Class Builds Comments

Hey Aryxymaraki,

First of all, thanks for giving this stuff a look over. I went back to my working documents and found my mistake - at the time I was converting this from standard ACKS I went back and forth between a Thrassian 2 build and Thrassian 3 build for the deathchanter and ultimately settled on Thrassian 2. However, most of the numbers except for infravision reflect a Thrassian 3 build (I must have gone back and started changing the numbers back to Thrassian 2 from Thrassian 3 in the document as Infravision is the first of these and then saw a squirrel or got hungry). I'll send Alex a document with the revised numbers.

The build point spread should look like this for the deathchanter:

Thrassian 2 (1000xp), Hit Die 2 (1000xp), Fighter 1 (500xp), Eldritch Sorcery/Spellsinging 2 (1250xp) +300xp for  2 fighter tradoffs (weapon and armor both unrestricted to broad) = 4050xp and 7 BPs which maxes the class out at 10th level.

As for the eldritch casting - I'm confused about how you're getting the spellsinging numbers - with Eldritch 2 the deathchanter is a 1/2 level caster, and I pulled the spellsinging points from the chart on page 93 of the word doc for the heroic companion to get the spellpoints for a half-caster. At Eldritch 1 he'd be casting spells as a 3rd level caster at level 9. I'm only bringing this up to make sure I didn't miss anything, and that this is the correct progression and spellpoints for a half-level spellsinging eldritch lizard of death.

Yup, looks right on your end! I had failed to find that spell point chart and since the abilities described were Thrassian 3 I was confused since it looked like Eldritch 2 but didn’t have the points for it >.>

I still do not entirely understand how that spell point chart was derived but now that I know it exists I can try to puzzle it out and maybe Alex will chime in.

Ah, OK got it. I don't know if it would be good to put the spellpoint chart with all of the spellsinging numbers in the build section as well the spellsinging section or not. Maybe once there's some sort of index it won't be an issue. In any case, thanks again for the catch!

The spell point table is not an error (there might be a typo or something, I didn’t check every single one yet, but systemically, it is not an error).

It was derived by taking the spell points for the base caster (whatever value gets you full casting), which was itself counted up by ‘the amount to cast each spell once’ and then multiplying by the scaling value for that point investment. For example, Arcane 4 is full casting for arcane, so Arcane 4 was calculated by counting up the amount necessary to cast each spell per day once in the mage progression. Arcane 3 gives you casting of a mage equal to 2/3 your level, so Arcane 3 has 66.7% of the spell points of a mage at each level (rounded); a 1st level Arcane 3 has 67% of the spell points of a 1st level mage.

The fact that it’s not always the right amount to cast each of your base spells per day, as a non-full-caster with spell points, is due to rounding artifacts; it’s possible for a spell per day to get rounded down and not be available yet but still gain a fraction of its spell point cost with which to cast lower level spells, particularly with higher level spells (even 33% of a 6th level spell gets you 3 spell points). (Edit: Actually, this also occurs because the spell point gain isn’t directly linear; you tend to gain more spell points at higher levels because higher level spells cost more to cast. So at, for example, half casting, when you go from 10th to 11th level, you personally unlock no new spell levels but gain your fractional spell points based on the mage unlocking 6th level spells.)

I am not certain what my opinion is on this as a mechanic! On the one hand, this is going to give the class more spell points than they would have if they were calculated off their own ‘spells per day once’. On the other hand, it does cost class powers to get, and the flexibility inherent in spell points is less valuable for a partial caster due to both fewer spell points available and fewer spells in repertoire.

I think the only bit of feedback I have that I’m actually confident on is that you probably shouldn’t have spell points listed on the table at a level that you have not yet unlocked spellcasting; just put a 0 or a - in there to reduce confusion (since with zero spells in repertoire you can’t even extemporaneously spellsing).

The easiest way to solve it is to add a rule to HFH that thrown weapons benefit from STR bonus. Then CHA FER is harmonious. I'd be happy to hear thoughts on the issue of damage bonuses for STR and DEX on thrown and missile weapons.

I like this rule modification; I think I'll use it in my games.

Princess of Warriors Memorial Rule (optional): When a character attacks with a thrown weapon, she may add her STR bonus to the damage.

Odysseus Memorial Rule (optional): A longbow, shortbow, or composite bow may be crafted with a high draw-weight. Mechanically, draw-weight is a characteristic rated between 0 and 4.

  • 60 lbs or less: 0
  • 61 lbs to 100 lbs: 1
  • 101 lbs to 140 lbs: 2
  • 141 lbs to 180lbs: 3

The advantage of a high draw-weight is that the arrow carries greater force. When using a bow with a high draw-weight, a character may add his STR bonus to the bow's damage, up to the maximum of the bow's draw-weight characteristic. The disadvantage of a high draw-weight is that the bow is harder to hold stable and the rate of fire is slower. When using a high draw-weight bow, the character's attack throw and number of permitted cleaves is reduced by the bow's draw-weight characteristic.  

EXAMPLE: Odysseus (STR 18, DEX 18) has a high draw-weight bow with a draw-weight characteristic of 3. When Odysseus fires his bow, he deals +3 damage, but suffers a -3 penalty to his attack throw (which is effectively cancelled out by his DEX bonus). When a scrawny local noble (STR 10, DEX 13) attempting to seduce Odysseus's wife attempts to use the great man's bow, he deals +0 damage and suffers a -3 penalty to his attack throw (-2 after DEX). Only the strongest and most dextrous heroes can be accurate with a high draw-weight bow!