10-04-2015, 12:08 AM
Sanctified Blade:
Skills: I like adding some to the list, and while I always support getting more skill points for the martial classes there should be some kind of tradeoff. Commonly removing Heavy Armor/Tower Shield proficiency is how some Fighter Archetypes and reworks have done it, as a though.
Limit Break: I like the concept but it's a bit weird. Getting infinite free AoO is a bit much, could say for the duration they can add their Cha mod to the number of AoO they can make a round for the purpose of the limit break, or something. The distances shifting is also a bit messy, can AoO against any Evil foe coming within 30ft, can AoO against any foe taking hostile action against an ally within 20ft, getting to potentially unleash multiple Strike Maneuvers as retaliatory actions is far too strong- I'd say doing this ends the Limit Break prematurely... and it might just be better if they can only AoO foes within 30ft attacking their allies, keep everything in 30ft, much cleaner.
Maneuvers: I like the disciplines chosen, it should be worth noting that Sacred damage being converted to Holy fits, but anything that gives a Sacred bonus to damage would still be a modifier to the attack, rather than adding elemental damage.
Bonus Feats: I like some of the choices you made here, I think narrowing down 4/8 should be done as well since getting to choose ANY combat feat is a rather big boon, and 5 feats even if limited already outweighs the Nimbus of Light feature slightly... at least in my eye.
Stances: I like the concept, always loved the unqiue stances the PrC got, unsure about working them into a base class archetype but let's see how things go...
-Principality's Bass: Bonuses progress a bit too quickly, +2/+4 starting out is fine but instead of going +2/+4 every 5th level, how about +1/+1 every 4 after 1st? 5th +3/+5, 9th +4/+6, 13th +5/+7, 17th +6/+8? This is already a fair bit more than most if not all defensive stances give in sheer numbers. As for the 5ft step when missed, I'd personally add the stipulation that this removes some of your potential movement from the following round, limiting you to as many free steps as you have 5ft increments of movement. Doesn't eat up the actual move action, but if you step away 3 times then next round you move 15ft less for a move action, this wouldn't be a speed reduction so if running you just subtract 15 from the total.
-Throne's Mezzo-Soprano: Go from progressing too quickly to not progressing at all, and the mechanic is a bit... I dunno. I understand the intention but I don't like how it feels in my head >.> +10ft movement and a +2 bonus to Reflex saves maybe, with another +5/+1 at 6th, 12th, and 18th. Allies within 30ft gain half the benefits, and you can spend a Lay on Hands attempt to give allies within 30ft an instantaneous movement up to 5ft * cha mod(not to exceed their base land speed)? I know a lot of this sounds like it's coming from nowhere, it's just how I'd try and achieve the feel I'm picking up from the abilities.
-Archangel's Baritone: I like it, but again it doesn't progress which... there may be occasional stances that don't, but it's surely not a precedent so having two of them so close together feels out of place. Not much else to say, I like the mechanic, though I think Free actions are still technically limited to your own turn... that could be a 3.5 relic stuck in my head though. Simple as changing the wording to 'a free action you can use even during another's turn' or something to that effect, but less terrible. Reason I don't homebrew much, don't have the writing for it.
-Seraph's Contralto: Eh... it's intriguing, the bonus damage only applies once per Maneuver though, right? Rather than once per attack for the rare ones that could capitalize on that for insane amounts of bonus damage.
-Cherub's Tenor: Simple, I like it. Regeneration can get a bit scary at times but the duration is limited enough, not like you'd be able to just grow an arm back in 10 rounds or anything.
-Dominion's Countertenor: This feels more like a Maneuver than a stance, but using the Stance mechanic to justify multiple uses... that said it can work I guess, the limitation of not being able to use another Stance while shouting is a fair trade I suppose. Again it doesn't scale, but for this one I'm not quite sure how to make it so.
-Virtue's Soprano: Powerful, but as with a lot of these only affecting Evil targets helps keep it a bit more level. Is the save vs no-move a per round thing? Or once they fail they can't move period? And this simply disallows movement, not the dis-allowance of move-equivalent actions such as drawing or stowing a weapon, right?
Faithful Protection: Lots of free AoOs from the class... I'd have to insist this not allow you to make more than normal for a round, if a character is built around this they can take Combat Reflexes. Further, just getting infinite chances to deflect at your highest BaB means enemies will become less and less likely to get past with their iterative attacks while your defenses remain just as strong. AC is already there to do that... My suggestion to balance this one is, the parry attempt itself eats up one of your AoO, and the potential riposte (actual attack) is a free addition if they're within reach. For this one I'd also say that you should actually move up to the attacker, similar to the Sword Saint's Defensive Aura or whatever it is, the Limit Break having magic sword attacks is one thing but slamming that into a standard feature is a bit much.
Voices of the Gods: Normally I'd say a -3 penalty to a lot of stuff with no save is too powerful, but there are other instances of such a thing in FFd20. That said there should be a disclaimer that either you cannot use this more than once per encounter, or a foe cannot be affected by it more than once in a 24 hour period. With a 3 round duration there's nothing stopping a player from using the no-save penalty, regaining maneuvers, and then rinse-and-repeating it to essentially debuff everything near him permanently and without any chance for rebuttal.
Holy Vanquishing Strike: I like it, I mean it's powerful and world-shifting in the right use but that's what 9th level Maneuvers are supposed to be. A lot are just 'full-attack +xd6 damage on each strike' with some other potential added effects, but this is one single attack that honestly will deal less damage than a lot of capstones... so paralysis or basically a death effect are fine.
Skills: I like adding some to the list, and while I always support getting more skill points for the martial classes there should be some kind of tradeoff. Commonly removing Heavy Armor/Tower Shield proficiency is how some Fighter Archetypes and reworks have done it, as a though.
Limit Break: I like the concept but it's a bit weird. Getting infinite free AoO is a bit much, could say for the duration they can add their Cha mod to the number of AoO they can make a round for the purpose of the limit break, or something. The distances shifting is also a bit messy, can AoO against any Evil foe coming within 30ft, can AoO against any foe taking hostile action against an ally within 20ft, getting to potentially unleash multiple Strike Maneuvers as retaliatory actions is far too strong- I'd say doing this ends the Limit Break prematurely... and it might just be better if they can only AoO foes within 30ft attacking their allies, keep everything in 30ft, much cleaner.
Maneuvers: I like the disciplines chosen, it should be worth noting that Sacred damage being converted to Holy fits, but anything that gives a Sacred bonus to damage would still be a modifier to the attack, rather than adding elemental damage.
Bonus Feats: I like some of the choices you made here, I think narrowing down 4/8 should be done as well since getting to choose ANY combat feat is a rather big boon, and 5 feats even if limited already outweighs the Nimbus of Light feature slightly... at least in my eye.
Stances: I like the concept, always loved the unqiue stances the PrC got, unsure about working them into a base class archetype but let's see how things go...
-Principality's Bass: Bonuses progress a bit too quickly, +2/+4 starting out is fine but instead of going +2/+4 every 5th level, how about +1/+1 every 4 after 1st? 5th +3/+5, 9th +4/+6, 13th +5/+7, 17th +6/+8? This is already a fair bit more than most if not all defensive stances give in sheer numbers. As for the 5ft step when missed, I'd personally add the stipulation that this removes some of your potential movement from the following round, limiting you to as many free steps as you have 5ft increments of movement. Doesn't eat up the actual move action, but if you step away 3 times then next round you move 15ft less for a move action, this wouldn't be a speed reduction so if running you just subtract 15 from the total.
-Throne's Mezzo-Soprano: Go from progressing too quickly to not progressing at all, and the mechanic is a bit... I dunno. I understand the intention but I don't like how it feels in my head >.> +10ft movement and a +2 bonus to Reflex saves maybe, with another +5/+1 at 6th, 12th, and 18th. Allies within 30ft gain half the benefits, and you can spend a Lay on Hands attempt to give allies within 30ft an instantaneous movement up to 5ft * cha mod(not to exceed their base land speed)? I know a lot of this sounds like it's coming from nowhere, it's just how I'd try and achieve the feel I'm picking up from the abilities.
-Archangel's Baritone: I like it, but again it doesn't progress which... there may be occasional stances that don't, but it's surely not a precedent so having two of them so close together feels out of place. Not much else to say, I like the mechanic, though I think Free actions are still technically limited to your own turn... that could be a 3.5 relic stuck in my head though. Simple as changing the wording to 'a free action you can use even during another's turn' or something to that effect, but less terrible. Reason I don't homebrew much, don't have the writing for it.
-Seraph's Contralto: Eh... it's intriguing, the bonus damage only applies once per Maneuver though, right? Rather than once per attack for the rare ones that could capitalize on that for insane amounts of bonus damage.
-Cherub's Tenor: Simple, I like it. Regeneration can get a bit scary at times but the duration is limited enough, not like you'd be able to just grow an arm back in 10 rounds or anything.
-Dominion's Countertenor: This feels more like a Maneuver than a stance, but using the Stance mechanic to justify multiple uses... that said it can work I guess, the limitation of not being able to use another Stance while shouting is a fair trade I suppose. Again it doesn't scale, but for this one I'm not quite sure how to make it so.
-Virtue's Soprano: Powerful, but as with a lot of these only affecting Evil targets helps keep it a bit more level. Is the save vs no-move a per round thing? Or once they fail they can't move period? And this simply disallows movement, not the dis-allowance of move-equivalent actions such as drawing or stowing a weapon, right?
Faithful Protection: Lots of free AoOs from the class... I'd have to insist this not allow you to make more than normal for a round, if a character is built around this they can take Combat Reflexes. Further, just getting infinite chances to deflect at your highest BaB means enemies will become less and less likely to get past with their iterative attacks while your defenses remain just as strong. AC is already there to do that... My suggestion to balance this one is, the parry attempt itself eats up one of your AoO, and the potential riposte (actual attack) is a free addition if they're within reach. For this one I'd also say that you should actually move up to the attacker, similar to the Sword Saint's Defensive Aura or whatever it is, the Limit Break having magic sword attacks is one thing but slamming that into a standard feature is a bit much.
Voices of the Gods: Normally I'd say a -3 penalty to a lot of stuff with no save is too powerful, but there are other instances of such a thing in FFd20. That said there should be a disclaimer that either you cannot use this more than once per encounter, or a foe cannot be affected by it more than once in a 24 hour period. With a 3 round duration there's nothing stopping a player from using the no-save penalty, regaining maneuvers, and then rinse-and-repeating it to essentially debuff everything near him permanently and without any chance for rebuttal.
Holy Vanquishing Strike: I like it, I mean it's powerful and world-shifting in the right use but that's what 9th level Maneuvers are supposed to be. A lot are just 'full-attack +xd6 damage on each strike' with some other potential added effects, but this is one single attack that honestly will deal less damage than a lot of capstones... so paralysis or basically a death effect are fine.