Eberron Player's Guide Excerpts: Self-Forged
The Self-Forged is a paragon path for the artificers that can be taken by any race except a warforged. These artificers see the warforged as the embodiment of physical perfection and have taken mad and drastic measures to be able to attain that perfection. By grafting mechanical parts to replace their original flesh, Self-Forged are tempering themselves in order to become more tougher and stronger than their original body would ever allow.
Self-Forged artificers begin their transformation by replacing one of their arms with a Battlefist (11th level path feature) which can also be used as a mace that deals 1d8 damage if it not holding any object. The Self-Forged is also proficient with it so he gains a +3 proficiency bonus to his attack roll whenever he uses the battlefist. The Battlefist can be improved with enchantments from rituals and is not destroyed when Disenchant Magic Item is used on it.
Self Forged artificers use Fortifying Action (11th level path feature) which grants them 5+1/2 their level temporary hitpoints whenever they spend an action point to take an extra action.
The Supporting Construction (11th level path feature) that they have done to themselves makes them less prone to ongoing damage. A Self-Forged gains +2 bonus to saving throw against ongoing damage.
As Self-Forged artificers continue to modify themselves even further, they eventually become More Metal Than Flesh (16th level path feature) which allows them to add warforged components as though they are a warforged.
They also gain Added Resilience (16th level path feature) against death. Whenever the Self-Forged rolls a death saving throw, he can pick either to keep his die roll or select 10.
A Self-Forged can use his battlefist to make a devastating Battlefist Smash (Level 11, Encounter) on a target. The target takes damage, pushed a number of squares equal to the Self-Forged Con mod and grants combat advantage until the end of the Self-Forged's turn.
When a Self-Forged is badly hurt, he can use Self Repair (Level 12, Daily) to regain hitpoints equal to twice his healing surge value.
The battlefist can be turned into a Flailing Gauntlet (Level 20, Daily) that detaches from the arm which increases the reach the battlefist after knocking an opponent prone.
On a first glance, I have to say that this paragon path feels a little broken, especially with a feature such as Added Resilience which basically makes them almost immune to death and a power like Self Repair which doesn't spend a surge or second wind. Flavorwise, it has the cyberpunk vibe especially with the rocket punch and added warforged component which sounds suitable for the setting.
Any comments on this paragon path?
7 comments:
I'm a huge fan of Eberron and can't wait for the 4e books to come out. This paragon path is almost identical to a prestige class offered in 3.5e. I can't remember what it was called, but it was almost identical. I hope this is not how Wizards treats the rest of the established Eberron prestige classes from 3.5e. I'd hate to think that the Dragonmarked Heir is a Paragon path otherwise that would mean you'd need to hit 11th level before having the chance to take on that avenue of character development. But I'm getting off-track and ahead of myself.
Hey Ameron,
Thanks for dropping by! I did get a feeling that this class was somewhat familiar and was not entirely new to the setting. However, IIRC, it was a prestige class that wasn't exactly worth taking (so said the min/maxers in my group) and I'm slightly feeling the same way for this class as well.
Sure, Added Resilience is very nice but I'm not sure if it's worth losing an arm over it.
To be honest, I think we can certainly expect most of the prestige classes, especially the ones from the original campaign setting book to be rehashed into 4E mechanics. But I do hear that they have done a lot of things to add new options for dragonmarks so I think making the Dragonmark Heir a paragon path would be worth the wait for character development.
+3 proficiency 1d8 weapon that can be used in a single hand by small characters?
The battlefist is really strong for small defenders (halfling/ gnome Paladins spring to mind), being on-par with rapiers. The rest of the paragon path makes for a really strong defender PP, too.
For artificers themselves it seems more about shoring up weaknesses than building on strengthens (based on the playtest anyway). But being able to embed and attach components sounds tasty and allows the artificer to free up his hands (something that was problematic for non-Warforged in the playtest).
Overall it's a nice flavourful paragon path that reminds me a lot of the Full Metal Alchemist manga/ anime..
Hey Shem,
Welcome to the blog and thanks for commenting.
Good point on the battlefist being strong for small characters, this will be a good PP for them to consider, including the added enchantment that would be naturally added to it.
Agree that this PP does seem to make artificer much tougher with the defense against ongoing damage and later death (which I've just found out that their are a warforged racial feature)
I'm not too sure if I would get very excited about the components though if they are very similar to the one in the Dragon article which means it can only have one?
The entire path seems to be ripped from the Warforged racial description. On the whole I like it, but I do think it emphasises the defensive nature of a robotic alchemist rather perhaps a little too much. How exactly does a robotic arm stave off death, burns and poison?
As for components, if they work the same as the Dragon article then:
"Components can be attached or embedded. A warforged can have only one component, attached or embedded, in each of its arms, back, chest, feet, hands, head, hips, legs and neck. It can also attach rings."I read this as one component per slot, not one component total.
It also means that a Self-Forged character can use the component rules for heavy shields (that is being able to use items as if the shield were light).
While Warforged are a strong race for defenders already this seems to unlock the benefits of Warforged and make them accessible to other defenders. A Dwarf Self-forged defender would be tough as nails. And as already mentioned gnome and halflings will benefit greatly from this paragon path. I'm not entirely sure that is the "intended use" but I'm an optimiser at heart so I think about these things.
Another side-note is that (unfortunately) the Shoulderbow seems off-limits for Self-Forged characters as it specifies Warforged only and nothing in the PP allows for use of Warforged only items/ feats.
Finally thanks for the welcome. I was interested in discussing the new paragon path as its quite unique and no-one on enworld or the D&D website has mentioned it yet. A quick google led me to your blog. I'm not much of a blog-reader but I may have to make an exception.
Well, this is the first time that i'll post on your blog, but i really like your review of the paragon path.
I think i'll most likely roll one of these up for a goliath warden/mc artificier. I think that would be a very interesting combination of powers/themes and make for a fairly interesting character. I especially love the rocket punch that they get, thematically speaking, its superb and really flavorful; a lot of the other paragon paths seem to have very stale powers, but this one stands out to me as really difining a character not only on the page, but in the way the character acts and percieves the world. Can't wait to roll one of these up for my Eberron game. I've been a long time supporter of the campaign setting, own all of the books from 3.5 and have run virtually every game i've ever played in the setting; i'm really looking forward to its dawn into 4th.
Hey Shem and shinobicow,
Good thoughts all around and I'm really glad that you guys drop by in this blog. Really love to have more discussions like these going around in my blog.
Shem,
If you haven't noticed by now but if you are interested to see what we bloggers can do and want to find some good interesting reads on RPGs, you should check out the RPG Bloggers Networks (rpgbloggers.com) which this blog is a member of. I have to warn you though that it's almost like drinking from a firehose.
Shinobicow,
Welcome to the blog and thanks for dropping. I checked out both your anime and gaming blog (both subjects that are close to my heart). Your idea of a goliath self-forged is making me think of a straight up fighter/artificer that uses his battlefist as his main weapon. And yes, it did have alot of FMA feel to it.
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