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The Demented One
2006-10-07, 01:55 AM
Living Arcanum

http://www.toddlockwood.com/resources/images/galleries/magazines/01/mech_hunter_det01.jpg

The Living Arcana are a strange sect of sorcerers who believe they are magic incarnate. A Living Arcanum’s body is a thing of both flesh and magic, a physical frame suffused by occult force. Living Arcana gradually become more ephemeral and mystic in form as their bodies become almost pure magic. A Living Arcanum who prefers necromancy might become skeletal, pale-skinned, and dark eyed, while an evoker might glimmer with prismatic energy. Living Arcana tend to view their spells as children, naming them and talking to them–a practice that unnerves other spellcasters to no end.

Requirements
To qualify to become a Living Arcanum, you must fulfill all the following criteria.
Feats: At least two metamagic feats
Skills: Concentration 10 ranks, Spellcraft 10 ranks
Spells: Able to spontaneously cast 3rd level arcane spells

d4 HD

Class Skills
The Living Arcanum’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Profession (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), and Use Magic Device (Cha).
Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.

{table="head"]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special|Spellcasting
1st|+0|+0|+0|+2|Arcane Augmentation, Born of Magic|+1 level of arcane spellcasting class
2nd|+1|+0|+0|+3|Metamagic Talent|+1 level of arcane spellcasting class
3rd|+1|+1|+1|+3|Rapid Casting|+1 level of arcane spellcasting class
4th|+2|+1|+1|+4|Mystic Substitution|+1 level of arcane spellcasting class
5th|+2|+1|+1|+4|Metamagic Talent|+1 level of arcane spellcasting class
6th|+3|+2|+2|+5|Surge of Magic|+1 level of arcane spellcasting class
7th|+3|+2|+2|+5|Inured to Magic|+1 level of arcane spellcasting class
8th|+4|+2|+2|+6|Metamagic Talent|+1 level of arcane spellcasting class
9th|+4|+3|+3|+6|Timeless Body|+1 level of arcane spellcasting class
10th|+5|+3|+3|+7|Gift of Life|+1 level of arcane spellcasting class
[/table]

Class Features
All the following are class features of the Living Arcanum prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency
You gain no additional weapon or armor proficiencies.

Spellcasting
Whenever you gain a new Living Arcanum level, you gain new spells per day and spells known as if he had also gained a level in whatever spontaneous arcane spellcasting class in which he could cast 3rd-level spells before he added the prestige class level. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained.

Arcane Augmentation (Su)
Whenever you cast a spell, you may expend a single unexpended spontaneous spell slot. If you do, you may apply the benefits of any one metamagic feat you know to that spell, as long as the metamagic feat would not increase the spell’s level by an amount greater than half the level of the expended spell slot. Doing so does not change the level or casting time of the spell. You may not apply more than one metamagic feat to a spell with this ability.

Born of Magic (Ex)
A Living Arcanum is more than flesh. At each level, you add your Cha modifier, rather than your Con modifier, to your hit dice to determine the amount of hp you gain at that level. In addition, you no longer need to eat or drink to survive, as your metabolism is fueled by the magic that courses through your body. Furthermore, the magic that infuses your body can be passed down to your children. Any child you sire or give birth to has Sorcerer as an additional favored class.

Metamagic Talent (Ex)
At 2nd level, you may gain any metamagic feat as a bonus feat. You must still meet the feat’s prerequisites. In addition, once per day, you may spend ten minutes in meditation to swap that feat out for any other metamagic feat you meet the prerequisites for. At 5th and 8th levels, you gain another bonus feat.

Rapid Casting (Su)
Applying metamagic feats to your spells does not change their casting time.

Mystic Substitution (Su)
At 4th level, you gain the ability to expend magical power in place of costly spell components or experience points. Whenever you cast a spell with a costly material component, focus, or xp cost, you may choose to expend a single spell slot in place of an amount of components or foci worth an amount of gp equal to your class level times five times the spell slot’s level. Alternatively, you may expend a single spell slot in place of an amount of xp equal to your class level times the spell slot’s level. Finally, you no longer need to use non-costly material components and foci.

Surge of Magic (Su)
At 6th level, your body is infused with pulsing magic, which you can draw on to fuel your spells. At the beginning of each day, roll 1d6, +1 per four caster levels you have. You gain a number of bonus spontaneous spell slots that day whose levels total to the result of the dice roll. You may gain bonus spell slots of any level except the highest you can cast.

Inured to Magic (Su)
At 7th level, the magic that suffuses your body also rejects outside mystic influences. You gain spell resistance equal to ten plus your caster level.

Timeless Body (Ex)
At 9th level, your body is continually renewed by magic, halting the aging process. You no longer take ability score penalties for aging and cannot be magically aged. Any penalties you may have already incurred, however, remain in place. Bonuses still accrue, and you still die of old age when your time is up, as the magic fueling your flesh eventually burns out.

Gift of Life (Su)
At 10th level, you may impart life to one of your spells. As a standard action, you may expend a spell slot to summon a Living Spell. The caster level of the Living Spell is equal to your own. The spell slot expended must have been one that could be used to cast the spell the Living Spell template is applied to, and you cannot summon a living version of a spell that cannot legally have the Living Spell template applied to it. The Living Spell serves you loyally for a number of rounds equal to your caster level. While the Living Spell remains summoned, you cannot cast the spell made living. You total number of Living Spells you may have summoned at one time is equal to your Cha modifier, minimum one.

Krimm_Blackleaf
2006-10-07, 02:58 AM
This just gave me an idea for a BBEG...


*scribbles notes*

The Demented One
2006-10-07, 11:51 AM
This just gave me an idea for a BBEG...


*scribbles notes*
Glad to be of service.

Maerok
2006-10-07, 01:20 PM
Devour Magic: "standard item" -> "standard action"? And can you potentially get a rather high amount of spell slots from draining wands of light at 375 gp a piece? Seems a bit overpowered in the long run. I'd pay 375 gp for an extra spell slot any day. Perhaps that extra spell slot lasts for 1-2 hours per spell level?

I_Got_This_Name
2006-10-07, 01:35 PM
The extra slot from a Wand of Light is a cantrip slot anyway. You're burning 5 charges from a wand to gain the ability to cast any spell that you know of the same level, once.

I'll second a duration on those slots, though; I'd go with 24 hours.

ishi
2006-10-07, 01:38 PM
How does Devour Magic work with staves, which can have many different levels of spells stored?

Fax Celestis
2006-10-07, 01:53 PM
Quick Notes:

Your Spellcasting entry says "every level beyond 1st", while the table says "every level but 1st and 5th". Which is correct?

Is Born of Magic retroactive? ie: does it remove your Con penalty on already-gained HD and replace it with your Cha penalty? The way HP works says "yes" to me, but I'd like to be certain.

Does the Seed of Magic ability give Sorceror as an additional favored class, or does it replace it?

For Metamagic Talent, can I swap any metamagic feat, or just the ones gained through the ability?

Surge of magic reads "roll 1d6, plus one per four caster levels you have." Is that 1d6+1, or 1d6+1d6?

Inured to Magic: SR, when based on something is usually 11+, not 10+.

Gift of Life is a tad confusing, and would probably be better put to have a spell of your choice every morning gain the Living Spell template, and treat the Living Spell as an additional familiar. Have it expire in hours/caster level, so at Sor 10/Liv Ar 10, they'll have it for 18 hours.

The Demented One
2006-10-07, 03:38 PM
I'll second a duration on those slots, though; I'd go with 24 hours.
I was pretty sure bonus spell slots always lasted only for one day. If that's wrong, I'll add something in about it.


How does Devour Magic work with staves, which can have many different levels of spells stored?
Highest level of spell stored, in that case. I'll add that in.


Your Spellcasting entry says "every level beyond 1st", while the table says "every level but 1st and 5th". Which is correct?
The table, I'll fix that.



Is Born of Magic retroactive? ie: does it remove your Con penalty on already-gained HD and replace it with your Cha penalty? The way HP works says "yes" to me, but I'd like to be certain.
Nope. The way its worded, it only applies to Living Arcanum HD.


Does the Seed of Magic ability give Sorceror as an additional favored class, or does it replace it?
Additional.


For Metamagic Talent, can I swap any metamagic feat, or just the ones gained through the ability?
The latter.


Surge of magic reads "roll 1d6, plus one per four caster levels you have." Is that 1d6+1, or 1d6+1d6?
The former.


Inured to Magic: SR, when based on something is usually 11+, not 10+.
Really? I based this ability off of the Monk's diamond soul ability, which is 10+, I think.



Gift of Life is a tad confusing, and would probably be better put to have a spell of your choice every morning gain the Living Spell template, and treat the Living Spell as an additional familiar. Have it expire in hours/caster level, so at Sor 10/Liv Ar 10, they'll have it for 18 hours.
While a tad confusing, I don't think it's that bad. Think of it as a sentient contingent spell. I would have liked to work Living Spells in, but didn't want to branch out into non-core.

Shazzbaa
2006-10-08, 12:59 PM
This is really, really cool...
...is there any reason NOT to take this?

Fizban
2006-10-08, 01:05 PM
Loss of caster levels and therefore loss of higher level spells.

The Demented One
2006-10-08, 01:05 PM
This is really, really cool...
...is there any reason NOT to take this?
Two lost caster levels, plus you more or less have to take Sorcerer or Bard to get in--not exactly the best caster classes.

Shazzbaa
2006-10-08, 01:25 PM
A friend of mine doesn't like Timeless Body... his e-mail to me:

"Well ok a hypothetical scenario. A Sorcerer goes into Living Arcanum to the point where he gets Timelss Body. At this point he can probably cast wish, if not then he'll be able to soon. With the wish spell he wishes to be one year short of his maximum age (incurring all bonuses but no penalties). Then soon afterwards, he wishes to have his maximum age increased to that of an elf, but not to increase himself in age towards that maximum age beyond normal progression (so the DM couldn't just say "well you just wished to be one year short of your maximum age, so now your maximum age is 700, so you're 699). Now the sorcerer/living arcanum is say, 70-80 years old, with all the bonuses and none of the penalties of a human living to that age, and now he's going to live for say another 600 years or so. All at the expense of two wish spells worth of some spell components and XP, and deviating from his sorcerer class.

I'd say that's a pretty sweet deal."

Is this a problem? He said he's not sure whether or not wish can do this, and I don't know enough about this sort of thing to say.

I_Got_This_Name
2006-10-08, 01:50 PM
Losing caster levels doesn't seem in-flavor to me, but, unfortunately, with the way casters are set up, it's all-or-nothing, or it's not very pretty.

Fax Celestis
2006-10-08, 02:44 PM
A friend of mine doesn't like Timeless Body... his e-mail to me:

"Well ok a hypothetical scenario. A Sorcerer goes into Living Arcanum to the point where he gets Timelss Body. At this point he can probably cast wish, if not then he'll be able to soon. With the wish spell he wishes to be one year short of his maximum age (incurring all bonuses but no penalties). Then soon afterwards, he wishes to have his maximum age increased to that of an elf, but not to increase himself in age towards that maximum age beyond normal progression (so the DM couldn't just say "well you just wished to be one year short of your maximum age, so now your maximum age is 700, so you're 699). Now the sorcerer/living arcanum is say, 70-80 years old, with all the bonuses and none of the penalties of a human living to that age, and now he's going to live for say another 600 years or so. All at the expense of two wish spells worth of some spell components and XP, and deviating from his sorcerer class.

I'd say that's a pretty sweet deal."

Is this a problem? He said he's not sure whether or not wish can do this, and I don't know enough about this sort of thing to say.
It really depends on the DM's idea of how Wish works, Shazz. In all rights, one could say that the mental increases in scores due to age are largely due to experience. Wishing oneself old would make you old, yes, but you wouldn't get the experience needed to improve your mental capacity.

In addition, there's this little clause from Wish:

You may try to use a wish to produce greater effects than these, but doing so is dangerous. (The wish may pervert your intent into a literal but undesirable fulfillment or only a partial fulfillment.)
...which is sort of the DM's "out". Since aging and other such things aren't on the list of Wish's normal effects, there's a chance that an inventive and vindictive DM could make it bad for the person in question.

The Demented One
2006-10-08, 03:49 PM
A friend of mine doesn't like Timeless Body... his e-mail to me:

"Well ok a hypothetical scenario. A Sorcerer goes into Living Arcanum to the point where he gets Timelss Body. At this point he can probably cast wish, if not then he'll be able to soon. With the wish spell he wishes to be one year short of his maximum age (incurring all bonuses but no penalties). Then soon afterwards, he wishes to have his maximum age increased to that of an elf, but not to increase himself in age towards that maximum age beyond normal progression (so the DM couldn't just say "well you just wished to be one year short of your maximum age, so now your maximum age is 700, so you're 699). Now the sorcerer/living arcanum is say, 70-80 years old, with all the bonuses and none of the penalties of a human living to that age, and now he's going to live for say another 600 years or so. All at the expense of two wish spells worth of some spell components and XP, and deviating from his sorcerer class.

I'd say that's a pretty sweet deal."

Is this a problem? He said he's not sure whether or not wish can do this, and I don't know enough about this sort of thing to say.
That's going to be costing him some heavy XP, even if his DM allows him to use unorthodox wishes. However, I'd point him towards the Dragonwrought Kobold feat from RotD, much better way to make use of age bonuses without any penalties.

LordOfNarf
2006-10-08, 05:26 PM
Born of Magic (Ex)
A Living Arcanum is more than flesh. At each level, you add your Cha modifier, rather than your Con modifier, to your hit dice to determine the amount of hp you gain at that level. In addition, you no longer need to eat or drink to survive, as your metabolism is fueled by the magic that courses through your body.

What is your CON is higher?

Also, Hit Die?

The Demented One
2006-10-08, 05:59 PM
What is your CON is higher?
You still use your Cha. However, I can't think of any caster I've ever seen whose Con was higher than his casting stat.


Also, Hit Die?
Added that in.

Fax Celestis
2006-10-09, 02:50 PM
Two lost caster levels, plus you more or less have to take Sorcerer or Bard to get in--not exactly the best caster classes.

...or Beguiler or Duskblade.

The Demented One
2006-10-09, 03:11 PM
...or Beguiler or Duskblade.
True, although it doesn't benefit the Duskblade that much, and straight Beguiler's are actually pretty good. This was intended to help out the subpar sorcerers out there.

Fax Celestis
2006-10-09, 03:26 PM
Granted, but a Beguiler will qualify without effort. At, er, 10th level, if they don't pick up any extra metamagic feats.

The Demented One
2006-10-09, 03:31 PM
Granted, but a Beguiler will qualify without effort. At, er, 10th level, if they don't pick up any extra metamagic feats.
True, though I'd say a Beguiler 10/Living Arcanum 10 is right on par with a Beguiler 20.

MechaKingGhidra
2006-10-30, 11:05 PM
AHH, my eyes! My poor, precious, useless eyes! What's with all the ?

The Demented One
2006-10-30, 11:17 PM
AHH, my eyes! My poor, precious, useless eyes! What's with all the ?
There was a table, but with the server change, it's now nonfunctional. Hopefully, the staff should have table code up and running in a few days.

The Demented One
2006-11-02, 07:52 PM
AHH, my eyes! My poor, precious, useless eyes! What's with all the ?
See? Now it's all better.

Dragonmuncher
2006-11-03, 03:08 PM
Cool stuff, although it would be great if you could do some clarifying edits in the main post, based on the questions that have already been asked.


I don't see any problem with Timeless Body- monks and druids get the same ability, right?

Devour Magic, I'd say limit the amount of "extra" magic that can be held at one time. Even better, make the Devour Magic act more like a Pearl of Power- devour a spell (or 5 charges), and then convert those spell levels into recovered spell slots (Devour a Fireball, and either recover a 3rd level slot, or 2 1sts and a 2nd lvl slot). Maybe make it so it doesn't have to be on your spell list, but that might be too powerful.

And I agree that I was hoping the capstone ability would be a way to create Living Spells, instead of what basically amounts to one free quickened spell a day. It's still powerful as it is right now, but some sort of Living Spell/Spell Familiar/whatever fits in much better with your flavor.

fangthane
2006-11-03, 04:18 PM
Metamagic Talent - I presume that regardless of additional feats, the swap-out can only be done for one of them per day rather than spending 30 minutes to swap out each of the 3 in turn; it might be worth making that explicit rather than implied, or clarifying if I'm incorrect. :)

Triaxx
2006-11-03, 10:12 PM
Why not Rogue Casting?

Rogue Casting (Su) Due to the magic that suffuses your form, at 5th level, you gain the ability to return a casting of any arcane magic aimed directly at you, following a DC 15+spell level Spellcraft check. You take only half damage, and may recast the spell on any target of your choosing during your next round as a free action. Neither Vocal, nor somatic elements are required, but if hit before the turn, you loose the spell.

The Demented One
2006-11-07, 06:02 PM
And I agree that I was hoping the capstone ability would be a way to create Living Spells, instead of what basically amounts to one free quickened spell a day. It's still powerful as it is right now, but some sort of Living Spell/Spell Familiar/whatever fits in much better with your flavor.
A good idea. I finally figured out how to word it the way I want, so it's now up there.

Fax Celestis
2006-11-07, 06:14 PM
That's...relatively awesome. So, a Sorceror/Living Arcanum with a Charisma of 28 (18 score, +4 for levels, +6 for cloak) and the Sherem-Lar and Sherezem-Lar Sorcery feats can have 11 Living Spells simultaneously?

Sign me up for Geas/Quest, Acid Arrow, Magic Missile, Temporal Stasis, Manyjaws, Phantasmal Killer, Inflict Critical Wounds, Hold Monster...

The Demented One
2006-11-07, 06:25 PM
That's...relatively awesome. So, a Sorceror/Living Arcanum with a Charisma of 28 (18 score, +4 for levels, +6 for cloak) and the Sherem-Lar and Sherezem-Lar Sorcery feats can have 11 Living Spells simultaneously?

Sign me up for Geas/Quest, Acid Arrow, Magic Missile, Temporal Stasis, Manyjaws, Phantasmal Killer, Inflict Critical Wounds, Hold Monster...
Well, he's got to take the actions and expend the spell slots to summon them, and just about all of the spells you listed can't really be made Living Spells, unless the sherem-lar dealies do something funky in that regard.

Khantalas
2006-11-07, 06:44 PM
Don't those feats increase your effective charisma score by two?

Aren't they in Ghostwalk?

I thought I was the only one to cite Ghostwalk.

Fax Celestis
2006-11-07, 07:02 PM
They are indeed in Ghostwalk. And they do indeed increase your effective Charisma by 2, but only for the purposes of sorceror powers.

Fax Celestis
2006-11-07, 07:03 PM
Well, he's got to take the actions and expend the spell slots to summon them, and just about all of the spells you listed can't really be made Living Spells, unless the sherem-lar dealies do something funky in that regard.
Oh, and that I know. It's mostly just wishful thinking.

The Demented One
2006-11-07, 07:39 PM
Oh, and that I know. It's mostly just wishful thinking.
You know, if we were to make a modified version of that template for targeted spells only...

Fax Celestis
2006-11-07, 11:03 PM
That'd be totally awesome.