combat style and select Live off the Land as your Nature Bond. Aberrations, humanoids, evil outsiders, and undead are good favored enemies.
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