Actually, realized some things about the Manavoid Templar. Some...issues.
Basically, as I made it, it's broken. Broken not in that it's overpowered(it might be, but not my point). Broken in that it's useless in every situation that isn't fighting a spellcaster at close range.
I'm rethinking the flavor for it, and rebalancing abilities and such in my brain to help it. Basically the issues with it are this:
Lack of versatility: It fights mages. Doesn't help allies at all like something called a Templar should, really, can in fact hurt them with Spellbane Sight(penalty to Concentration checks affects friendlies too, as it is now), it doesn't fight normal combatants very well, even ones relying on magic equipment, since the Templar doesn't get magic equipment either, and so on. He is terrible at anything that isn't fighting mages. Fixes to this are going to include:
Aura that boosts allies resistance to magic, and protective abilities related to keeping allies safe from them evil casters. Probably the ability to draw enemy magic/psionics(?)/spell-like abilities etc., towards themself - their body absorbs magic in the surrounding area, affecting the natural currents of magic, etc.: basically they're a black hole for magic at a certain point. Which is how the class is going to be restructured towards; magic can go in, but it doesn't go out. Except for that Gamma Ray beam shit that comes out of black holes. That'll fuck you up.
Abilities that allow them to fight non-mages a bit more effectively. Not to where they're truly on par, just to where they aren't totally useless, even in a one on one fight. Mostly this is in the form of the manavoid soul and such affecting their ability to fight. The mana currents swirling around them form a shield similar to that of a ring of deflection, for example, and the constant influx of energy means they can fight without tiring, at a higher level. Since I'm wanting there to be a dark tone around the edges of the class, (antimagic in a world of magic=?evil?) they may turn into Outsiders(native) at level 9 or 10. Since they're already basically immune to magic by that point, it really doesn't affect much beyond flavor, I think. I'd like to explain more thoroughly about the whole dark aspect of them at a later point.
Lack of utility: They are, as it is, purely a combat class. This really isn't helpful, especially since if they aren't affected by even friendly magic and items, they are utterly useless in a number of situations, and make some challenges completely unsolvable. Dispel Magic and their 'undetectable by X' doesn't really help much, since Dispel Magic is unreliable, and they aren't exactly going to be sneaking anyway. Being unable to use passive magic items is just untenable, in DnD, especially at high levels, which is when it would affect them.
Fixes to this are going to include:
Revamp to the way they interact with friendly magic and magic items, based on their lore - basically, they absorb and repurpose magic that comes at them so it doesn't hurt them, normally; but if the magic is already beneficial, there's no need to repurpose it, so while it still absorbs it, it just uses it to do basically the same thing that would have been done anyway. Penalties may be applied to magic affecting them, probably in the form of duration of buffs and the like, and they might be unable to activate magic items that require activation in any way, rather than being purely passive, but still. Magic items used against them could probably be handled in a slightly different way. As well, they'd probably have to resist certain forms of buffs, still; Enlarge Person isn't something 'natural' that their body can use, and it isn't something they necessarily like, and such, so their body would try to eat it instead of using it. Oh, and not hurting friendly spellcasters(as long as they aren't too close).
Changes to things like Dispel Magic and Drain Mana, so that the two are probably combined into Drain Magic; they have to be close range, but they can eat those Symbols or the like, effectively an at-will Dispel Magic with a range of touch, in all likelihood, and an extra effect if you use it on a spellcaster. Would have to gain some of the abilities as they level up, of course. Also, Dispelling Strike, such that they can make sunder attempts and the like and use Drain Mana through that, or simply as part of a normal attack, to suppress the abilities of the magic weapons of enemies they fight. Possibly something like when they get hit with a magic weapon they suppress it's magic for a few rounds as their body immediately attacks the magic in it, and the like. So magic items could be used against them, they'd just be less effective. Which is the point.
Probably a bunch more Aura things anyway, unrelated to utility, but related to fighting non-mages, perhaps: putting one up that prevents triggered/activated magic items from being triggered/activated near them, maybe. That sort of thing.
Also, I'm almost considering giving them some very minor maneuvers. Probably not, but...I dunno. It's what made melee classes viable, in a lot of people's minds, and while he's still a mage-slayer primarily, he needs to be useful outside of fighting mages. Which brings me to my next point, though hopefully it's solved by the above stuff.
Weakness to big creatures: Anything bigger than them will fuck them over, most of the time, as activated magic items and buffs are an important part of that. Allowing them to use passive magic items will really help, but they need a way to deal with Summoned Creatures before just an Antimagic field(perhaps an upgraded version of Dispelling Strike being Banishing Strike?), non-magical giant creatures(likely dealt with in the usual way; let it hit you while the mages kill it), and magical creatures of various sorts(probably a way to fuck with it's natural magic(are Rust Monsters magical that way? If so, Templars might be the best fighter-type solution short of a barbarian with a greatclub)).
With all this additional crap, they need some stuff changed/taken away, of course, most of which will be some of the rather redundant stuff, like Dispel Magic, Magic Evasion(still don't know what it's for...), Mettle if necessary, Fast Healing since they can get magically healed again, etc.
Thoughts?
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Topic: To Kill a Psion. D&D 3.5 OOC Thread. The GM has his shit together. Somewhat. (Read 42431 times)