Talk:Cryptic - Project Atrea (3.5e Class)

I have a few concerns and complaints. In no particular order: Why does a 1 handed weapon add only half of your int bonus for mind thrust, but a two handed weapon adds double? Mental training adds massive untyped bonuses (equivalant to 140 skill points total) to a number of very useful skills, with the limitation being practically negligable. Mind games offers a number of Psi like abilites at will, but some of them are honestly a little too strong. Vex is extremely overpowered when combined with another ability I'll talk about later, and it even allows you to manifest a pair of lvl 9 PLAs, one of which usually has an XP cost. Unraveling strike should not be a level class feature. That feature makes a single level dip in this class more effective than the best crit fisher build SRD could ever make. Combine it with Vex, I talked about earlier, and the Distract class feature, and you're reliably criting every single hit. Combine that with a mind thrusted scythe, and you're dealing 8d4+8xint mod+whatever else you stack onto your weapon each hit ~Alucard109

Alright, so. With TK Thrust, you can add your full Int bonus with a single weapon, twice your Int bonus if it's two-handed, or 1/2 your Int bonus to each weapon when you're fighting with two weapons. As far as adding to the skills, it's hilariously easy to make skill-boosting items that are much more powerful; A +30 skill item only costs 90kGP to make - I could very well cut the skill bonus down to 1/2 level, but all of them are utility skills that fit in flavor with the class, so for now I'm going to leave it as is.

Unraveling Strike does need a touch-up; I've since figured out a good progression for similar skills. However, I don't think it's as broke as you think; It does deal hefty damage and does look appetizing for a crit build, but crits and SA dice in and of themselves are only useful against things that are vulnerable to precision damage - Which means elementals, undead, oozes, constructs, plants, and a lot of other creatures are going to be immune. In addition, creatures with all-around sight or Uncanny Dodge will be a heavy counter. Lastly, HP damage doesn't matter as much as save-or-die/-suck effects, which is why noncasters and evocation users generally suck.

As for Vex, this is intended, as Unraveling Strike is this class's Sneak Attack, which I am loathe to nerf. --Zhenra-Khal (talk) 15:28, 2 July 2019 (MDT)

Instead of reducing the skill bonus, what if you gave it a type (insight would make sense), and gave an actual consequence to losing the books needed for the ability. Say, taking anywhere from one day to one week per book to replace them.

For unraveling strike, what if you gave a scaling bonus to crit range and multiplier (+1-+4) against opponents denied their Dex bonus. That might even be more powerful over all, compared to the original, but wouldn't make a single level dip outperform entire builds based around the purpose. ~alucard109

Well, it's intended to give them a way to actually use the crit bonuses they receive. At lower levels, a crit isn't that different from a sneak attack - With a shortsword, the damage is the same. At higher levels, it falls behind SA some, so I think allowing some cheese isn't that bad. As far as the skill bonus, Insight makes sense, though. This class has two sister classes - Ascendant and Riftwalker - With similar bonuses, though I may need to removed UMD from the Ascendant's list.

Also, don't forget to sign your name properly with four ~'s after you post. I always put two dashes in front of mine to give it a little space, but you can do whatever as long as you include the tildes. --Zhenra-Khal (talk) 14:24, 5 July 2019 (MDT)