Random DM nagging.

[Iron Dragoon]

Obligatory custom post:

Death Druid and Master of the Unseen Hand rework. That's it off the top of my head. I'm sure I've mentioned other ideas but that's all that comes to mind.

[Anastasia]

I'm going to write about PCs in more depth later, but have some starting thoughts.

Afina: Her slow growth throughout the game was highlighted at the end. She had become much, and yet now had to face the reality of winning. Without a Crusade, can Afina learn to live? I'd like to think so, but the question will be resolved as she wanders Lifasa.
Jaela: In the end, she grew and found hope after wound after wound. I feel the ending highlighted that she has things to live for now, rather than ruin.
Ithea: Kitty. I feel Ithea grew well enough but is obviously incomplete. Kitty.
Willim: Cornugon wins. Flawless victory. Fatality. Really, he had potential but died too soon.
Muirfinn: Muirfinn's growth was a trip I enjoyed, as he moved on from tragedy and strove to do more. It was a common arc in B3 but the early Coda gave him lots of one on one time with it.
Moore: His journey was making himself free of the past, a trip I think he succeeded on. He made bonds and helped others make bonds - and in the end, that was more than enough.
Lief: Pass, wasn't a PC long enough.
Surraruthru: Nailed draconic arrogance well. It was a change of pace from the other PCs, especially as he became a true dragon.
Tryll: Fun, but as much Calleigh as Tryll. Really, he felt like a remix of Muirfinn's goals and that's okay.

[Anastasia]

Obligatory custom post:

Death Druid and Master of the Unseen Hand rework. That's it off the top of my head. I'm sure I've mentioned other ideas but that's all that comes to mind.

Refresh me on MotU's problems and what you'd like from it?

[Iron Dragoon]

Okay, so. The primary problems with MotUH from what I can see/read are as follows:

1) No casting progression, at all. In Gestalt that's not such a big deal, but non-Gestalt it hurts. Maybe no progression at 1st and then normal after? Imparts a penalty but isn't a crippling one. A Sorc missing out on 5 levels is oof. Bad. Super bad. Wizard too, but they get more spells per day.

2) It requires a 5th level spell for entry. For Sorc, this happens at level 9, and Wiz at level 8. Either way, that means MotUH is really only usable a max of 6 times per day for Sorc and 4 pre day for Wiz, without massive Cha/Int bonuses, and that completely locks out that entire spell level. I'm not sure what the fix is here, but compared to some of the other specialist casters, this sucks. School Specialization allows for 1 bonus spell and Focused Specialist loses 1 spell slot, but grants two additional slots for a specific school. Something like that built in could be a choice, but either way, being resticted to using your PrC only X times per day is badness.

3) While it gives Sustained Concentration it still consumes the move action, which is at odds with the wording of the ability:
Sustained Concentration (Ex): At 2nd level, a master of the unseen hand becomes adept at moving and fighting while maintaining his telekinesis ability. It only takes a move action, not a standard action, to use the sustained force version of telekinesis (or simply to maintain concentration so the ability doesn't end)..... It still takes a standard action to use the combat maneuver or violent thrust versions of the ability, however.
That doesn't really fit with being adept at moving and fighting, you're entirely stationary. I'm not looking for skirmish or anything, but if it could be made to improve it to a swift action to maintain and I don't know what for the combat maneuver/violent thrust, it might be more fitting? Afterall, Swashbuckler and Beguiler can make Feint a Swift or Free, IIRC, but I'm not sure how it'd balance out.

3) It seems to improve parts of Telekinesis but does it in a weird way. Telekinetic Wielder builds off of the Combat Maneuver version, which is later improved by Full Attack Telekinesis, but you can't apply Feats which is odd. Having knowledge of how to do thing A doesn't disappear once you lift an object with your mind. Not sure what the fix is here or how abusable applying feats is, but it seems odd to me. But then again, it may be balanced against CL + Int/Cha for BAB.
Violent Thrust is given Improved Violent Thrust. It seems like the improvements here are adding Int/Cha to damage in place of Str and not ending the spell. Those seem pretty fair, actually. Don't have much to say on this.
Telekinetic Flight is for Sustained Force but is in actuality pretty useless. It allows for the use of Sustained Force to simulate Fly, but once you take to the air, it locks you out of the other uses of Telekinesis since it has to be concentrated on that use. It's a much wiser choice to just use Fly, which makes Telekinetic Flight pretty useless. On top of that, the effect is only round per level, which in combat is fine, but again, Fly simply does it way better.

4) Fling Skyward is an interesting ability but seems a bit weak as a capstone ability. It allows both a Will Save and Spell Resistance, making it fair odds that it'll be resisted outright. On top of that, using it ends the telekinesis spell, which is entirely counter-intuitive compared to the rest of the class, which is all about expanding the uses of the spell and sustaining it. Improved Violent Thrust, for example, changes it so that Violent Thrust doesn't end the spell. Maybe something similar to the cooldown imposed by Improved Violent Thrust? Not sure. It's just that for the only ability of the level and the capstone ability, it seems pretty lackluster. Almost no builds I saw suggested taking the 5th level, so there's certainly a problem. Maybe something like trading away spell slots to make Telekinesis an at-will SLA or instant casting speed? Dunno, really. The at-will thing I like, but seems like it could be unbalanced. That said, there's the Ring of Telekinesis which gives it at-will for 75k gold, so maybe not? I personally like the idea of getting it as an SLA since it makes the whole class viable at all times instead of a 'how many times per day did you prep/can cast this spell' deal.

Alternatively, reducing the metamagic cost when applied to telekinesis? I dunno. Thoughts on this below.

Those are my thoughts over-all, but I've only had limited experience with rebuilding/balancing class stuff. There are plenty of feats that make this class way tastier. Chain Spell, for example. But that's a +3, so while being monstrous for this class, it's almost impossible to actually get as it makes the 5th level spell into an 8th level spell. Meaning in a normal 20 level game, it'll never happen as Sorc/Wiz don't get their 8th level slots until level 16. Since MotUH is a 5 level PRC, they'll cap out at level 15 since there's no casting progression, so it'll be forever hamstrung for that feat.

I saw people complain about the d4 hit die, but I actually don't mind it personally. The class is still a casting class, not a melee class. The higher die for those classes is supposed to be reflective of the physical training involved, and MotUH doesn't suddenly start getting bonus spells for doing push ups, so I'm good with d4 here. Most of the other complaints I saw surrounded the limited casting of the spell and the like.

Also, I remember all 5 level PrCs were supposed to be part of a 10 level PrC. Any idea what the other half was supposed to be?

[Anastasia]

I'll see about fiddling with it on a quiet day, Iddy.

Not all 5 level PrCs are chopped down 10 level PrCs, but some are. I think that one is and I know Occult Slayer was one.

[Anastasia]

Doing some back end work. A few houserules for warmages (the class, not the PrC).

War Mage: Warmages get good Fortitude save progression in place of poor progression.
War Mage: Warmage Edge's bonus to damage is equal to the Warmage's Intelligence modifier plus their Warmage level.

Warmages have some issues and these don't fix them, but they do provide a little more power to the class.

[Anastasia]

Doing DM side work right now instead of posting. If you think anything could use a houserule or adjustment, post so here.

[Anastasia]

An Iddy inspired misc ruling:

34. Antimagic field can be cast during a time stop, but doing so immediately dispels and ends the time stop due to the backlash of energies. Antimagic/dead magic and time stop don't mix.

Prevents a couple of shenanigans and eliminates the entire headache.

[Anastasia]

Day Game: Will be a short game, possibly IRC or possibly on the forums. I'm thinking something that can be done in 1-2 months. It may or may not use that homebrew system I'm cooking up. I'm not quite ready for a big project yet.

Evening Game: Post game, a bit slower paced and focused on steady daily activity rather than trying to get posting rushes. Probably something Balmuria, maybe even another incarnation of B4 for a casual dungeon run before a more serious game.

This is what I'm leaning towards right now.

[Anastasia]

Working on Master of the Unseen Hand now, Iddy. Ideally I'll finish it tonightish and get back to you here or in PM.

[Anastasia]

Thoughts as I go through it:

1. Ditch improved caster level and make it a flat casting progression PrC. If a SLAer wants to take it and waste that aspect, that's their choice. 4/5 is tentatively fine depending on how it shakes out, as you already have that in there.
2. Both the shield using ability and the canon fly ability have some issues - both are gimmicky and probably not efficient. Whichever you prefer, man.
3. The added ability to 5th level is good.
4. Will save + SR is from the TK spell itself, not the class. It's a variant of the violent thrust usage and cribs that from that. Just FYI.

Honestly, I'd make the good changes a houserule, make it 5/5 casting progression and call it a day. I don't feel it really gives that much for specializing in TK, but it's a fun option if you want it.  The real problem is that it's a caster PrC that doesn't advance casting, which fixing improves it considerably.

[Iron Dragoon]

I tentatively agree with ya. That said, if the defense and flight stuff both suck, do you have any suggestions?

Full casting is great. I did 4/5 instead just because there wasn't any at all and thought it might be a balance issue for something I didn't see.

I do like getting it as an SLA. Would that make it 4/5 progression, just so I'm clear?

[Anastasia]

Yeah, since that makes your focused gimmick at will.

[Anastasia]

New houserules:

Master of the Unseen Hand: Now grants arcane casting progression at each level except first level. It's 4/5 casting class in total.
Master of the Unseen Hand: Add the following ability at 5th level: Improved Telekinetic Wielder (Ex): You now add bonuses from feats to combat maneuvers or attacks you make with telekinesis.
Master of the Unseen Hand: Add the following ability at 5th level: Telekinesis (Sp): You can use telekinesis at will as a spell like ability. Your caster level equals your hit dice.

[Anastasia]

Epic ninja's up in homebrew. Mostly a just in case measure.