Quasi-class: Hulking Curse

[whodat1]

I am posting this now so people who are interested in the concept can give advice or suggested builds, because this one has a lot to think about.


Hulking Curse
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Your past. A shadow that haunts your every breath. You have long forgotten where you came from or what your magical talent was. No, your old self is dead. All that is left is the ambition. The same ambition that led to this punishment, by a god too fearful of your growing power. Left for a millennia as this heap of crumbling, jagged ore. But to underestimate a mind such as yours was a foolish thing. You now walk again, and your living prison has been shaped to serve your unending quest for revenge.

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Basically, you were some sort of caster (probably a cleric), and you offended your god. As punishment, she turned you into a sentient rock, and stripped you of your superior healing and summoning powers. When you finally regain some composure and learn how to function as a rock, you have long since forgotten your cleric abilities (not to mention you are no longer divinely blessed by any god), so you turn to the arcane. Now you adventure to increase your power and learn of a way to exact revenge, using your curse to an advantage.

Wizard, Must focus in transmutation, other class(es) melee – shadowdancer? Monk? Weaponmaster? (not sure).

When you finally meet reqs/crossclass you change into a large form, rock (like the cold kickback guys in ssithy).

The most interesting part by far is the forced transmutation focus. (I think bandages /potions might have to be changed, and a req for this character is no healing skill either). No conjuration school means you can't rez, you can't heal yourself in any way. Instead, you rely on regeneration items and your party members to heal you.

With no heals, you have to adapt a new fighting style, where you go in, fight for a while, and when things are looking bad you back off (either through sanctuary or possibly hips) and let your hp regen. There would be high regen items (that are class limited in some way) that you would be wearing, so getting +40-50 regen is a possibility at high levels with this quasi.

I would give it the ability to cast the most powerful gmw (since its in transmutation), which would make the class welcome in most parties.
HP/AC bonuses, along with an enhanced tensers makes you almost immune to conventional damage at higher levels.
Would make the movement rate slow. Along with the large size, it makes backing off even tougher.

The advantages:
Good damage output with buffs
Lots of HP or AC – great tank when things are going right.
Large size

The disadvantages:
No heals/rez
Slow
Very challenging at low levels.
Low sr, need lots of imm gear.

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I am trying to make a quasiclass to give the pw/nwn veteran something new to do. Here’s a way to play that you have not played before. You need to have the experience and familiarity on the pw to use this character, because charging in like a normal melee is not the right answer for you. Obviously needs a lot of polishing, Your thoughts are welcome.

[Balduvard]

It looks like a good idea, though you could still use heal potions (you are unable to cast spells or use scrolls/wands for forbidden schools, potions are still okay) so that would diminish the challenge you seek. And since you still can use heal potions, such a large amount of regeneration would be too much to be balanced. I'm also not sure that giving them gmw for transmutation would be alright, though they could be able to keen (and provide gmw if they want to take enchantment focii). As for the storyline part of it, I'd pick a Divine (more deity related) class (Cleric/Druid/Ranger/Paladin) to put with Wizard.

Since there is already the BG/Sorc combo, a Pal/Wiz combo seems like a good alternative. Look into common spells the two classes share to see what benefits you could think up for combining them (or another two classes of your choosing). Also, I'm unsure whether the gem elemental appearances are confined-space-friendly or "large" (would require additional testing), though there are other options. Remember, any special abilities or spell effects that you come up with will have to be scripted in, so try to keep major alterations to a minimum. Hopefully what I've said thus far helps you in rethinking the idea.

[FunkySwerve]

We could just stop heal from working on this quasi. No rezzes tho? Lol, that's pretty harsh no-port areas. Unless you mean he just wouldn't be able to use the scrolls? Because the rods are still an option then.
Funky

[whodat1]

Thanks for your input!

, though you could still use heal potions (you

I 100% agree, all potions, any form of self-healing needs to be disabled on the quasi if your running around with big regen.

I'm also not sure that giving them gmw for transmutation would be alright,

I am not sure if I understand correctly, so Ill elaborate. Hes bad news for a group (druids, clerics, etc are using heals on him, hes big and slow, he cant help in a wipe, hes rubbing off mobs when hes in trouble, etc) I am looking to balance by giving unique advantages to group play.

I picked gmw for that, i.e. if he can hook up everyone with a +20 gmw or something, people see an advantage of grouping with this guy (it doesn't push up the atk cap, its just something to brag about). I agree that he needs to take the focus feats a normal wiz would take in that school to get a good gmw. And he should be able to cast keen/fw as well, but those aren't enhanced by the quasi. And GMW is transmutation right?

As for the storyline part of it, I'd pick a Divine (more deity related) class (Cleric/Druid/Ranger/Paladin) to put with Wizard.

Sure, I like the pally idea, I will play around.

We could just stop heal from working on this quasi. No rezzes tho? Lol, that's pretty harsh no-port areas. Unless you mean he just wouldn't be able to use the scrolls? Because the rods are still an option then.

...You stand alone, helpless as you watch your allies beg for your help, but you are powerless to save them. The curse draws another scar across your heart, your eyes narrow, and the hatred toward the one that cursed you churns and smokes like a volcano...

Thats the stuff good bard songs are made of
Of course others can rez you, but I like the no rezzes, just another part of the difficulty with the class (you are cursed, after all). I guess you could let them use rods, or make a new rechargeable item that can be recharged at maze or ring rest spots.

[Balduvard]

whodat1 said:

And GMW is transmutation right?

Nope, enchantment.

Greater Magic Weapon:
raised bonus scale cap to max of +10, at 30; this spell can't be cast on players more than 6 levels below the caster's level, and disappears when the weapon is transferred; it still works normally on summons; the bonus and max bonus increase by 1 for each focus (regular, greater, epic, legendary) in enchantment, to a maximum of +14

Thus my confusion in why you want to give transmutation focusers gmw. The regeneration could be a viable addition if the class wasn't allowed to consume potions--an ultimate cap to the curse would be that no beneficial spell could be cast upon the Cursed by others. This would give more incentive to take Enchantment focus to get a better gmw. Though that would probably be a bit over the top in terms of arduous scripting required.

[FunkySwerve]

balduvard said:

whodat1 said:

And GMW is transmutation right?

Nope, enchantment.

More accurately, GMW IS Transmutation, but Enchantment focuses increase its plus enhancement.

Also, when you said max gmw I assumed you meant +14. +20 would be pretty rediculous.
Funky

[Balduvard]

Yes, I was just trying to tie together how forcing them to take transmutation focus would help their gmw given the current system with enchantment focus. Trying to provide gmw in more than one place just doesn't seem right to me, but since I don't play casters much perhaps that itself is a bit out of place.

[whodat1]

Yes, I was mistaken on the trans/enchantment thing, sorry about that. I meant it as an excuse why there would be an improved gmw, rather then "I just randomly decided to beef up gmw for this quasi".

Should be a normal gmw up until 40, then it becomes scripted. My thought process was - Attack cap is 20, so when your 40 most melee are running around with at least a +6 enhancement weapon. So if its 14, or if its 20, or if its 1000, its the same result. Doesn't change the fact that every caster I talk to brags how much their gmw is. I apologize in advance if I am missing how GMW works properly.

Atm, I am trying to develop points that would intrigue people into trying the class. I am looking at the pally/wiz combo now, maybe I can see something else besides gmw. But I am wholly convinced that this quasi needs to give something back to the group (in the way of a buff) to balance out his dependence on them.

I don't know what script changes are memory intensive or which are not, and so far I have - the script that eliminates potion/rez use, a single spell modification, the rdd style stat/shape increases, and the new regen loot restricted to the quasi. If thats too much I can scale back.

[hiryuu]

I think the +14 limit is there for enemy damage reduction purposes. I don't really have a problem with +20 attack, since Bards can already hit that with ease.

[Balduvard]

whodat1 said:

So if its 14, or if its 20, or if its 1000, its the same result.

Not exactly. I'd kill to have an extra 1000 physical damage granted from +1000 gmw. As Funky has mentioned before, attack bonus != enchantment bonus. Giving the quasiclass an altered form of gmw that only grants attack bonuses would seem fitting. The Cursed cannot endow weapons with more damaging capabilities...only make them strike truer.