So for a 3.5 game that I'm running, I decided I want to create a secondary party which will work beside / against the PCs. After figuring out the histories, races, classes, and other details of the group, I came up short in one particular area: The healer.
The party needs a healer, but after several real hours of research I couldn't find a single healing class that fit the general aesthetic I was trying to create. So, I decided to create a sort of medieval doctor of sorts--tentatively titled an Arcane Surgeon.
For those among you who dig the D&D scene, I'd really love some feedback and whatnot regarding how you think this class should be developed further. Any thoughts or ideas are welcome, though this is what I'm currently thinking about:
1) Remove any semblance of magic from the class. Rather than imbuing the needles with arcane power, have it be an alchemical solution or something of the like.
2) Handle Poisons should be a class skill. Duh.
3) Supposedly there is a prestige class in Magic of Eberron that is somewhat similar to this. The "Alchemist Savant." I don't have a copy of that book, but if anybody could tell me that I'm being completely redundant here, I'd appreciate that a lot.
I'll post the actual class breakdown in the next post, since it is rather long.
D&D 3.5 Homebrew Class: Help a GM out?
D&D 3.5 Homebrew Class: Help a GM out?
Fancy Morgan: the Matt lover.
Re: D&D 3.5 Homebrew Class: Help a GM out?
Arcane Surgeon (or Arcane Acupuncturist, or Living Mortician)
As scrawny and physically unimpressive as any Wizard, without the immense magical might, Arcane Surgeons are rarely taken seriously. Their methods of healing are clumsy and painful, claim their detractors. Why subject yourself to such things when clerical healing is so much easier and less uncomfortable? The Arcane Surgeon would argue that as easy as such methods are—they've led to an ignorance that cannot be ignored. And those who travel with one would rarely claim that the knowledge of the Arcane Surgeon is not put to extremely efficient use—be it be healing, or hurting.
Adventures: Arcane Surgeons seek knowledge of their craft, and rarely find that opportunity in common life. Even the smallest towns usually have some low level cleric who can tend to the wounds of the townsfolk in less painful and invasive ways. In their pursuit of knowledge, the Arcane Surgeon seeks those who have no other recourse if they wish to be healed.
Characteristics: The Arcane Surgeon has next to nothing in the way of physical defensive or offensive abilities. They are academics and healers first and foremost, and only partake in combat because the wilds in which they must work necessitate it. As healers, however, their methods are a great deal more sustainable than those of casters, who must rely on the limited number of spells they can cast in a day. And as the Arcane Surgeon becomes more experienced, his ability to defend against, and inflict, damage grows at a significant rate.
Alignment: Arcane Surgeons have a distinct tendency toward Lawful Neutral. Their intense study and belief in an ordered universe which can be understood leads to a lawful outlook, and their intense devotion to their studies leaves little time for questions of morality. However, any non-chaotic is acceptable.
Religion: Arcane Surgeons usual avoid religion vehemently. Their past experiences vying for a chance to practice their art and constantly being ignored in favor of clerics has left a bitter taste in their mouths. Even gods who hold knowledge as their highest ideal have clerics.
Background: Arcane Surgeons are usually academics who abandoned their arcane studies early on to pursue the sciences. After discovering a passion for the relatively unexplored fields of physiology and anatomy, they set out to do the research their predecessors had not done. As such, most Arcane Surgeons are diligent researchers who take detailed notes.
Races: Becoming an Arcane Surgeon requires two things first and foremost: The intelligence to understand and apply complicated sciences, and the curiosity to explore and discover without necessity. As such, Humans, Gnomes, and Halflings are the most common Arcane Surgeons.
Other Classes: Arcane Surgeons don't get along very well with anybody who has a strong connection to a deity, so clerics, paladins, and other such classes aren't likely to get along with Arcane Surgeons. Rogues and Bards have the most in common with Arcane Surgeons, and Arcane Surgeons will often look to them for guidance on how to best survive a battle.
Role: The Arcane Surgeon is best equipped for healing, though in a pinch it can certainly deal some amount of damage as well—particularly at later levels. But for the most part an Arcane Surgeon should be standing well behind their more hardy group members.
Game Rule Information
Arcane Surgeons have the following game statistics.
Abilities: Intelligence makes the techniques of the Arcane Surgeon more potent, and allows for a greater number of them to be on the table at any given time. Dexterity is also necessary when attempting to heal—or harm!--in the heat of battle. The low HD of the Arcane Surgeon also makes constitution a very attractive ability.
Alignment: Any non-chaotic.
Hit Die: d4
Class Skills
The Arcane Surgeon's class skills are: Appraise, Concentration, Craft(Alchemy), Decipher Script, Disable Device, Forgery, Heal, Knowledge (Medicine), Open Lock, Search, Sleight of Hand, Spellcraft, Use Magic Device
(Table can't be properly displayed. Only really relevant info is that the class has the worst BAB, Fort, Ref, and Will save possible.)
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Arcane Surgeons are proficient with their signature needles, as well as daggers. Arcane Surgeons are proficient with light armor, but not with shields.
Medicine Man: The Heal skill is now modified by Int, rather than Wis. The level restriction on how many ranks of Heal the Arcane Surgeon can have is removed. The Arcane Surgeon can now directly heal a character's HP using the Heal skill. The DC of the check is equal to one half of the damage which is being healed, rounded up. If the check fails, only one half of the total amount attempted is healed. Healing takes 5 minutes per point of HP.
Enchanted Needle: The Arcane Surgeon can now enchant needles with a prepared needle enchant as a free action. Enchantments are released when the needle comes into contact with blood.
Throw Needle: The Arcane Surgeon can throw needles up to 20 feet with decent accuracy. (1D20 + BAB + Dex.) Offensive needle throws must still overcome target's Armor Class as with a standard thrown weapon. Throws made at friendly targets must still overcome target's flat-footed Armor Class.
Bonus Feat: At levels 2 and 11, the Arcane Surgeon receives a Bonus Feat. This can be any feat which the Arcane Surgeon meets the prerequisites for.
Accuracy: At level four, the Arcane Surgeon gets a +2 bonus to attack rolls made when throwing a needle. This bonus increases to +4 at level eight, +6 at level twelve, and +8 at level sixteen.
Anatomical Knowledge: The Arcane Surgeon's knowledge of physiology allows him to target his attacks at an opponent's weak areas, causing an additional 1D8 damage at level 5, and increasing by 1D8 every five levels after that.
Diagnosis: The Arcane Surgeon's knowledge of physiology gives him a +6 bonus to Search or Appraise when attempting to find the cause of an illness, or locate a weak spot on a creature.
Surgery: Some tasks require more time and focus than a simple enchanted needle can accomplish. This ability gives the Arcane Surgeon access to the Surgery abilities.
Self Medicate: As he learns more about medicine, and more about what it takes to survive as an adventurer, the Arcane Surgeon discovers the secrets of healthy living.
Rank 1:Damage Reduction(1/Chaos), Fast Healing 1, +2 HP
Rank 2:Damage Reduction (2/Chaos), Fast Healing 2, +5 HP(+7 total)
Rank 3:Damage Reduction (3/Chaos), Fast Healing 3, +5 HP(+12 total)
Rank 4:Damage Reduction (4/Chaos), Fast Healing 4, +10 HP(+22 total)
Pointed Words: The Arcane Surgeon can activate his needles via a command word. They will still only affect that which they are physically connected to, but the subject need not have blood. (In the case of a construct, for example.)
------------------------------------
Useful Arcane Surgeon Items:
Surgeon's Tools: Tools designed to help an Arcane Surgeon do his job. +3 to heal checks.
Masterwork Surgeon's Tools: Tools designed to help an Arcane Surgeon do his job. +6 to heal checks.
Surgical Needle: Small, sharp, and endlessly useful, these needles serve as vessels for the Arcane Surgeon's abilities, and are superbly balanced for throwing. 1D3, x2, Piercing. (Can choose to be a flat 1 non-lethal damage)
-------------------------------------
Needle Enchantments:(List needs to be populated)
Arcane Surgeons must select (4+Intelligence Modifier) needle enchantments each day, out of all available needle enchantments. Those enchants can be used without limit until the next day, when the Arcane Surgeon must choose again.
Rank 1
Heals (1D8+Int Modifier) Damage
Deals (1D8+Int Modifier) Damage
Cure Poison
Apply Poison
Rank 2
Rank 3
Rank 4
Rank 5
Rank 6
Rank 7
Rank 8
Surgery: (List needs to be populated)
Surgeries are lengthy procedures. They can be performed without any preparation beforehand, but they require hours equal to the number of the rank to complete, and in order to succeed the Arcane Surgeon must make a Healing check with a DC of (10*Rank) of the operation.
Rank 1
Resurrection (With loss of a level)
Animate Dead
Rank 2
Rank 3
Re-attach limbs.
Graft new limbs onto a host body.
Rank 4
Resurrection (Without loss of a level)
Construct Flesh Golem
As scrawny and physically unimpressive as any Wizard, without the immense magical might, Arcane Surgeons are rarely taken seriously. Their methods of healing are clumsy and painful, claim their detractors. Why subject yourself to such things when clerical healing is so much easier and less uncomfortable? The Arcane Surgeon would argue that as easy as such methods are—they've led to an ignorance that cannot be ignored. And those who travel with one would rarely claim that the knowledge of the Arcane Surgeon is not put to extremely efficient use—be it be healing, or hurting.
Adventures: Arcane Surgeons seek knowledge of their craft, and rarely find that opportunity in common life. Even the smallest towns usually have some low level cleric who can tend to the wounds of the townsfolk in less painful and invasive ways. In their pursuit of knowledge, the Arcane Surgeon seeks those who have no other recourse if they wish to be healed.
Characteristics: The Arcane Surgeon has next to nothing in the way of physical defensive or offensive abilities. They are academics and healers first and foremost, and only partake in combat because the wilds in which they must work necessitate it. As healers, however, their methods are a great deal more sustainable than those of casters, who must rely on the limited number of spells they can cast in a day. And as the Arcane Surgeon becomes more experienced, his ability to defend against, and inflict, damage grows at a significant rate.
Alignment: Arcane Surgeons have a distinct tendency toward Lawful Neutral. Their intense study and belief in an ordered universe which can be understood leads to a lawful outlook, and their intense devotion to their studies leaves little time for questions of morality. However, any non-chaotic is acceptable.
Religion: Arcane Surgeons usual avoid religion vehemently. Their past experiences vying for a chance to practice their art and constantly being ignored in favor of clerics has left a bitter taste in their mouths. Even gods who hold knowledge as their highest ideal have clerics.
Background: Arcane Surgeons are usually academics who abandoned their arcane studies early on to pursue the sciences. After discovering a passion for the relatively unexplored fields of physiology and anatomy, they set out to do the research their predecessors had not done. As such, most Arcane Surgeons are diligent researchers who take detailed notes.
Races: Becoming an Arcane Surgeon requires two things first and foremost: The intelligence to understand and apply complicated sciences, and the curiosity to explore and discover without necessity. As such, Humans, Gnomes, and Halflings are the most common Arcane Surgeons.
Other Classes: Arcane Surgeons don't get along very well with anybody who has a strong connection to a deity, so clerics, paladins, and other such classes aren't likely to get along with Arcane Surgeons. Rogues and Bards have the most in common with Arcane Surgeons, and Arcane Surgeons will often look to them for guidance on how to best survive a battle.
Role: The Arcane Surgeon is best equipped for healing, though in a pinch it can certainly deal some amount of damage as well—particularly at later levels. But for the most part an Arcane Surgeon should be standing well behind their more hardy group members.
Game Rule Information
Arcane Surgeons have the following game statistics.
Abilities: Intelligence makes the techniques of the Arcane Surgeon more potent, and allows for a greater number of them to be on the table at any given time. Dexterity is also necessary when attempting to heal—or harm!--in the heat of battle. The low HD of the Arcane Surgeon also makes constitution a very attractive ability.
Alignment: Any non-chaotic.
Hit Die: d4
Class Skills
The Arcane Surgeon's class skills are: Appraise, Concentration, Craft(Alchemy), Decipher Script, Disable Device, Forgery, Heal, Knowledge (Medicine), Open Lock, Search, Sleight of Hand, Spellcraft, Use Magic Device
(Table can't be properly displayed. Only really relevant info is that the class has the worst BAB, Fort, Ref, and Will save possible.)
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Arcane Surgeons are proficient with their signature needles, as well as daggers. Arcane Surgeons are proficient with light armor, but not with shields.
Medicine Man: The Heal skill is now modified by Int, rather than Wis. The level restriction on how many ranks of Heal the Arcane Surgeon can have is removed. The Arcane Surgeon can now directly heal a character's HP using the Heal skill. The DC of the check is equal to one half of the damage which is being healed, rounded up. If the check fails, only one half of the total amount attempted is healed. Healing takes 5 minutes per point of HP.
Enchanted Needle: The Arcane Surgeon can now enchant needles with a prepared needle enchant as a free action. Enchantments are released when the needle comes into contact with blood.
Throw Needle: The Arcane Surgeon can throw needles up to 20 feet with decent accuracy. (1D20 + BAB + Dex.) Offensive needle throws must still overcome target's Armor Class as with a standard thrown weapon. Throws made at friendly targets must still overcome target's flat-footed Armor Class.
Bonus Feat: At levels 2 and 11, the Arcane Surgeon receives a Bonus Feat. This can be any feat which the Arcane Surgeon meets the prerequisites for.
Accuracy: At level four, the Arcane Surgeon gets a +2 bonus to attack rolls made when throwing a needle. This bonus increases to +4 at level eight, +6 at level twelve, and +8 at level sixteen.
Anatomical Knowledge: The Arcane Surgeon's knowledge of physiology allows him to target his attacks at an opponent's weak areas, causing an additional 1D8 damage at level 5, and increasing by 1D8 every five levels after that.
Diagnosis: The Arcane Surgeon's knowledge of physiology gives him a +6 bonus to Search or Appraise when attempting to find the cause of an illness, or locate a weak spot on a creature.
Surgery: Some tasks require more time and focus than a simple enchanted needle can accomplish. This ability gives the Arcane Surgeon access to the Surgery abilities.
Self Medicate: As he learns more about medicine, and more about what it takes to survive as an adventurer, the Arcane Surgeon discovers the secrets of healthy living.
Rank 1:Damage Reduction(1/Chaos), Fast Healing 1, +2 HP
Rank 2:Damage Reduction (2/Chaos), Fast Healing 2, +5 HP(+7 total)
Rank 3:Damage Reduction (3/Chaos), Fast Healing 3, +5 HP(+12 total)
Rank 4:Damage Reduction (4/Chaos), Fast Healing 4, +10 HP(+22 total)
Pointed Words: The Arcane Surgeon can activate his needles via a command word. They will still only affect that which they are physically connected to, but the subject need not have blood. (In the case of a construct, for example.)
------------------------------------
Useful Arcane Surgeon Items:
Surgeon's Tools: Tools designed to help an Arcane Surgeon do his job. +3 to heal checks.
Masterwork Surgeon's Tools: Tools designed to help an Arcane Surgeon do his job. +6 to heal checks.
Surgical Needle: Small, sharp, and endlessly useful, these needles serve as vessels for the Arcane Surgeon's abilities, and are superbly balanced for throwing. 1D3, x2, Piercing. (Can choose to be a flat 1 non-lethal damage)
-------------------------------------
Needle Enchantments:(List needs to be populated)
Arcane Surgeons must select (4+Intelligence Modifier) needle enchantments each day, out of all available needle enchantments. Those enchants can be used without limit until the next day, when the Arcane Surgeon must choose again.
Rank 1
Heals (1D8+Int Modifier) Damage
Deals (1D8+Int Modifier) Damage
Cure Poison
Apply Poison
Rank 2
Rank 3
Rank 4
Rank 5
Rank 6
Rank 7
Rank 8
Surgery: (List needs to be populated)
Surgeries are lengthy procedures. They can be performed without any preparation beforehand, but they require hours equal to the number of the rank to complete, and in order to succeed the Arcane Surgeon must make a Healing check with a DC of (10*Rank) of the operation.
Rank 1
Resurrection (With loss of a level)
Animate Dead
Rank 2
Rank 3
Re-attach limbs.
Graft new limbs onto a host body.
Rank 4
Resurrection (Without loss of a level)
Construct Flesh Golem
Fancy Morgan: the Matt lover.
Re: D&D 3.5 Homebrew Class: Help a GM out?
The flavour seems like it's trying to be a mundane healer in a world where magic can more quickly, easily, efficiently, and inexpensively do what it does.
The impression I got, was that this class is a master of biology and any chemical interactions therewith. In combat, it seems to me that it would be tossing out needles like a monk throws shurikens, and they're likely to be loaded up with poisons.
The 1/2 level bonus to hit with thrown needles does a good job of restricting the class to just the one weapon, but I feel that the damage bonus negates the entire flavour of the needle. A well-aimed-hit with a weapon that small shouldn't be doing d8s of damage, no matter the accuracy of the shot. Instead, I think it would do better as a weakening attack. Pierce the tendons in the arm so they can't swing the sword as well; go for the back of the leg to cripple their movement; hit a major artery for continuous bleeding damage; pump poison into a vein with a modified throwing needle, with the poison's DC increased based on a knowledge (biology) check. Just ideas.
Slicing up a skill is a no-no, and removing the rank-cap is even worse. I understand where you're coming from, but the wording you chose can lead to exploits. Also according to your wording, the Arcane Surgeon need only fail a DC2 check every five minutes to maximize their healing capabilities, since here is nothing about retries.
Keep the option to substitute Int for Wis (but include more motivation to do so; a point in Wis is usually better than a point in Int). With a Masterwork Surgeon's Tools and a Healing Kit, they'll be getting +8 to every check they make. This means First Aid, Long-term Care, and Treating Caltrops is all but automatic. The other abilities you wanted for healing (including the surgeries) can be added as a class ability, one at a time, at the appropriate level.
E.g. Heal: Treat Wounds: At second level, the Arcane Surgeon's mastery of biology grants them a new use of the Heal skill. If they make a sucessful heal check of DC 20, the target is healed for 10 points of damage.
Action: Treating wounds takes five minutes of work. If interrupted, the check is treated as a failure, and no damage is healed.
Try Again: Though you can Treat Wounds on as many targets as you'd like, no individual can be treated more than once per hour, regardless whether the check was a success or not.
Special: To use this skill, an Arcane Surgeon must have access to a set of Surgeon's tools. This skill can only be used on targets whose biology is familiar to the surgeon.
Extraordinary Success: For every five points above the initial DC 20, the Arcade Surgeon can heal an additional 5 points of damage at the cost of one additional minute. If interrupted during this additional time, the entire check is still treated as a failure.
Do something similar for the other abilities with different levels and different DCs. Other ideas: Treat ability damage: 5th level, DC 25. Fast treatment: DC+10, time to treat *.1 (ie five minutes becomes five rounds), tenth level. Resuscitate: Like True Ressurection, except you have one round/level to start the process, DC 25.
Raise Dead is a 9 HD character's spell, which equates to a skill DC closer to 30, not 10, and costs 5000 gp. You can't lose all that cost. Depending on how you treat death and magic in your campaign, feel free to tweak the DC and cost in either direction, but remember that death is a difficult thing to recover from. True Ressurection means a 17th level character. An Arcane Surgeon at that level should be getting at least +30 to their Heal check, but probably closer to +45 (So a DC of 55 or higher isn't unreasonable for it). Make the DC high, and make each retry cost them every copper of that 25000 gp. And these should probably be hour-long procedures, at the minimum.
I see what you were trying to do with the needle enhancements, but I don't think it was well executed. (Especially since your infinite needles of healing are immensely broken (Well, they break the class. They're actually only worth about 12000 gp.)) If you keep on like you are, the entire class will devolve into a ranged cleric. Instead, I propose you give the skill Craft (needle) to the class, and allow for various alchemical flavours to be applied to needles, from poisons to potions, with different DCs based on either the poison's DC or the spell level of the potion. It'll be easy to add the effects, but it won't be nearly as inexpensive or infinite as the current Enhancments. Also, how about Alchemical Mastery: At levels 6, 11, and 16, they become more efficient at applying substances to needles, getting 2, 3, or even 4 needles worth of substance out of a single dose of poison/potion. Because nothing in D&D is free, but it can be made cheaper.
As I'm tossing out random thoughts, let's add a bit of ranger in here. Initially all their class abilities are really only effective on humanoids and animals. Every few levels, they learn a new group of creatures (probably predetermined by the class, but the DM can make substitutions at PC request, depending on circumstances). E.g. 3: Magical Beasts, Giants, Dragons, Vermin. 7: Fey, Outsider. 11: Abberation, Elemental, Plant. 15: Ooze 19: Construct, Undead. Maybe things won't work at all, maybe the DC will be twice as high, who knows? Still, this is the only class that would even have a chance of poisoning an iron golem.
Finally: some miscellany. They could probably use some knowledge of herbalism. Maybe a combat ability, maybe not, but draining health out of one creature and into another is always entertaining. You mentioned grafting limbs; I see nothing but awesome from this. An evil Arcane Surgeon would probably be a master of torture. Arcane Surgeons probably know their way around a cauldron, and can mix up mundane potions and elixirs of various effects; expensive, weak, and yet disjunction-proof. And maybe they stack with their magical counterparts.
Anyway, awesome class; I look forward to seeing the finished product. It's always hard to find a healer with any amount of flavour to it. They're not walking wands of Cure Light Wounds, after all.
The impression I got, was that this class is a master of biology and any chemical interactions therewith. In combat, it seems to me that it would be tossing out needles like a monk throws shurikens, and they're likely to be loaded up with poisons.
The 1/2 level bonus to hit with thrown needles does a good job of restricting the class to just the one weapon, but I feel that the damage bonus negates the entire flavour of the needle. A well-aimed-hit with a weapon that small shouldn't be doing d8s of damage, no matter the accuracy of the shot. Instead, I think it would do better as a weakening attack. Pierce the tendons in the arm so they can't swing the sword as well; go for the back of the leg to cripple their movement; hit a major artery for continuous bleeding damage; pump poison into a vein with a modified throwing needle, with the poison's DC increased based on a knowledge (biology) check. Just ideas.
Slicing up a skill is a no-no, and removing the rank-cap is even worse. I understand where you're coming from, but the wording you chose can lead to exploits. Also according to your wording, the Arcane Surgeon need only fail a DC2 check every five minutes to maximize their healing capabilities, since here is nothing about retries.
Keep the option to substitute Int for Wis (but include more motivation to do so; a point in Wis is usually better than a point in Int). With a Masterwork Surgeon's Tools and a Healing Kit, they'll be getting +8 to every check they make. This means First Aid, Long-term Care, and Treating Caltrops is all but automatic. The other abilities you wanted for healing (including the surgeries) can be added as a class ability, one at a time, at the appropriate level.
E.g. Heal: Treat Wounds: At second level, the Arcane Surgeon's mastery of biology grants them a new use of the Heal skill. If they make a sucessful heal check of DC 20, the target is healed for 10 points of damage.
Action: Treating wounds takes five minutes of work. If interrupted, the check is treated as a failure, and no damage is healed.
Try Again: Though you can Treat Wounds on as many targets as you'd like, no individual can be treated more than once per hour, regardless whether the check was a success or not.
Special: To use this skill, an Arcane Surgeon must have access to a set of Surgeon's tools. This skill can only be used on targets whose biology is familiar to the surgeon.
Extraordinary Success: For every five points above the initial DC 20, the Arcade Surgeon can heal an additional 5 points of damage at the cost of one additional minute. If interrupted during this additional time, the entire check is still treated as a failure.
Do something similar for the other abilities with different levels and different DCs. Other ideas: Treat ability damage: 5th level, DC 25. Fast treatment: DC+10, time to treat *.1 (ie five minutes becomes five rounds), tenth level. Resuscitate: Like True Ressurection, except you have one round/level to start the process, DC 25.
Raise Dead is a 9 HD character's spell, which equates to a skill DC closer to 30, not 10, and costs 5000 gp. You can't lose all that cost. Depending on how you treat death and magic in your campaign, feel free to tweak the DC and cost in either direction, but remember that death is a difficult thing to recover from. True Ressurection means a 17th level character. An Arcane Surgeon at that level should be getting at least +30 to their Heal check, but probably closer to +45 (So a DC of 55 or higher isn't unreasonable for it). Make the DC high, and make each retry cost them every copper of that 25000 gp. And these should probably be hour-long procedures, at the minimum.
I see what you were trying to do with the needle enhancements, but I don't think it was well executed. (Especially since your infinite needles of healing are immensely broken (Well, they break the class. They're actually only worth about 12000 gp.)) If you keep on like you are, the entire class will devolve into a ranged cleric. Instead, I propose you give the skill Craft (needle) to the class, and allow for various alchemical flavours to be applied to needles, from poisons to potions, with different DCs based on either the poison's DC or the spell level of the potion. It'll be easy to add the effects, but it won't be nearly as inexpensive or infinite as the current Enhancments. Also, how about Alchemical Mastery: At levels 6, 11, and 16, they become more efficient at applying substances to needles, getting 2, 3, or even 4 needles worth of substance out of a single dose of poison/potion. Because nothing in D&D is free, but it can be made cheaper.
As I'm tossing out random thoughts, let's add a bit of ranger in here. Initially all their class abilities are really only effective on humanoids and animals. Every few levels, they learn a new group of creatures (probably predetermined by the class, but the DM can make substitutions at PC request, depending on circumstances). E.g. 3: Magical Beasts, Giants, Dragons, Vermin. 7: Fey, Outsider. 11: Abberation, Elemental, Plant. 15: Ooze 19: Construct, Undead. Maybe things won't work at all, maybe the DC will be twice as high, who knows? Still, this is the only class that would even have a chance of poisoning an iron golem.
Finally: some miscellany. They could probably use some knowledge of herbalism. Maybe a combat ability, maybe not, but draining health out of one creature and into another is always entertaining. You mentioned grafting limbs; I see nothing but awesome from this. An evil Arcane Surgeon would probably be a master of torture. Arcane Surgeons probably know their way around a cauldron, and can mix up mundane potions and elixirs of various effects; expensive, weak, and yet disjunction-proof. And maybe they stack with their magical counterparts.
Anyway, awesome class; I look forward to seeing the finished product. It's always hard to find a healer with any amount of flavour to it. They're not walking wands of Cure Light Wounds, after all.
Re: D&D 3.5 Homebrew Class: Help a GM out?
Hawkaris wrote:The flavour seems like it's trying to be a mundane healer in a world where magic can more quickly, easily, efficiently, and inexpensively do what it does.
Essentially, yes.
Hawkaris wrote:The impression I got, was that this class is a master of biology and any chemical interactions therewith. In combat, it seems to me that it would be tossing out needles like a monk throws shurikens, and they're likely to be loaded up with poisons.
That's the intent. Of course most of these needles will be directed at party members, but I wanted to give them some offensive abilities as well so they wouldn't be dead weight during the times when nobody needs to be healed.
Hawkaris wrote:The 1/2 level bonus to hit with thrown needles does a good job of restricting the class to just the one weapon, but I feel that the damage bonus negates the entire flavour of the needle. A well-aimed-hit with a weapon that small shouldn't be doing d8s of damage, no matter the accuracy of the shot. Instead, I think it would do better as a weakening attack. Pierce the tendons in the arm so they can't swing the sword as well; go for the back of the leg to cripple their movement; hit a major artery for continuous bleeding damage; pump poison into a vein with a modified throwing needle, with the poison's DC increased based on a knowledge (biology) check. Just ideas.
That's a really good point. I worry that temporary ability damage (which seems to be what you're talking about) might lead to the class being more complicated than a Wizard, which would be bad I think. But I like where this idea is heading.
Hawkaris wrote:Slicing up a skill is a no-no, and removing the rank-cap is even worse. I understand where you're coming from, but the wording you chose can lead to exploits. Also according to your wording, the Arcane Surgeon need only fail a DC2 check every five minutes to maximize their healing capabilities, since here is nothing about retries.
You're right, of course, and I had intended to clarify that before the final draft. Maybe increasing the cap by 2 (so, 6 at level 1, 7 at level 2...) would be better. Or maybe just removing that class feature altogether.
Any ideas you could offer about keeping the ability from being spammed would be grand. Perhaps you can only attempt to heal a total of 100% of a character's health per day? So, for example, if the character has 100 health, and they're down to 60 health, you can make a healing check to heal 40 health, but if you fail it the character's health is raised only to 80/100, and you can only attempt to heal 60 more health throughout the rest of the day.
And you have to wait 1 hours between healing attempts on a single character.
Think that would work?
Hawkaris wrote:Keep the option to substitute Int for Wis (but include more motivation to do so; a point in Wis is usually better than a point in Int). With a Masterwork Surgeon's Tools and a Healing Kit, they'll be getting +8 to every check they make. This means First Aid, Long-term Care, and Treating Caltrops is all but automatic. The other abilities you wanted for healing (including the surgeries) can be added as a class ability, one at a time, at the appropriate level.
Typical healing that any character can do should be all but automatic for this class I think. I was also thinking that Healing Kits wouldn't stack with Surgeon's Tools. As fluff reasoning I could say that surgeon's tools already include a healing kit.
All the abilities I mentioned were added throughout the levels. I think surgeries don't become available until level 3 or 4.
Hawkaris wrote:E.g. Heal: Treat Wounds: At second level, the Arcane Surgeon's mastery of biology grants them a new use of the Heal skill. If they make a sucessful heal check of DC 20, the target is healed for 10 points of damage.
Action: Treating wounds takes five minutes of work. If interrupted, the check is treated as a failure, and no damage is healed.
Try Again: Though you can Treat Wounds on as many targets as you'd like, no individual can be treated more than once per hour, regardless whether the check was a success or not.
Special: To use this skill, an Arcane Surgeon must have access to a set of Surgeon's tools. This skill can only be used on targets whose biology is familiar to the surgeon.
Extraordinary Success: For every five points above the initial DC 20, the Arcade Surgeon can heal an additional 5 points of damage at the cost of one additional minute. If interrupted during this additional time, the entire check is still treated as a failure.
Gold dude. A little different from what I was thinking, but your idea might be better.
Hawkaris wrote:Do something similar for the other abilities with different levels and different DCs. Other ideas: Treat ability damage: 5th level, DC 25. Fast treatment: DC+10, time to treat *.1 (ie five minutes becomes five rounds), tenth level. Resuscitate: Like True Ressurection, except you have one round/level to start the process, DC 25.
Raise Dead is a 9 HD character's spell, which equates to a skill DC closer to 30, not 10, and costs 5000 gp. You can't lose all that cost. Depending on how you treat death and magic in your campaign, feel free to tweak the DC and cost in either direction, but remember that death is a difficult thing to recover from. True Ressurection means a 17th level character. An Arcane Surgeon at that level should be getting at least +30 to their Heal check, but probably closer to +45 (So a DC of 55 or higher isn't unreasonable for it). Make the DC high, and make each retry cost them every copper of that 25000 gp. And these should probably be hour-long procedures, at the minimum.
Agreed. I appreciate the specifics, I've been really struggling with coming up with those for some reason.
I see what you were trying to do with the needle enhancements, but I don't think it was well executed. (Especially since your infinite needles of healing are immensely broken (Well, they break the class. They're actually only worth about 12000 gp.)) If you keep on like you are, the entire class will devolve into a ranged cleric. Instead, I propose you give the skill Craft (needle) to the class, and allow for various alchemical flavours to be applied to needles, from poisons to potions, with different DCs based on either the poison's DC or the spell level of the potion. It'll be easy to add the effects, but it won't be nearly as inexpensive or infinite as the current Enhancments. Also, how about Alchemical Mastery: At levels 6, 11, and 16, they become more efficient at applying substances to needles, getting 2, 3, or even 4 needles worth of substance out of a single dose of poison/potion. Because nothing in D&D is free, but it can be made cheaper.
I was starting to head in this direction with some of my thinking actually, but you've developed it really well.
Hawkaris wrote:As I'm tossing out random thoughts, let's add a bit of ranger in here. Initially all their class abilities are really only effective on humanoids and animals. Every few levels, they learn a new group of creatures (probably predetermined by the class, but the DM can make substitutions at PC request, depending on circumstances). E.g. 3: Magical Beasts, Giants, Dragons, Vermin. 7: Fey, Outsider. 11: Abberation, Elemental, Plant. 15: Ooze 19: Construct, Undead. Maybe things won't work at all, maybe the DC will be twice as high, who knows? Still, this is the only class that would even have a chance of poisoning an iron golem.
Player must spend perform autopsies on X amount of creatures of this type to gain this benefit, and can only have Y amount at a given level.
Hawkaris wrote:Finally: some miscellany. They could probably use some knowledge of herbalism. Maybe a combat ability, maybe not, but draining health out of one creature and into another is always entertaining. You mentioned grafting limbs; I see nothing but awesome from this. An evil Arcane Surgeon would probably be a master of torture. Arcane Surgeons probably know their way around a cauldron, and can mix up mundane potions and elixirs of various effects; expensive, weak, and yet disjunction-proof. And maybe they stack with their magical counterparts.
The character I'm designing this class for is eventually going to have a castle full of flesh golems that the PCs need to get through in order to kill him. As his character is going to be interested in insects, I plan to have several monstrous-vermin appendages grafted onto his golems and himself by the end of things.
Torture and ability draining are superb ideas. The group he's in already has a fellow with ranks in Profession(Torturer), but there's no reason he couldn't pick up a trick or two >:D
Hawkaris wrote:Anyway, awesome class; I look forward to seeing the finished product. It's always hard to find a healer with any amount of flavour to it. They're not walking wands of Cure Light Wounds, after all.
I appreciate all your help. I think I'll be able to apply some interesting polish thanks to it.
Fancy Morgan: the Matt lover.
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