Quasiclass: Scion of Pestilence

[Balduvard]

EDIT: Newest revision can be found here.[/i]

This has got to be the most complex quasiclass I have ever come up with, and I'm still not happy with the abilities it has. I like the concept, but the details are eluding me...

Scion of Pestilence
Borne of disease, the Scion of Pestilence is doomed to an existence plagued by the illness they were brought into this world with. Fortunately for them, their unique attributes have kept them from expiring at the hands of the disease churning inside them. What each Scion does with their disease may be different from another, but all find some use for it in their lives.
__________________________________________
Requirements:
Feats: Blooded, Resist Disease,Diamond Body, Deathless Mastery, and the ability to cast Contagion.

Translation: 11 Monk/4 Wizard/10 Palemaster

Changes
This quasi-class focuses around several touch and direct combat abilities.

Plaguestrike: Any glove the Scion wields gains an OnHit debuff

For touch attacks
To hit: AB + (Num. of Imp. Stunning Fist Feats) + (Monk+PM Level/Balance Factor)

For all below abilities
DC: (Monk+PM Level/Balance Factor) + (Spell Foci: Necromancy Bonus)

Abilities changed
Stunning Fist: If target succeeds the check, the blow only inflicts minor penalties. If the target fails the check, it is incapacitated (stunned) with penalties.

Quivering Palm: Reduces an enemy's ability scores over time (15 Monk levels/use)

Undead Graft: If target succeeds the check, the touch attack temporarily lowers saving throws. If the target fails the check, it is level drained.

Deathless Mastery Touch: Inflicts a contagious disease that will spread from one monster to the next upon death until no more monsters are within the (small) infection distance of the most recent corpse. The next monster will only become infected if it fails its saving throw, but with each kill that the disease lives through it will increase its DC. The disease is essentially a single target debuff. (10 PM levels/use)

Paths available to the Scion
There are many ways in which a Scion may live with their disease, each with their own benefits. Each path corresponds to their choice of a control class, the benefits being provided once they reach legendary levels.

Monk - Purging the Illness
Through the monk's training, he's learned to push the illness away from his vital organs, to his extremities. These extremities, when coming into contact with enemies, will inflict concentrated amounts of plague upon them. The potency of the illness has been subdued, but can still be wielded

Benefits:
Stunning Fist becomes unlimited use
Quivering Palm gains uses

Wizard - Studying the Illness
Through learning and studying the disease that ravaged their body, the Scion of Pestilence is able to create arcane emulations of the disease that can be unleashed upon their foes, as well as cast spells to augment their abilities.

Benefits:
Gains AoE debuff spell that ignores SR

Pale Master - Embracing the Illness
By letting the illness ravage the Scion's body, it becomes a tool of wanton destruction capable of inflicting devastating afflictions.

Benefits:
Undead Graft becomes unlimited use
Deathless mastery Touch gains uses

Class specific benefits
Adding levels into these classes will give their own benefits to the Scion, even if the class is not the Control Class

Monk
Can take ranks in Improved Stunning Fist to increase touch AB

Wizard
Unlocks 9th level spells, unlocking Greater and Legendary Spell Foci for added touch DC

[Rodon_]

Nice concept

Looks really fun, I'd play one for sure.

[Balduvard]

Hooking the abilities may not be feasible, so here is an alternate abilities layout the employs the use of solely OnHits.

Plaguestrike
All attacks that the Scion makes have a chance to inflict their disease upon their foes when struck. The path that a Scion takes determines the attributes of their strike.

If a strike connects with a target, the DC of the strike is (Total Scion Levels - 10).

Adding Monk levels: Increases AB of the Scion
Allows the Scion to take Improved Stunning Fist, which increases AB (each feat taken increases AB by 2, to max of +12)

Adding Wizard levels: Increases DC of the disease
Allows the Scion to unlock Greater and Legendary Spell Foci to increase DC (each focus taken increases DC by 2, to max of +8)

Adding Pale Master levels: Increases effectiveness of the disease
The effects of the disease are dependent on the Pale Master level, as follows:

L10: The Scion's strike has a chance to apply debuffs to the target.

L20: The Scion's strike has a chance to apply debuffs to the target and incapacitate it (respects immunities).

L30: The Scion's strike becomes capable of inflicting a pestilence. The pestilence will spread from one monster to the next upon death until no monsters are within the (small) infection distance of the most recent corpse. The next monster will only become infected if it fails its saving throw. The DC of this contagion decreases after each kill.

L40: The Scion's pestilence does not lose DC with each kill.

L45: The Scion's pestilence gains DC with each kill.

[dodrudon]

I like the idea, but it sounds very complex (which could be a good thing) and difficult to balance. A wizard focus also seems unrewarding as well, both in terms of the ability (lower SR which doesn't help with disease-ing) or if you're using on-hit effects (low AB), though I guess you're epic by then anyways so it doesn't matter. For the player, it'd be especially hard to balance the AB, DC, and disease effects (through class levels and therefore feats) that it seems it would result in only one or two class/feat combos that would be able to perform its duties at all (low DC? go home. low AB? go home). (I suppose low DC wouldn't be *too* bad with the effect even on failed though)

[Balduvard]

Well, going CC Wizard you would gain Wizard spells at ineffective DCs (but semi-effective casterlevels for self-buffing), and any other spell changes. After going through it I realized that you wouldn't be able to hit CL41, so falling back on Tenser's would not be as effective. The AoE debuff spell would probably have no DC to make it competitive, and the details of its effects would be the only thing left to balance.

The main draw to the OnHits is that they would be an infinitely available debuff that are not subject to any restriction other than hitting the target. Here's how it worked out in my testing:

The Extremes

25 Monk/5 Wizard/10 PM:
*Can take all Improved Stunning Fist Feats to raise AB above what a Fighter gets, but would have the worst DC in that case (but enemies would have to roll 1 eventually, right?)
*Can take Regular and Greater Spell Foci for +4 to DC at the cost of +4 AB that could be gained from Imp. Stunning Fist.
*Is limited to only the most basic of plagues

11 Monk/19 Wizard/10 PM:
*Gains L9 spells, allowing maximum DC by taking Epic and Legendary Spell Foci for maximum +8 to DC (reaching 58)
*Higher casterlevel permits defensive buffs to be used (but falls short of the CL41 mark)
*Gains the AoE debuff spell
*Also limited to the most basic plague, but it is expected that the Scion will rely more on AoE debuffs

11 Monk/4 Wizard/25 PM:
*Takes advantage of PM class edits
*Has ~10 less AB than a similar level fighter
*Can take advantage of the most powerful afflictions, but has difficulty applying them (but without Monk levels to take, Regular and Greater Spell Foci are easily acquired for +4 DC)

Hybrids

11 Monk/12 Wizard/17 PM:
*Gains L9 spells, allowing maximum DC by taking Epic and Legendary Spell Foci for maximum +8 to DC (reaching 58)
*Takes advantage of PM edits
*Unable to use the more effective forms of pestilence
*Difficulty hitting targets

18 Monk/12 Wizard/10PM:
*Gains L9 spells, allowing maximum DC by taking Epic and Legendary Spell Foci for maximum +8 to DC (reaching 58)
*Can take all Improved Stunning Fist Feats to raise AB
*Limited to basic debuff

16 Monk/4 Wizard/20 PM:
*Can take Imp Stunning Fist to increase AB
*Attains a sustainable pestilence


One problem with the feat-dependent abilities is that they are tied to the levels in which they are taken. A more elegant solution might be to make the abilities entirely dependent on the amount of levels the Scion has in each class instead. Currently, the only way to get anything better than the basic debuff OnHit is to either go CC PM, or go CC Wizard for the AoE.

I think the ideal solution would be to use the abilities in the first post, which could be scripted to be independent of AB, and work on balancing them from there.

New thought: for CC Wizards, the Scion uses a Corrupted spellbook, turning any spell used into an affliction, the strength of the affliction dependent on the level of the spell cast.

[Balduvard]

New reworking of the quasi:

Requirements
Feats: Blooded, Resist Disease, Diamond Body, Deathless Mastery
The ability to cast Contagion
Level breakdown: 11 Monk/4 Wizard/10 Palemaster

Changes
Stunning Fist: If target succeeds a check, the blow only inflicts minor penalties. If the target fails the check, it is incapacitated (stunned) with penalties. AB for the attack is dependent on (mystery factors), DC of the check is dependent on (mystery factors).

[/u]:
[li]Taking Improved Stunning Fist feats will increase the AB of this attack
[/li][li]Taking Spell Foci feats in necromancy will increase the DC of this attack (these feats may not be granted by a tome)[/li][/ul]

Quivering Palm: Reduces an enemy's ability scores by (mystery factors) over time (15 Monk levels/use), no save or check.

Undead Graft: If target succeeds a check, this ability temporarily lowers saving throws by (mystery factor). If the target fails the check, it is level drained by (mystery factor) levels.

Deathless Mastery Touch: Inflicts a contagious disease that will spread from one monster to the next upon death until no more monsters are within the (mystery size) infection distance of the most recent corpse. The next monster will only become infected if it fails its saving throw, but with each kill that the disease lives through it will increase its DC. The effects of the disease are (mystery effects). (10 PM levels/use)

[/u]:
[li]Taking Spell Foci feats in necromancy will increase the DC of the disease (these feats may not be granted by a tome)[/li][/ul]

Spellcasting: All spells cast by the Scion have been warped by the disease into arcane afflictions that affect all enemies in a (mystery size) radius. The effectiveness of these afflictions is determined by a combination of (mystery factors) and the spell level of the spell cast by the Scion.

These mystery factors will most likely depend on the levels that the Scion has. Taking more levels in PM will yield a more lethal disease, more Monk levels will allow you to more easily apply the disease, and Wizard levels will help you to mix your disease with arcane powers.

Paths available to the Scion
There are many ways in which a Scion may live with their disease, each with their own benefits. Each path corresponds to their choice of a control class, the benefits being provided once they reach legendary levels.

Monk - Purging the Illness
Through the monk's training, he's learned to push the illness away from his vital organs, to his extremities. These extremities, when coming into contact with enemies, will inflict concentrated amounts of plague upon them. The potency of the illness has been subdued, but can still be wielded

• Stunning Fist becomes unlimited use
  
• Quivering Palm gains uses

Wizard - Studying the Illness
Through learning and studying the disease that ravaged their body, the Scion of Pestilence is able to create arcane emulations of the disease that can be unleashed upon their foes.

• Can use Wizard epics

Pale Master - Embracing the Illness
By letting the illness ravage the Scion's body, it becomes a tool of wanton destruction capable of inflicting devastating afflictions.

• Undead Graft becomes unlimited use
  
• Deathless mastery Touch gains uses

Play modes

25 Monk: Run around punching things in the face to stun and inflict penalties, reduce saves (by lowering abilities) on select enemies.
19 Wizard: Run around afflicting everything with spells.
25 PM: Run around touching everything to death via level drain and spreading diseases around the battlefield.
18 Monk/12 Wiz Hybrid: Run around punching things in the face less successfully and afflict everything with spells more effectively.
17 PM/12 Wiz Hybrid: Obtain more lethal area afflictions with PM CC.
20 Monk/16 PM Hybrid: Have a more lethal punch to the face.
20 PM/16 Monk Hybrid: Have a much more lethal (but less likely to hit) punch to the face.

[starlandra]

add a sickly aura when you become the quasi (a visual one cause of course you don't wanna add any more to this quasi it rocks as it is)

not sure how I missed this before but I would make one today... looks like a lot of fun

[FunkySwerve]

Try 1776 and 1783, too.

Funky

[uncanny]

What I like about this quasi idea is that you can have 3 distinctly different paths to follow, by embracing one of the three classes that make up the quasi.

That alone would make this quasi very versatile. My only question is, would people then go through various reincarnations to change their path? And should that be somehow limited?

[FunkySwerve]

Probably not, since we don't limit many other similar swaps, even fairly extreme ones, like Dex-Cha Bard and Dex-Str tank, to name just a couple.

Funky

[Balduvard]

Another reworking of this quasi, giving it a common core with the capabilities of focusing in different specialties rather than taking completely different directions.

Requirements
Feats: Blooded, Resist Disease, Diamond Body (Monk 11), Deathless Mastery (Pale Master 10)
Capable of casting Contagion (Wizard 4)
Before level 30

Pestilence
Upon reaching level 30, the Scion receives a cursed icon representing their contagion ability. Using this icon drains a spell from the Scion's spellbook to cast a Pestilence in a huge area [mechanics essentially the same as circle of doom; smaller radius than bard curse, more powerful since it is curse only, and a ranged attack] debuffing enemies. The level of spell drained (chosen with !dam1-9) increases the Pestilence Spread DC by (Spell Level/3), which will make the Scion's Pestilence more effective in later levels once it actually acquires the capability to spread from hosts on death.

This is not the only means available to the Scion for spreading Pestilence. The Monk training the Scion has received has allowed them to partially purge the pestilence within, pushing it to their extremities. When the fists or feet come into contact with any enemy, there is one chance per round for the same Pestilence effect to be applied to the enemy should they fail a saving throw. While this is at a lower DC than the Pestilence Spread DC from draining spells, it has infinite uses. The DC for this effect can be increased with spell foci in Necromancy (+2 each) or with Wizard levels (granted at legendary levels).

Whenever an enemy is struck with Pestilence (by failing the on-hit saving throw, the Pestilence Spread saving throw, or by being subjected to the Scion's Pestilence ability itself via spells drained) they are afflicted with the Pestilence debuff Effects described below:

Progression
The capabilities of the Scion's Pestilence are dependent on the total Scion levels as follows:

L30: Debuffs targets
L35: Creates a pestilence on the enemies, which upon death will spread to the nearest uninfected enemy (if they fail a saving throw). The Spread DC for this pestilence decreases with each kill.
L45: The Scion's pestilence does not lose Spread DC with each death.
L55: The Scion's Pestilence gains Spread DC with each death.

Effects
The effects of the Scion's debuff are dependent on the Scion level as follows:

Ability scores: Scion Level/6 [5 -> 10]
Saving Throws: Scion Level/6 [5 -> 10]
Skills: Scion Level/3 [10 -> 20]

[Summary: The effects of the Scion's pestilence (whether cast or on-hit) are more severe than bard song due to its curse-only nature and limiting affected attributes to the above (though lowering ability scores will lower AB, AC, damage, saves, HP, and skills, which was taken into account to arrive at the ranges above).]

Now, on to the focusing part of this quasiclass:

Legendary Scions
Upon reaching legendary levels, the Scion gains:
-(Monk Levels/3) to BAB (maximum of +8 with 26 Monk to 32)
-(Wizard Levels/4) to Pestilence DC (maximum of +4 with 19 Wizard)

Based on the Control Class of the Scion, multiple benefits are possible:

Monk - Purging the Illness
Further Monk training has exceedingly concentrated the pestilence within the Scion's body, making its fists wanton weapons of plague bearing.

Stunning Fist
Debuffs a single target and has the ability to incapacitate them if they fail a saving throw against the Pestilence DC--essentially a guaranteed version of the Scion's normal on-hit with a potential incapacitation bonus, with the duration of incapacitation dependent on Monk levels. This ability gains unlimited uses if the Scion has at least 25 levels of Monk.

Quivering Palm
Similar to Stunning Fist, this ability is a guaranteed on-hit of the Scion's Pestilence ability. This ability has (Scion Level/6) uses per day.

Wizard - Studying the Illness
Through learning and studying the disease that ravaged their body, the Scion of Pestilence is able to create arcane emulations of the disease that can be unleashed upon their foes. Being a CC Wizard enables the highest possible Pestilence DC and the most uses of Pestilence via casting by Spellbook.

Reanimative Pestilence
Since the Scion's Pestilence along this path is not a true disease, the Scion has been able to craft its effects to last beyond the death of its host. If the drained spell was Create Undead and the target becomes infected, it will harbor a Reanimative Pestilence.

Upon dying, it will spawn a Reanimated Pestilence Wretch. This decaying mass has no mind of its own; the Scion must actively control it, draining a memorized Control Undead spell every [time frame dependent on balancing, somewhere in the rounds to turns range; can be made dependent on Wizard levels]. Similar to your own abilities, the Wretches can spread Pestilence via on-hits once per round if the enemy fails a saving throw against the Pestilence Spread DC. Since it takes a considerable amount of concentration to maintain control over the reanimated creatures, only [a few, designate them as henchman so that more than one can be created, henchman limit setting may need to be increased].

Pale Master - Embracing the Illness
By letting the illness ravage the Scion's body, it becomes capable of inflicting devastating afflictions. By having lower AB and a smaller spellbook, the PM Scion relies on their abilities more for spreading Pestilence.

Devastating Pestilence
For Scions with PM as their control class, their Pestilence takes a twisted and degenerative nature, inflicting a persistent internal wound on enemies. [Kickback concerns here, make kickback ignore?]

Undead Graft
Any enemy touched by the Scion will instantly harbor the Scion's Pestilence without save. This ability gains unlimited uses if the Scion has 25 levels of PM.

Deathless Mastery Touch
The deadliest affliction available to the Scion, this ability will cause the corpse of the targeted enemy to explode in a most pestilent fashion when they die, inflicting damage and spreading Pestilence among enemies in a area. The specifics of this explosion are dependent on the amount of Pale Master levels (scaling from standard damage and tiny radius at PM 10 to epic damage and gargantuan radius at PM 25). This ability has (Scion Level/6) uses.


Math
Now for some min/max math numbers. For the Pestilence DC, the maximum bonuses available to the Scion are as follows:

Wizard levels bonus: 4 (19/4)
Spell foci bonus: 8 (SF,GSF,ESF,LSF [Last two only available to CC Wizard])
Spell drained bonus: 3 (9/3)

Between these, the maximum DC for a L60 Scion is (50+4+8+3)=65, which again is only possible for a CC Wizard. For CC Monks, the amount of caster levels being taken means that SF and GSF will likely be given feats to take. Combined with the required 4 Wizard levels that will give a +1 DC bonus in legendary levels, the minimum DC for a CC Monk is 55; which can be increased by Wizard levels for the purposes of the on-hit Pestilence.

Similarly for a CC Monk, by putting in 16 pre-epic monk levels it is possible to get 14 BAB (16*0.75 + 4*0.5) and then another 8 (26/3) added to the post-epic 24 BAB to yield 32 BAB, two higher than a fighter of the same level. At minimum, a CC Wizard or PM will have 24 BAB, which is two below the 26 a pure monk would have had and not enough for an extra attack. Adding a few extra Monk levels for a CC Wizard or PM should enable them to get the full number of attacks at 25 BAB.

[Balduvard]

I've reworded some things and added a special ability to the Wizard CC focus to give them some unique distinction. It's still confusing on first glance since there's a lot of terminology flying around in there, so here's the summary of how it all works relative to the bard role they can replace:

Scions can curse all targets in a huge area by using their Pestilence ability, draining a spell. There is no saving throw possible for this (just as there is none for a bard's curse song).

At L35, the Pestilence Spread DC comes into play. When a cursed enemy dies, a nearby uncursed enemy must make a save against the Spread DC or else they become cursed with the Pestilence. Again, depending on level, the Spread DC will either decrease, stay the same, or increase when that enemy dies and the Pestilence moves on to a new target.

Pestilence Spread isn't just enemy to enemy though, it's the means with which you can curse enemies when you've run out of spells to drain. By hitting enemies with your fist, once a round (if you hit) the enemy must make a saving throw against the Spread DC or else they become cursed with the Pestilence. What follows after is the same as above. Pestilence Wretches also possess this ability.

To summarize, the guaranteed and by-chance ways to debuff your enemies:

• Drain spells, guaranteed
  
• Pestilence Spread on enemy death, save vs. Pestilence Spread DC
  
• Pestilence Spread from you to an enemy (Unlimited, on-hit save vs. Pestilence Spread DC)
  
• Stunning Fist (Unlimited use at Monk 25) and Quivering Palm, guaranteed
  
• Undead Graft (Unlimited use at PM 25), guaranteed
  
• Pestilence Wretches on-hit, save vs. Pestilence Spread DC

[Eethen]

Question: Is the only purpose of a CC wizard or PM Scion spreading the Pestilence? It seems a little boring, cursing all your enemies one by one.

[Balduvard]

CC Wizards have the most spell slots available, can therefore use the area effect Pestilence the most, and have the best chance of having it spread from target to target; they are actually the least single-target oriented focus of the quasi.

CC Monks and PMs are the more single-target oriented focii (though they can both still use the area effect Pestilence, they will have fewer spell slots available to do so). Both gain unlimited use single target guaranteed Pestilence attacks to offset the lack of area effect attacks, with CC Monks focusing on crowd control with Incapacitating Pestilence and CC PMs focusing on damage with Devastating Pestilence and the Explosive Pestilence ability.

The focii are not exclusive; you can use the abilities of any focii you want, but they will not be as powerful if you have fewer levels in the respective class. A CC Monk or PM can load up with spell slot gear and use the Reanimative Pestilence by draining Create and Control Undead spells, but since they lack wizard levels, the resulting Wretches will not last as long. Similarly, a CC Wizard or PM can use the Incapacitating Pestilence attack, but the amount of time an enemy will be incapacitated will be much less than a CC Monk.