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ArteF
March 26th, 2017, 02:00
Vallātor (goo.gl/zazSjZ)
Fantasy Grounds Module (https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8497ugfVmguYVMyMGwzcnVGMHM) (V1.1)


"Civilization is like a thing layer of ice upon a deep ocean of chaos and darkness."

-Werner Herzog (https://www.wernerherzog.com/), Vallātor (https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8497ugfVmguNlRXcVFZdXp3UWM)




Table of Contents




Introduction
Races, Proficiencies, Backgrounds and Paths
Chaos Points, Gathering Entropy, Chaos Charges, Focus and Knowledge
Spells
DMs Guide
Builds
FAQ
Notes




INTRODUCTION


This guide will use the following ratings:
Gold: A feature or spell that is a must have or must use.
Sky Blue: Very powerful feature or spell and something you shouldn't be without.
Blue: A strong option in most cases.
Black: Not a bad option but not the best either.
Purple: A weaker feature or more situational.
Red: Definetly something you have to build around for it to be good, a gimmick.


What is a Vallātor?


Vallātor is at it's core a full-caster that functions as an anti-spellcaster. Their abilities are tied to the chaotic backdrop of reality; the chaos that civilization is imposed on. As such their spells are much more difficult to cast but millenias of study and practice leaves them specifically without the burdens of wild magic. The great beings that created and maintain order are taught to be exactly what they are; very powerful, mysterious and lethal to cross.
The Vallātor teachings say that a strong sense of individual liberty and an even stronger sense of individual responsibility is what measures their strength and potential. The "Ethos of self" creates a wall around the character of each Vallātor; to some they seem very dependenable so long as insterests align to others they can seem indifferent.

Chaos Pool - This class uses a spell point system that works very well when you consider the sum of its parts level by level. While both Seeker and Inquisitor do not get cantrips they both have other things going for them. But the Pool appears at first very limited casting. In reality regarless of the path you choose you'll end up going through at least 3 medium encounters before scraping the bottom.
Broken Echo(BE) - This ability single handedly makes you a spell casting powerhouse against other spell casters. However if there are no spells flying around then it's pretty useless. For early levels and even later game Broken Mirror is the reason to use this. If you hit and the target fails its save you then get a free spell that costs no points.
Gathering Entropy - This scales with your chaos pool roll so it gets stronger as you level in a nuanced way, it also uses an action so for one turn you'll be recovering, consider that before you use this.

Resting and Chaos Points
This is a full caster so long rests, everything comes back on a long rest however you can roll recharge rolls for expended chaos points on a short rests. Keep that in mind when making your decisions. At early levels the hardest path is probably the Inquisitor for this; however Inquisitor has a few tricks up its sleeves for social situations or after the encounter for gathering information on avoiding future conflicts.

Playstyle
There are a few ways that this class works, you can try to balance all the features or focus on your paths strength. Regardless of how you choose your core class abilities synergy shouldn't be underestimated. Chaos Trigger is something that should always be up and is actually worth the concentration especially for Seeker. Broken Echo should always be used when up especially against stronger spell casters. The Seeker and Keeper are heavy on preperation while the Inquisitor is ready to go at a moments notice, an important point is that only Primodial Focus abilities use chaos points.


Races, Proficiencies, and Paths


Races


Dwarf - I would assume that there could be a non-lawful dwarf around but yes dwarfs should do fine, it really comes down to the build you are going for. If you are wanting to go with a Seeker then a Mountain Dwarf should be very good. Any other a Hill Dwarf would be better regardless of that you don't use Wisdom. It get's tricky though as I imagine a Mountain Dwarf would have forgone a dexterity build but can rely on Chaos Trigger from 6th level for easy advantage. Outside of that the synergy here is at a low amount.

Elf - Elves are more inline mechanically to bring something of benefit any any intelligence caster and this class is no different. A High Elf also comes with a cantrip so thats a big thing to get without having to grab a feat or multi-classing 1st level. I would imagine a High Elf is good for any of the 3 paths. Wood Elf is also very good, the weapon training gives you long bows which when combined with Keeper or Seeker gets deadly. Keep in mind the application range of Chaos Trigger(CT) is 30-feet but the range on Broken Echo(BE) is much further. Drow are okay in their own anyway but yes the hand crossbow works very well with Chaos Trigger (CT) however they aren't the best pick. Eladrin(DMG) are pretty good as well they are just like High Elf but without the cantrip, but they do get the short rest escape which is a chaos point you don't have to spend. The synergy here is very high.

Halfling - You really can't go wrong with a Halfling I think, first off you can grab resistance to charm on Chaotic Reveler and have advantage against either charm or fear saves. You make lots of attack rolls here, not like a monk but enough for lucky to be helpful. Everything else is really just icing on a pretty good cake. The synergy is above average here.

Human - You can never go wrong with a human, generally nothing special here and nothing wrong either. For me it comes down to if I rolled stats and got loads of odd numbers. Human-Variant as well is pretty good in that youget to pick your feat, this can make early levels very easy and even help with survivability later depending on the feat you grab. Humans are of average synergy.

Dragonborn - They are decent for their strength, but nothing else here helps out directly that I can think of and as a result I'd say that they have a very low synergy.

Gnome - Advantage on Intelligence saves... okay so you wont have to worry about feeble mind I guess. It comes down to the subraces here as both of them tap into what this class is about. Be it artificer or the ability scores. The synergy here is average but more focused on social scenes with Rock Gnome.

Half-Elf - The charisma here isn't very good you probably aren't going to be the partys face but you do still get some proficiencies which in the case of seeker can lead to a few things being doubled. If it weren't for the charisma this would be much higher but for now it has a below average synergy.

Half-Orc - Why not? There is absolutely nothing wrong with Half-Orc and this class except that you probably either rolled really well and put an 18+ into intelligence. Menacing and an Inquisitor sounds nice though. If you are going for an Strength build then this is probably one of the best vanilla choices.

Teifling - There are a lot of good things happening here, the only downside is again the Charisma. I'd say that and the charisma modifier on the spells. This has almost no synergy.

Aasimar(DMG) - Run what you will but this race has no synergy at all.


Proficiencies


Attribute Proficiencies


Strength - This works for inquisitor the best possibly, you gain a potential total of +5 AC by 6th level as Inquisitor. That's +2 from Dubiety and +3 from mage armor, the rub is you don't get extra attack but you do get second trigger. I'd figure if you were set on multi-classing from a class that out right requires strength then yes you wouldn't lose anything if you grabbed extra attack and moved to this class generally. You also gain advantage on your attacks with Seeker but that would be 11th level if you multi-classed.

Dexterity - As a spell caster and the fact that dex is such a good pick for anyone really this is not a bad deal. You don't need dex though as the class only pushes one attribute and that's intelligence.

Constitution - You are a spell caster, you have a core feature that requires concentration...

Intelligence - This is where your successes and failures are determined, there is probably no attribute more important than intelligence on this class.

Wisdom - You don't use this but a lot of saves call on it, it's never bad to have at least some wisdom but you aren't the parties scout unless they are looking for something magical then seeker does that job fairly well.

Charisma - You really don't use this you can ignore it unless your paranoid about being banished somewhere.

ArteF
March 26th, 2017, 02:01
Skill Proficiencies


Much of what your skills usefulness is based on will be defined by the DM because of that I'll be focusing on what synergies with the class rather than what has the most use.

Arcana - You get arcane expertise so this really doesn't matter, you can grab it or ignore it by 2nd level you get it anyway.

Nature - This helps a lot with seekers, plants and the like can be used in place of ichors this is something that I would talk to my DM about before the game as well. You can recommend the Herbalism & Alchemy Fan-Made Supplement v1.2 (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7CIGCMCtoETVmhDNEZMbUVweTg/view). To help make things easier.

Perception , Slight of Hand , Survival and Investigation - These are all beneficial but the seeker is more of a skill monkey in this regard. It's an intricate dance as the seeker is specialized about how it uses those abilities but it can apply them generally as well.

Everything else - Again, the DM is the one that determines how useful skills are, if you grab Athletics and the like then so be it, but the special mention is always Stealth, you will always need to Stealth at some point.


Paths


The vallātor who finds themselves on the path of the keeper discovers that hunting dangerous magic comes as second nature but retaining it, utilizing it to continue the hunt is their very nature. A vallātor who travels the path of the seeker find that their martial prowess alone while formidable can become overwhelming to an enemy whose home is now a hunting grounds. The vallātors of inquisition, truest to the search of knowledge, perhaps truer to the source of chaos, woe and dread are the only two words to describe them by friend and foe who know their capabilities.

Seeker - This is either the easiest or the hardest of the paths, the reason why is because it is the most reliant on being in an advantageous situation from the outset. However it does get the ability to prepare and given enough time can have an answer for almost any situation if you think about the possible outcomes of almost every action. Just like Batman!

Keeper - This is the full on spell caster, there is no getting around it, the keeper is the master of casting of all the Vallātor. You also can expand your spell list via its knowledge ability. So it takes the cake on versatility. Combine that with the Vallātor's innate ritual casting and you have a pretty amazing caster. The thing with them is they are RNG based, but if they land a natural 20 things get hurt. They also have the unique ability to make things auto fail their saves when they roll a natural 1, it may seem minor but it means you can also and oddly ignore your intelligence attribute if your a gambler.

Inquisitor - Inquisitors fall into an odd place. They are kind of a half-martial bard. What that means is they can debuff targets but only put out average damage. They make up for this in some cases with the damage spread or by debuffing a target. Making an enemy take a minus to their attack or AC is a boon for everyone... except the enemy.



Note:

This guide was heavily inspired by Mistwells repost of Mephi1234's (https://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?469128-GUIDE-Blade-Book-and-Chain-the-Warlock-Guide) guide so I hope it's pretty clear.

I'm hoping I'll be able to finish this guide tomorrow, take care folks!

ArteF
March 26th, 2017, 02:02
Future stuff

ArteF
March 26th, 2017, 02:03
More Stuff

ArteF
April 9th, 2017, 05:32
Vallator Mod instructions:

Update V1.1

The PDF is at this point more up to date than the module, I apologize for that but I can't update the module until I go through the pdf with a fine tooth comb so maybe in a week or two. As it is now the pdf has been updated and the notes about that update can be found in the Warden(5e) Thread (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?34069-Warden-Class-(5e)&highlight=warden).

In short Update 1.1 was based on some feedback I got about the Inquisitor as well as a rework to the Knowledge system that brought it closer to what it was supposed to be.

The module again may see these changes in a week or so, I also have a good idea on how to create a spell list in the module and it will require removing the spells from the actual spell list for Vallator. When running a game it gets kind of sloppy when you see a bunch of spells one from the PHB and one from the Vallator when they are all identical.

So yea I'm hoping their wont need to be a 1.2 as the issue with Inquisitor was mainly with the flavor and benefit of the Focus section. Magisterium now is a bit more fleshed out. If there is any other change here it would probably be to AoE types as while no one has tpk'd themselves quite yet not having control over your potential AoE can be not worth the reward for getting the right one. So I'm flirting with the idea that players can decide before the attack if the effect is a cone or radius.

ArteF
April 9th, 2017, 20:02
Pretty annoying setback on the complete mod... I made all of the tables and abilities... was considering releasing this version and then finally adding the spell list version later... takes time...

But when fiddling with the export tool I deleted the class from the tool side and for some reason it deleted the class altogether.

The good news is everything is still there but the class has to be retyped up from scratch in fantasy grounds and that's going to take... time...

Maybe next week. Sorry for anyone who was looking forward to a more complete module.

ArteF
April 15th, 2017, 15:41
Bad to worse, apparently 3.3 update set a lot of things to their default.

I had all the work I did on skills in one of my campaigns and as a result everything vanished, features, abilities, magic and so on. Even the template class vanished... so it's a blessing and a curse in that all the work basically starts from scratch but I'm going to be making it all outside of my campaign and hopefully if I don't get it done before 3.4 then 3.4 won't erase it all.

Sorry for the delay but I'll be working on it all today but I doubt I can get it all done this weekend by myself.

Trenloe
April 15th, 2017, 16:00
You shouldn't have lost any data with the upgrade to v3.3. Can you explain what you mean by "everything vanished"? Have the buttons on the desktop gone (in which case reactivate them from the top of the library window)? So,something else? If so, more info please, with as much info as possible so we can help you.

And FG makes a backup of your database each session, so your data should be available in backup DB files too.

ArteF
April 15th, 2017, 16:16
When I went to my campaign (Princes of the Apocalypse) where everything was stored, I intended to export everything to work on it through the manage character... I thought it would be easier to export from there by doing an export of everything rather than having to select all of those parts each time... (takes a while).

But when I opened the campaign I got 2 error prompts, the first for an unexpected shut down and then the second flashed by but when I got into the campaign everything was vanilla, including stuff that was there months ago like side stories are all gone. So I assumed something set it back to default.

As I said though it's also a blessing since I'll just do all my homebrew stuff through manage character instead... its neater.

ArteF
April 16th, 2017, 19:06
Alright, the module for the class is back to where it was.

Everything about it is finished except for the spell list which is kind of harsh... I'm trying to figure out how to create the spell list in a way that it looks like any of the other classes. Right now fantasy grounds will sort them out when you do a search but they aren't split up by 1st 2nd and so on levels.

The Feats section and the Magic section as a result are a bit of a mess because I was testing stuff there. However if you ignore those 2 sections the actual class is very clear and all the links lead where you would expect them to lead.

Nearly every feature of the class is draggable to your actions tab for quick use.

There are some items as well most work fine but the Chaotic Foci or just Foci requires some tinkering.

Foci Tinkering:
So first you will need to change the weapon to have an attack based on your intelligence and no damage modifier. At later levels you get the intelligence damage modifier as well as increased damage dice.

What this doesn't do:
The module doesn't actually set up how the abilities are categorized in your actions tab, so you will need to set this up yourself.

As a rule of thumb how I set it up on fantasy grounds is that I use 3 sections.

1. Active Class Features
2. Passive Class Features
3. Chaos Pool

The Active Class Features can be broken down further based on resource tracking. So some abilities that get 1 go at it can have their own sections.

It's important to note that I don't use spells slots or mana points which is a variant option in fantasy grounds. I use the skill points option instead. If you create a subsection for a feature in the actions tab there should be a little magnifying glass next to that section. Open that and you can set the section up as powers rather than spells by clicking the little book icon. Then set the recovery to one day (everything is long rest) when needed and set the appropriate amount of usages available per long rest for the features in that section.

This is also how I handle the Chaos Pool which is your spell section. You don't exactly have 1st or 2nd level spells to categorize on the actions. Everything pulls from the same resource.

Passive Features are things you can really use once then black out so they don't appear on the actions tab unless you need it or the DM erases you from the combat tracker for some reason. They are quick ways of reapplying things you get passively like the Chaos Trigger check on Natural Expertise.

On that note, Ataxic Branding's wording may be a little bit unclear, you do not need to use any of your Foci resources to use the Foci in it's case. It has it's own resource, however you do not get your Foci damage roll.

Now that this is all done, I'll get back to working on the guide and finally getting back to finishing the spell list.

ArteF
May 22nd, 2017, 04:51
Mod has been updated to the latest version, feel free to use it and let me know if anything isn't using the right tags.

Also the Chaotic Font now has a link for a spell list.

Don't mind me going to jump out a window now.

Had to do some technical changes to the Inquisitor as I mentioned above... took almost 3 weeks to finalize it.

If there is any changes left that I can anticipate it's going to have to be after I reread stuff. Right now FYI the Foci attack damage type is selected before targeting. There is a table for your convenience.

Edit ---

Small issue with the mod, the setup for Martial Echo is a bit messy so another update for just that will be in the works. Everything else is working fine but I'll be saving that change for when I add some flavor more appropriate to the class.

ArteF
September 6th, 2017, 12:59
Alright, kind of back to Fantasy Grounds itself, in my spare time I took to wrapping up some things about this class producing version 1.1.

Mostly what you have are small rebalances as in actual rebalances no nerfs or buffs just adjusting certain resources after giving them more quality.

There is now a supplement in the PDF for flavor information about the class.

As requested the class specific item is there as well, note that it isn't locked to the class but its features except three are.

I've been writing a campaign up, a short thing but sadly I started writing it in fantasy grounds and realized I should have started writing it in word, heh. So its been fun going backwards in my normal process for these things.

Unlike the class I wont be releasing it by update but rather by completed chapters... except for chapter 8 I believe which will be because of the nature of its content.

The Mod is no longer up to date with v1.1 but I mean it can still be used but there are subtle changes.

For example each path at around 10th level except for Keepers get something that buffs up their recovery dice. This worked out to be a straight buff for the Seeker and a mechanically simpler Inquisitor.

The Inquisitors Ataxic Branding now happens as a bonus action. In play it was far too difficult to land the chaos trigger on a target and then wait until next turn to land ataxic branding, the class shouldn't be in front line for that long.

The weapon itself is nuanced so its benefits may not seem so obvious but they work on the weaknesses of this class which I feel makes it a great item for anyone running it.

I wrote it so that players can hopefully take something away from the information but at the same time it was written for DMs.