House Rule: Wild Talent revision - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

House Rule: Wild Talent revision

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
sithis
May 24, 2005 13:46:36 For the games I'm going to be running I'm planning on making some modifications to match DS2E a little better and would like some community input to help tune them. The first is a reworking of the "Wild Talent" feat (with the purpose of every PC and most important NPCs receiving it).

The idea is to blend the Hidden Talent feat with the Surge ability of the Wilder so that the 1st level talent will not become useless quite so fast (ever for some powers).

Wild Talent [general]
Prerequisites: 1st level only
Benefit: Choose a 1st level psionic power. You gain 2 power points and may manifest this power with a manifester level of 1. Additionally you may choose to use the Wild Surge ability as if you were a Wilder of your effective character level, but if you do so you also suffer from the Psychic Enervation drawback. The DCs for any saves generated by the chosen power are Charisma based.
Special: If you have (or gain) any manifesting classes, add the chosen power to your known powers (for all manifesting classes). When manifesting this power normally, you gain +1 manifester level and it is treated in all ways as a normal power of the class (non-Wilders may not Surge and DCs are based on the class's manifesting attribute). This does not prevent you from manifesting as outlined above.

For quick reference, Wild Surge progresses as follows:
1: +1
3: +2
7: +3
11: +4
15: +5
19: +6

This is powerful, but it's supposed to be. I want all of the PCs to have a psionic power that is an innate part of their character, not something that just fades away once they level up. I also want something that will allow a large breadth of powers to be reasonable choices. If manifester level is pegged out at one, any power with a level-based duration is going to be a poor choice, as is any power that relies on augmentation to remain useful (+4 AC will always be useful, but 1d6 damage is going to be useless pretty fast).
#2
Sysane
May 24, 2005 14:55:56 Thats not bad. It gives a lot power for one feat that has no prereqs though.

This is what I've come up with form my home game. Players who wish to expand their wild talent can do so thru a feat chain:

IMPROVED HIDDEN TALENT [PSIONIC]
Your potential to manifest your psionic wild talent increases.
Prerequisite: Chr 13, Hidden Talent.
Benefit: You can manifest your psionic talent as a manifester equal to your class level minus 2 (minimum of 1st level manifester). Additionally, your Charisma modifier grants you bonus power points. See Table: Ability Modifiers and Bonus Power Points for details.
Special: You cannot take or use this feat if you have levels in a manifester class.

GREATER HIDDEN TALENT [PSIONIC]
You unlock another hidden talent of higher level.
Prerequisite: Manifester level 4th, Hidden Talent, Improved Hidden Talent.
Benefit: You can select and manifest a power of 2nd level. You can choose a 2nd level power from any discipline or class list. This feat may only be selected once.
#3
sithis
May 24, 2005 15:36:49
Thats not bad. It gives a lot power for one feat that has no prereqs though.

Yeah, though the power is limited simply by not being able to be taken multiple times.

In my initial concept I just assumed that someone could have more than one Wild Talent, but since I'm just giving it to my players I think I'm happy with it being a one-shot thing. Something that wasn't uniformly available, that could be gained more times by humans, or that would be less costly for certain builds would cause greater balance problems, but as a uniform boost all I need to do is make sure they're suitably challenged in-game.

IMPROVED HIDDEN TALENT [PSIONIC]
Your potential to manifest your psionic wild talent increases.
Prerequisite: Chr 13, Hidden Talent.
Benefit: You can manifest your psionic talent as a manifester equal to your class level minus 2 (minimum of 1st level manifester). Additionally, your Charisma modifier grants you bonus power points. See Table: Ability Modifiers and Bonus Power Points for details.
Special: You cannot take or use this feat if you have levels in a manifester class.

I was thinking about just this sort of thing. I'd probably avoid the straight jump to CL-2 in favor of something additive, but it is a pretty good solution. The key test: would this be fair to use with Energy Ray or Vigor?

GREATER HIDDEN TALENT [PSIONIC]
You unlock another hidden talent of higher level.
Prerequisite: Manifester level 4th, Hidden Talent, Improved Hidden Talent.
Benefit: You can select and manifest a power of 2nd level. You can choose a 2nd level power from any discipline or class list. This feat may only be selected once.

Is this supposed to have a Manifester Level prerequisite? Wouldn't that invalidate the first feat?
#4
Sysane
May 24, 2005 15:43:00
Is this supposed to have a Manifester Level prerequisite? Wouldn't that invalidate the first feat?

Not really because its not suppose to be taken before 6th level. A 6th level character with the Improved Hidden Talent feat would be the equivalent of a 4th level manifester.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 sithis May 24, 2005 13:46:36	For the games I'm going to be running I'm planning on making some modifications to match DS2E a little better and would like some community input to help tune them. The first is a reworking of the "Wild Talent" feat (with the purpose of every PC and most important NPCs receiving it). The idea is to blend the Hidden Talent feat with the Surge ability of the Wilder so that the 1st level talent will not become useless quite so fast (ever for some powers). Wild Talent [general] Prerequisites: 1st level only Benefit: Choose a 1st level psionic power. You gain 2 power points and may manifest this power with a manifester level of 1. Additionally you may choose to use the Wild Surge ability as if you were a Wilder of your effective character level, but if you do so you also suffer from the Psychic Enervation drawback. The DCs for any saves generated by the chosen power are Charisma based. Special: If you have (or gain) any manifesting classes, add the chosen power to your known powers (for all manifesting classes). When manifesting this power normally, you gain +1 manifester level and it is treated in all ways as a normal power of the class (non-Wilders may not Surge and DCs are based on the class's manifesting attribute). This does not prevent you from manifesting as outlined above. For quick reference, Wild Surge progresses as follows: 1: +1 3: +2 7: +3 11: +4 15: +5 19: +6 This is powerful, but it's supposed to be. I want all of the PCs to have a psionic power that is an innate part of their character, not something that just fades away once they level up. I also want something that will allow a large breadth of powers to be reasonable choices. If manifester level is pegged out at one, any power with a level-based duration is going to be a poor choice, as is any power that relies on augmentation to remain useful (+4 AC will always be useful, but 1d6 damage is going to be useless pretty fast).
#2 Sysane May 24, 2005 14:55:56	Thats not bad. It gives a lot power for one feat that has no prereqs though. This is what I've come up with form my home game. Players who wish to expand their wild talent can do so thru a feat chain: IMPROVED HIDDEN TALENT [PSIONIC] Your potential to manifest your psionic wild talent increases. Prerequisite: Chr 13, Hidden Talent. Benefit: You can manifest your psionic talent as a manifester equal to your class level minus 2 (minimum of 1st level manifester). Additionally, your Charisma modifier grants you bonus power points. See Table: Ability Modifiers and Bonus Power Points for details. Special: You cannot take or use this feat if you have levels in a manifester class. GREATER HIDDEN TALENT [PSIONIC] You unlock another hidden talent of higher level. Prerequisite: Manifester level 4th, Hidden Talent, Improved Hidden Talent. Benefit: You can select and manifest a power of 2nd level. You can choose a 2nd level power from any discipline or class list. This feat may only be selected once.
#3 sithis May 24, 2005 15:36:49	Thats not bad. It gives a lot power for one feat that has no prereqs though. Yeah, though the power is limited simply by not being able to be taken multiple times. In my initial concept I just assumed that someone could have more than one Wild Talent, but since I'm just giving it to my players I think I'm happy with it being a one-shot thing. Something that wasn't uniformly available, that could be gained more times by humans, or that would be less costly for certain builds would cause greater balance problems, but as a uniform boost all I need to do is make sure they're suitably challenged in-game. IMPROVED HIDDEN TALENT [PSIONIC] Your potential to manifest your psionic wild talent increases. Prerequisite: Chr 13, Hidden Talent. Benefit: You can manifest your psionic talent as a manifester equal to your class level minus 2 (minimum of 1st level manifester). Additionally, your Charisma modifier grants you bonus power points. See Table: Ability Modifiers and Bonus Power Points for details. Special: You cannot take or use this feat if you have levels in a manifester class. I was thinking about just this sort of thing. I'd probably avoid the straight jump to CL-2 in favor of something additive, but it is a pretty good solution. The key test: would this be fair to use with Energy Ray or Vigor? GREATER HIDDEN TALENT [PSIONIC] You unlock another hidden talent of higher level. Prerequisite: Manifester level 4th, Hidden Talent, Improved Hidden Talent. Benefit: You can select and manifest a power of 2nd level. You can choose a 2nd level power from any discipline or class list. This feat may only be selected once. Is this supposed to have a Manifester Level prerequisite? Wouldn't that invalidate the first feat?
#4 Sysane May 24, 2005 15:43:00	Is this supposed to have a Manifester Level prerequisite? Wouldn't that invalidate the first feat? Not really because its not suppose to be taken before 6th level. A 6th level character with the Improved Hidden Talent feat would be the equivalent of a 4th level manifester.