Hatred of THAC0 and Arcane Hierophant (Pathfinder): Difference between pages

Revision as of 15:24, 22 January 2013

The Arcane Hierophant prestige class is mix of divine and arcane magic, largely focused around druids, first introduced in the Races of the Wild. This page updates this class for use with the Pathfinder system. (Notes at the end of the page provide details of the goals of this conversion.)

Hit Die: d6

Requirements

Base Attack Bonus: +4
Skills: Knowledge (arcana) 5, Knowledge (nature) 5
Spells: Able to cast 2nd level arcane spells and 2nd level divine spells
Special: Trackless Step or Crowd Walker class feature

Class Skills

The Arcane Hierophant's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Perception (Wis), Ride (), Spellcraft (Int), Survival (Wis), Swim (Str).

Skill Ranks at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Level	BAB	Fort	Ref	Will	Special	Spells per day
1st	+0	+0	+0	+1	Strong bond, ignore arcane spell failure, wild shape	+1 level of arcane spellcasting class and +1 level of divine spellcasting class
2nd	+1	+1	+1	+1	Channel animal 1/day	+1 level of arcane spellcasting class and +1 level of divine spellcasting class
3rd	+1	+1	+1	+2	-	+1 level of arcane spellcasting class and +1 level of divine spellcasting class
4th	+2	+1	+1	+2	Channel animal 2/day	+1 level of arcane spellcasting class and +1 level of divine spellcasting class
5th	+2	+2	+2	+3	-	+1 level of arcane spellcasting class and +1 level of divine spellcasting class
6th	+3	+2	+2	+3	Channel plant 1/day	+1 level of arcane spellcasting class and +1 level of divine spellcasting class
7th	+3	+2	+2	+4	-	+1 level of arcane spellcasting class and +1 level of divine spellcasting class
8th	+4	+3	+3	+4	Channel animal 4/day	+1 level of arcane spellcasting class and +1 level of divine spellcasting class
9th	+4	+3	+3	+5	-	+1 level of arcane spellcasting class and +1 level of divine spellcasting class
10th	+5	+3	+3	+5	Channel plant 2/day	+1 level of arcane spellcasting class and +1 level of divine spellcasting class

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Arcane hierophants gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.

Strong Bond: At first level, the arcane hierophant strengthens his connection to a special animal. When taking this level, choose either an existing animal companion or an existing familiar. Levels in arcane hierophant stack with the those of class the provided the companion or familiar for the purposes of determining the creature's special abilities, stats, tricks and so on.

Ignore arcane spell failure: At 1st level, the arcane hierophant can ignore the chance of arcane spell failure due to any non-metallic light or medium armor.

Wild Shape: Levels in arcane hierophant stack with druid levels to determine the limits of wild shape ability. You must have at least one level in druid to take advantage of this ability.

Channel animal: Starting at 2nd level, you gain the ability to establish magical contact between yourself and any animal you touch. This ability can also work (without requiring physical contact) through your companion (regardless of type), familiar or any any animal summoned by summon nature's ally. While in effect, as long as you have line of sight and line of effect on the creature, you can deliver a spell with range of touch or greater through the creature. Only one spell can be cast like this per day, until level 4, when a second channel is added, and level 8, where two more are added per day.

Channel plant: Starting at 6th level, you may channel a spell through plants as well as animals, though the rating remains the same. You can a second channel at 10th level.

Spells per Day: At the indicated levels, an arcane hierophant gains new spells per day as if he had also gained a level in both an arcane spellcasting class and a divine spellcasting class he belonged to before adding the prestige class. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained, except for additional spells per day, spells known (if he is a spontaneous spellcaster), and an increased effective level of spellcasting. If a character had more than one arcane spellcasting class before becoming a spellsword, he must decide to which class he adds the new level for purposes of determining spells per day.

Design Notes

This class stays fairly close to the Pathfinder mystic theurge, as well as the original arcane hierophant. The rules regarding companions are a bit less complicated and, in some ways, weaker; however, this is in keeping with the changes to the Sorcerer and Wizard classes, where familiars are no longer mandatory.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-__NOTOC__
+The Arcane Hierophant prestige class is mix of divine and arcane magic, largely focused around druids, first introduced in the ''Races of the Wild''. This page updates this class for use with the [[system::Pathfinder]] system. (Notes at the end of the page provide details of the goals of this conversion.)
-OK. Confession time.
-I hate THACO.
+'''Hit Die''': d6
-It was a dumb mechanic in 1st Edition AD&D. It remained a dumb mechanic in 2nd Edition AD&D. And ditching it in Enroth would make make it easier to learn and play. THAC0 has a number basic problems:
+'''Requirements'''
-# It's confusing. I've played D&D for ''decades'' and still have to think about it every single time.
+* Base Attack Bonus: +4
-# It adds a new type of "adjustment" to a system that already has to many, for no reason. As an example: what is the ''actual'' difference between "reducing THAC0 by one" and "a +1 'to hit' bonus". Answer: none whatsoever.
+* Skills: Knowledge (arcana) 5, Knowledge (nature) 5
-# It's makes the game inconsistent: it creates a system where high numbers are good in some situations and bad in others. Again, for no reason. Similarly, getting a '+1' is usually good... unless you mean AC, when it is bad. Unnecessarily complicated.
+* Spells: Able to cast 2nd level arcane spells and 2nd level divine spells
+* Special: Trackless Step or Crowd Walker class feature
-One of the best things done in 3E was the elimination of THAC0. The technique used to do so could also be used in Enroth, in such a way that a) the system is easier to follow, b) results in the exact same chance to hit as the current system, and c) scales better.
+'''Class Skills'''
-== Problem ==
+The Arcane Hierophant's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Perception (Wis), Ride (), Spellcraft (Int), Survival (Wis), Swim (Str).
-The math in the ''current'' system basically works like this:
+'''Skill Ranks at Each Level''': 4 + Int modifier.
-:Let R be the number you rolled.
+{| class="wikitable"
-:Let T be the total 'to hit adjustment' from magic equipment, etc.
+!Level!!BAB!!Fort!!Ref!!Will!!Special!!Spells per day
-:Let H be the number needed to hit. If you roll (R + T) &ge; H, you hit.
+|-
-:Let L be an adjustment based on skill level.
+|1st||+0||+0||+0||+1||Strong bond, ignore arcane spell failure, wild shape||+1 level of arcane spellcasting class and +1 level of divine spellcasting class
+|-
+|2nd||+1||+1||+1||+1||''Channel animal'' 1/day||+1 level of arcane spellcasting class and +1 level of divine spellcasting class
+|-
+|3rd||+1||+1||+1||+2||-||+1 level of arcane spellcasting class and +1 level of divine spellcasting class
+|-
+|4th||+2||+1||+1||+2||''Channel animal'' 2/day||+1 level of arcane spellcasting class and +1 level of divine spellcasting class
+|-
+|5th||+2||+2||+2||+3||-||+1 level of arcane spellcasting class and +1 level of divine spellcasting class
+|-
+|6th||+3||+2||+2||+3||''Channel plant'' 1/day||+1 level of arcane spellcasting class and +1 level of divine spellcasting class
+|-
+|7th||+3||+2||+2||+4||-||+1 level of arcane spellcasting class and +1 level of divine spellcasting class
+|-
+|8th||+4||+3||+3||+4||''Channel animal'' 4/day||+1 level of arcane spellcasting class and +1 level of divine spellcasting class
+|-
+|9th||+4||+3||+3||+5||-||+1 level of arcane spellcasting class and +1 level of divine spellcasting class
+|-
+|10th||+5||+3||+3||+5||''Channel plant'' 2/day||+1 level of arcane spellcasting class and +1 level of divine spellcasting class
+|}
-:H = THAC0 - AC
+'''Weapon and Armor Proficiency''': Arcane hierophants gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.
-:THAC0 = 20 - L:
+'''Strong Bond''': At first level, the arcane hierophant strengthens his connection to a special animal. When taking this level, choose either an existing animal companion or an existing familiar. Levels in arcane hierophant stack with the those of class the provided the companion or familiar for the purposes of determining the creature's special abilities, stats, tricks and so on.
-::Knight/Paladin/Archer (bow) L = (skill level-1)
-::Archer (other)/Cleric L = (2 * (skill level-1))/3
-::Druid/Sorcerer L = ((skill level-1)/2)
-:AC = 10 + A, where
+'''Ignore arcane spell failure''': At 1st level, the arcane hierophant can ignore the chance of arcane spell failure due to any non-metallic light or medium armor.
-:A = negative bonus from armor - (armor skill-1)/5 - AC adjustments*
-* Note that AC adjustments (e.g. +5 plate) make a target harder to hit, so they must be subtracted. This makes AC decrease. Since AC is subtracted from THAC0, this makes H increase.
+'''Wild Shape''': Levels in arcane hierophant stack with druid levels to determine the limits of wild shape ability. You must have at least one level in druid to take advantage of this ability.
-Note that A is always a negative number.
+'''Channel animal''': Starting at 2nd level, you gain the ability to establish magical contact between yourself and any animal you touch. This ability can also work (without requiring physical contact) through your companion (regardless of type), familiar or any any animal summoned by ''summon nature's ally''. While in effect, as long as you have line of sight and line of effect on the creature, you can deliver a spell with range of touch or greater through the creature. Only one spell can be cast like this per day, until level 4, when a second channel is added, and level 8, where two more are added per day.
-So, a Knight with a level 3 weapon skill against a target with studded leather and 6 levels of skill in it, with no other modifiers to either:
+'''Channel plant''': Starting at 6th level, you may channel a spell through plants as well as animals, though the rating remains the same. You can a second channel at 10th level.
-:H = (20 - 2) - (10 + (-3 - 1 - 0)) = 18 - 6 = 12 (i.e. 60% chance to hit)
+'''Spells per Day''': At the indicated levels, an arcane hierophant gains new spells per day as if he had also gained a level in both an arcane spellcasting class and a divine spellcasting class he belonged to before adding the prestige class. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained, except for additional spells per day, spells known (if he is a spontaneous spellcaster), and an increased effective level of spellcasting. If a character had more than one arcane spellcasting class before becoming a spellsword, he must decide to which class he adds the new level for purposes of determining spells per day.
-What happens here is that there is a relatively complicated formula to figure out the "target number" (H), using both positive 'penalties', negative 'penalties', positive 'bonuses' and negative 'bonuses', depending on what is being adjusted. There is also an adjustment to the roll itself.
+'''Design Notes'''
-== Solution ==
+This class stays fairly close to the Pathfinder mystic theurge, as well as the original arcane hierophant. The rules regarding companions are a bit less complicated and, in some ways, weaker; however, this is in keeping with the changes to the Sorcerer and Wizard classes, where familiars are no longer mandatory.
-What 3rd edition did was to tweak this idea a bit by making two simple changes:
+[[Category:Prestige Class]]
-# Change the dynamic to a roll (modified by an adjustment) vs. a target number (also modified by an adjustment).
-# Make all adjustments positive numbers.
-This seems like no difference at all really, but it makes resolution a lot easier to understand.
-Note one thing here:
-:R + T &ge; H
-:R + T &ge; THAC0 - AC
-:R + T &ge; (20 - L) - (10 + A)
-:R + T &ge; 20 - L - 10 - A
-:R + T &ge; 10 - L - A
-:R + T + L &ge; 10 - A
-Now, remember that A is always a negative number, because AC "bonuses" are negative numbers. But what if you change that? What if bonuses are always positive numbers and penalties are always negative and a higher AC is better than a lower one. For example, what if studded leather, for example, gives a +3 AC bonus instead of a -3 AC bonus? Well, then the sign of A flips, and you get:
-:R + T + L &ge; 10 + A
-That is:
-* Your roll (R)
-* ...plus any to hit bonuses (T) (from magic or the like)
-* ...plus adjustments from your level (L)
-* must equal or exceed ten
-* ...plus adjustment from armor
-* ...plus adjustment from armor skill
-The math is actually completely the same, but you can explain the above to anyone, and they will understand and remember it within 30 seconds.
-== Even Better ==
-Something else interesting happens here as well. The result is basically a roll, plus stuff that helps the player, against a target number that is scaled for difficulty. In short, what you have here is a ''universal mechanic''. In combat, the target number happens to be based on AC, but there is no reason that other types of tests couldn't be based on something else. Want to find a secret door? Roll, add your skill (perception or the like, maybe an attribute benefit) compare to a difficulty number (ten plus some modifier for how well concealed the door is).
-Something else comes out of this as well: it is easier to scale things for the PCs. At any given level, the PC is likely to have a certain bonus available from skill level and equipment, plus or minus a few. Knowing that, you can easily figure out what AC or other targets will present a challenge to that PC.
-To convert Enroth to use this idea, all you need to do is:
-* Eliminate all mention of THAC0
-* Set starting skill bonuses (for lvl one, untrained characters) to zero.
-* Set starting AC bonuses (for clothing) to +0.
-* Instead of skill levels subtracting from THAC0, they add.
-* Instead of armor levels reducing AC, they add.
-* Change the mechanic from figuring out the number needed to hit to instead focus on the adjustments made to the roll and the adjustments made to a base target number.
-[[Campaign:Enroth]]