One faces the future with one's past. [PrC]

[Icewalker]

Scholar

He meets some fragments huge, and stops to guess
What powerful but unrecorded race
Once dwelt in that annihilated place.

Every world has races and ancient civilizations lost to the swirling powers of time. And in every world, there are those who spend their lives researching these long lost societies. Some of the most arcane oriented of these academics have worked their way tirelessly through ancient texts and unearthed the magic of civilizations forgotten. And it is just some of these scholars that take these spells unto themselves and learn the magic of the ancients.

Hit die: d4

Requirements:
Ability to cast 2nd level Arcane spells
Knowledge (History) 8 ranks
Knowledge (Arcana) 8 ranks
Spellcraft 8 ranks

Skill Points: 2 + int modifier.
Class Skills:
Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Knowledge (all skills, taken individually) (Int), Profession (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int).

{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special

1st|
+0|
+0|
+0|
+2|Ancient Magic, First Order Weave

2nd|
+1|
+0|
+0|
+3|

3rd|
+1|
+1|
+1|
+3|Weave Familiarity: Standard

4th|
+2|
+1|
+1|
+4|Second Order Weave

5th|
+2|
+1|
+1|
+4|Weave Familiarity: Move

6th|
+3|
+2|
+2|
+5|

7th|
+3|
+2|
+2|
+5|Third Order Weave, Weave Familiarity: Swift

8th|
+4|
+2|
+2|
+6|

9th|
+4|
+3|
+3|
+6|Weave Familiarity: Dual

10th|
+5|
+3|
+3|
+7|Fourth Order Weave, Shattering Reformation[/table]

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Scholars gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.

Ancient Magic: The sole ability of the scholar is the control of ancient magic. These long lost weaves can be incredibly powerful, but as they are merely pre-written powers being discovered, there are very few of them and far less of an eclectic selection of spells as other casters may find.

Ancient magic is cast from the soul, requiring the scholar to throw his very life essence into the casting of their weaves. Scholars have a base pool of Soulstrength equal to their scholar level plus their Intelligence bonus. All ancient magic has a Souldrain cost, which is the amount of Soulstrength it requires to cast.

If a scholar runs out of Soulstrength, they can pour their very bodies into the casting of weaves, and willing take a point of Constitution damage in place of paying two points of Soulstrength. This exchange can take place even if the scholar is not out of Soulstrength, and any amount of Constitution can be taken to add strength to a spell.

Constitution damage taken to cast weaves cannot be healed by magic, and can only be recovered naturally at a rate of 1 point per day.

One full night's rest of 8 hours fully restores the scholar's Soulstrength reserves.

The save DC of a weave is equal to 10+the weave Order+the scholar's int bonus+1 per extra point of Soulstrength willingly given.

A scholar starts his career knowing two First Order weaves, and every additional level he chooses another two weaves of any Order available to him. At 4th level Scholars can take Second Order weaves, at 7th level Third Order, and at 10th level 4th Order. The scholar must already know the prerequisite weaves listed to select a new weave to learn.

Casting a Weave is a standard action requiring movement and speech in the same manner as verbal and somatic components of arcane spellcasting, including arcane spell failure chance and possible necessary concentration checks. Unless otherwise specified, weaves can be cast targeted anywhere that the scholar can clearly observe.

Weave Familiarity: Several weaves require the scholar to concentrate to keep them active. At first, a scholar must spend a full round action to concentrate on a weave. However, at 3rd level, this decreases to a standard action. At 5th level it decreases again to a move action, and again to a swift action at 7th level. Scholars can have only one weave active at any time until 9th level, at which point the scholar has mastered ancient magic and can concentrate on two weaves at the same time as a move action instead of one as a swift action, allowing him to have two concentration weaves active simultaneously if he so wishes.

Shattering Reformation: At 10th level, the scholar unlocks the secrets of the ancient civilization he studies, and has discovered a method of rebinding his own mind into a new form allowing him to better understand the workings of their magic. The scholar gains the knowledge to undertake a Ritual of Ancient Rebirth. This ritual, when finished, permanently increases the scholars pool of Soulstrength by 5, and wipes clean and repairs his knowledge of ancient magic, allowing him to reselect all of his weaves from the ground up with the option to take from any Order, choosing a total of 20 weaves, as before.

However, this ritual takes its toll. It reformats the brain of the scholar to match the ancient society he studied, and not the society he lives in in modern times. The ritual permanently reduces the scholar's Wisdom and Charisma by 2, but increases his Intelligence and Constitution by 2.

<hr>
First Order Weaves

Ivory Spark
Prerequisites: None
Duration: 1 minute/level
Saving throw: Reflex negates
Power: A spark of blinding white fire appears and bursts into an unstoppable flame. This flame can burn anything except for water, and burns thrice as fast and strong as normal flames. It can only be doused by being completely submerged under water. A person caught on fire this way takes 3d6 fire damage per round instead of 1d6, this fire damage ignores fire resistance and beings that are immune to fire still take half damage.
Souldrain: 1

Heart of Blue Steel
Prerequisites: None
Duration: 1 minute/level
Saving throw: Fortitude negates (harmless)
Power: The target's inner strength hardens into a cold hard vigor. The target gets a +3 Soul bonus to Fortitude and Will saves, a +2 Soul bonus to Constitution, and immunity to death attacks.
Souldrain: 1

Heart of Black Fire
Prerequisites: None
Duration: 1 minute/level
Saving throw: Fortitude negates (harmless)
Power: The target gains a feral instinct for slaughter. The target gains a +2 Soul bonus to hit and damage. At the sight of blood, this bonus increases by a further one point to +3 for the duration of the weave. The target also gains immunity to fear and sleep abilities.
Souldrain: 1

Bladed Zephyr
Prerequisites: None
Duration: Concentration
Saving throw: None
Power: A streak of razor sharp air bursts forth from the hand of the scholar and swirls through the air, slashing open his foes. Every round the scholar concentrates, he can use the wind to slash at a target by making a touch attack, which, if successful, deals 5d6 damage.
Souldrain: 1, plus 1 point/2 rounds.

Golden Flare
Prerequisites: None
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving throw: Reflex partial
Power: A massive blinding flash of golden light bursts from the fingertips of the caster. All creatures with sight in a 60 ft. cone originating from the scholar in a direction of his choice must make a Reflex save or be permanently blinded. If they save successfully, they are blinded for only 2d4 minutes.
Souldrain: 1

Heart of the Ancients
Prerequisites: Heart of Blue Steel, Heart of Black Fire
Duration: 1 minute/level
Saving throw: Fortitude negates (harmless)
Power: The target is filled with the coursing magic of ancient races and their powerful weave. The target gains a +2 Soul bonus on all ability scores, and gains immunity to all mind-affecting effects, sleep, fear, paralysis, stunning, and death effects. They also gain a +2 Soul bonus to hit and damage, and a +1 Soul bonus to their effective caster level for any arcane or divine spellcasting.
Souldrain: 1

Mindclear
Prerequisites: None
Duration: 1 minute/level
Saving throw: Will negates
Power: The scholar reaches into the mind of the target, takes their memories and active ideas into his hands, and pulls, scattering them to the sky. The target loses all memory of himself, his goals, and everything else, keeping only physical abilities. After the duration has expired, these mental fragments trickle back and reform, and the target regains their memories.
Souldrain: 1


Second Order Weaves

Ivory Blaze
Prerequisites: Ivory Spark
Duration: 1 minute/level
Saving throw: Reflex partial
Power: A spiral of splashing pearly white fire bursts forth from the hands of the scholar. In a 30 ft. cone originating from the scholar, facing a direction of his choice, fire engulfs all targets, dealing 5d8 fire damage to all inside. Unless a successful reflex save is made by those caught within the blast, they also are terribly burned and devoured by the coursing flames, which deal 3d8 damage per round instead of 1d6, and cannot be put out short of being submerged in water or until the duration expires.
Souldrain: 2

Bindings of Blue Steel
Prerequisites: Heart of Blue Steel
Duration: 1 minute/level
Saving throw: Fortitude negates (harmless)
Power: The armor the target is wearing flattens and folds into bars of beautifully forged deep blue metal. If the target is not wearing armor, the bands stream out of nothing and around the target. This new armor provides an armor bonus equal to twice the bonus of the original armor, minimum +5. The maximum dexterity bonus of the original armor is doubled, and the armor check penalty and arcane spell failure chance are both cut in half. This new armor retains all magic abilities of the original armor (a +1 breastplate, +6 AC, becomes +1 Bindings of Blue Steel which provide +11 AC).
Souldrain: 2

Crown of Black Fire
Prerequisites: Heart of Black Fire
Duration: 1 minute/level
Saving throw: Fortitude negates (harmless)
Power: A crown of vicious black fire spurting a gray smoke ignites around the forehead of the target. This fire provides the wearer with a +4 Soul bonus to Intelligence and Strength, and allows them to imbue their strikes and spells with black fire. Attacks deal an additional 2d6 fire damage, and spells are made at an effective caster level two higher than normal.
Souldrain: 2

Stormspear
Prerequisites: Bladed Zephyr
Duration: 1 round/level
Saving throw: None
Power: A spear made of swirling wind manifests in the hands of the scholar. This spear cuts through any protections, slashing at the flesh of anyone attacked. When attacking with the spear, the scholar is treated as if he has a base attack bonus equal to his total level, and is counted as proficient with the stormspear. The stormspear is treated as a spear that deals 3d8 damage instead of 1d8, only requires touch attacks instead of normal attacks, and bypasses all damage reduction.
Souldrain: 2

Mindbreak
Prerequisites: Mindclear
Duration: 1 hour/level
Saving throw: Will negates
Power: The scholar reaches into the mind of the target, takes their memories and active ideas into his hands, and tears, hurling them to the sky. The target loses all memory of himself, his goals, and everything else, keeping only physical abilities. After the duration has expired, these mental fragments trickle back and reform, and the target regains their memories. However they permanently lose all memories of 1d6 days prior from the casting of the weave.
Souldrain: 2

Rift
Prerequisites: None
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving throw: Fortitude partial
Power: A tear in reality manifests next to a chosen target. They are sucked out of existence, broken down into infinitesimal pieces, and are infinitely frozen, burned, stretched, crushed, smashed, and then kicked from the other end back together and back into reality. The target makes five Fortitude saves at 6 less than the normal DC:
Save one: Blinded for 2d6 rounds, Fortitude save for half.
Save two: Deafened 2d6 rounds, Fortitude save for half.
Save three: 1d4 Strength damage, Fortitude save for half.
Save four: 1d4 Dexterity damage, Fortitude save for half.
Save five: 1d4 Constitution damage, Fortitude save for half.
Additionally, the target takes 30 damage minus the result of a 6th Fortitude save.
Souldrain: 2

Rejuvenate
Prerequisites: None
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving throw: Will negates (harmless)
Power: The target feels pure energy filling their tired muscles and exerted mind, refreshing them to a perfect state. Wounds begin to stitch and the target are suddenly renewed as if from a good nights sleep. The target regains half of any lost hit points and loses all built up nonlethal damage. Spells and abilities with a limited number of uses are refreshed back to their original state when they were last prepared or refilled. Any state of fatigue or exhaustion is removed as if the target had just had a full night's sleep. This does not return Soulstrength.
Souldrain: 2

Thrall
Prerequisites: None
Duration: Concentration
Saving throw: Will negates
Power: Fingers of control work their way bit by bit into the brain of the target, then suddenly grasp the puppet strings and control them completely. The target must make a Will save of be completely within the service of the scholar. While the weave is active, the scholar can see through the target's eyes, and take actions completely for his thrall.
Souldrain: 1 +1/round


Third Order Weaves

Sun of Liquid Ivory
Prerequisites: Ivory Blaze
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving throw: Reflex half
Power: The scholar manifests purest starfire, a blazing sphere of liquid white light which can be hurled to violently consume a vast area in a devouring shockwave. This sphere can be thrown up to 100 ft. with perfect accuracy by the scholar, at which point it explodes in a radius of 30 ft. dealing 10d8 fire damage to everyone in the area, ignoring fire resistance and dealing half damage to targets immune to fire.
Souldrain: 4

Regalia of Ancient Might
Prerequisites: Bindings of Blue Steel, Crown of Black Fire
Duration: 1 minute/level
Saving throw: Fortitude negates (harmless)
Power: A flowing robe streams from the neck of the target to wrap them in shimmering cloth, as fantastic jewelery streaks from beneath it to swath the target in an amazing outfit of royalty. This outfit gives the target a +6 Soul bonus to all ability scores, allows them to cast Charm Person at will as a standard action as a caster level equal to their total level, and any being attempting to attack the target with the regalia must make a Will save (DC as weave) or pull back at the last moment, automatically missing or interrupting spells or abilities.
Souldrain: 4

Hurricane Halberd
Prerequisites: Stormspear
Duration: Concentration
Saving throw: None
Power: A shimmering halberd manifested from forceful cyclones bursts forth in the air. For as long as the scholar concentrates the halberd can take one of three actions every round as well as flying (perfect) up to 60 ft.. It can attack a target, making a touch attack at an attack bonus equal to the total level of the scholar plus his Intelligence bonus. The halberd deals 3d10+3 damage and bypasses all damage reduction. Second, the halberd can cast the spell Gust of Wind caster level equal to the scholar's total level. Thirdly, it can create a Wind Wall which lasts for one round, caster level equal to the scholar's total level.
Souldrain: 2 +1 point/round

Mindkill
Prerequisites: Mindbreak
Duration: Permanent
Saving throw: Will negates
Power: The scholar rips into the mind of the target, seizes their memories and active ideas into his hands, and violently shreds them, hurling them across the multiverse. The target loses all memory of himself, his goals, and everything else, keeping only physical abilities. Nothing weaker than a Limited Wish spell can return these memories, and even that will not work until at least one week has elapsed since the casting of the weave.
Souldrain: 4

Rift Shards
Prerequisites: Rift
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving throw: Fortitude partial
Power: A hundred minuscule tears in reality manifest next to a chosen target. They are ripped into shreds and each one is pulled out of existence, broken down into infinitesimal pieces, and infinitely frozen, burned, stretched, crushed, smashed, and then kicked from the other end back together and back into reality, then back together into a coherent form. The target makes six Fortitude saves at 4 less than the normal DC:
Save one: Blinded for 3d6 rounds, Fortitude save for half.
Save two: Deafened 3d6 rounds, Fortitude save for half.
Save three: 1d8 Strength damage, Fortitude save for half.
Save four: 1d8 Dexterity damage, Fortitude save for half.
Save five: 1d8 Constitution damage, Fortitude save for half.
Save six: The target gains a 40% arcane spell failure chance, and an additional -4 armor check penalty, Fortitude save for half (20% and -2).
Additionally, the target takes 50 damage minus the result of a 7th Fortitude save.
Souldrain: 4

Revitalize
Prerequisites: Rejuvenate
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving throw: Will negates (harmless)
Power: The target feels pure energy completely refreshing their tired muscles and exerted mind, bringing them back to a perfect state. Wounds seal up completely and the target is suddenly renewed as if from a good nights sleep. The target regains all of any lost hit points and loses all built up nonlethal damage. Spells and abilities with a limited number of uses are refreshed back to their original state when they were last prepared or refilled. Any state of fatigue or exhaustion is removed as if the target had just had a full night's sleep. Any poison or disease the target is suffering from is cleansed from the body completely. This does not return Soulstrength.
Souldrain: 4

One Thousand Cuts
Prerequisites: Golden Flare, Bladed Zephyr,
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving throw: Reflex half
Power: One hundred bright threads of golden light burst from each of the ten fingers of the scholar, streaming and flowing through the air. These beams of golden light streak to the target and each one rushes over the skin, leaving a papercut-thin slash in the target's flesh. These one thousand streaks of golden light deal a total of 20d4 damage to the target.
Souldrain: 5, 2 of which must be paid with Constitution.

Astral Seal
Prerequisites: None
Duration: 1 day/level
Saving throw: Will negates
Power: A dome of starless night sky curves over and around the mind of the target, encasing it completely. The target becomes completely cut off from the outside world, experiencing only an infinite empty sphere. Their body remains unconscious in the physical world. Whenever the body is harmed, the target gets an additional save to break from his astral imprisonment.
Souldrain: 4


Fourth Order Weaves

Rift Sphere
Prerequisites: Rift Shards
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving throw: Fortitude partial
Power: A tear in reality manifests in the form of a hollow sphere surrounding the target. They are horribly split in all directions out of existence, broken down into infinitesimal pieces, and infinitely frozen, burned, stretched, crushed, smashed, and then kicked from the other end back together and back into reality, the pieces violently hurled together from the outside of the sphere at one another. The target makes seven Fortitude saves:
Save one: Blinded permanently, Fortitude save for 1d4 days.
Save two: Deafened permanently, Fortitude save for 1d4 days.
Save three: 2d6 Strength damage, Fortitude save for half.
Save four: 2d6 Dexterity damage, Fortitude save for half.
Save five: 2d6 Constitution damage, Fortitude save for half.
Save six: The target becomes incapable of speaking, but on a successful save they can still only speak incoherently and not cast spells with a verbal component.
Save seven: Nauseated for 1d4 minutes, save to reduce to 1d4 rounds.
In addition, the target takes 100 damage, minus the result of an 8th Fortitude save.
Souldrain: 10, 4 of which must be paid with Constitution.

Supernova
Prerequisites: Sun of Liquid Ivory, Rift Sphere
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving throw: Fortitude partial
Power: A sun of liquid stellar fire is pulled in every direction by a sphere of anti-reality, and as the two collide a supernova of unimaginable force reduces everything in a 30 ft. radius from the chosen point to ash. On a successful Fortitude save, creatures caught in the area take 10d6 untyped damage instead.
Souldrain: 12, 6 of which must be paid with Constitution.

Thrall of the Stars
Prerequisites: Astral Spell, Thrall
Duration: 1 hour/level
Saving throw: Will negates
Power: A dome of night sky with blindingly bright starts encircles the mind of the target. Their mind is forced into a sphere of overwhelming power and light, while their empty shell is brought into a mindless servitude to the scholar. While this weave is active, the target's form will take spoken commands from the scholar.
Souldrain: 7

Golden Marionette
Prerequisites: One Thousand Cuts, Thrall
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving throw: Reflex negates
Power: A thousand needles burst forth from the scholars hands, striking the target and holding fast trailing golden strings back to the scholar. Thought and objective pulse down the strings and into the target. The target's memory is overwritten by the scholar, up to one year back, allowing the scholar to create new goals and even a new mindset in the target.
Souldrain: 10, 2 of which must be paid with Constitution.

Scythe of the Primal Emperor
Prerequisites: Hurricane Halberd, Regalia of Ancient Might
Duration: 1 round/level
Saving throw: None
Power: A scythe made of solid shimmering black opals riddled with streaks of every color slides from an ancient tomb into the scholar's fingers. This scythe has slaughtered the mightiest of foes in battle, and can cut through anything. It is a +5 All-bane Vorpal scythe that deals 2d12 base damage. The scholar is treated as having a base attack bonus equal to his total level when attacking with the scythe, and is proficient with the weapon. When attacking with the Scythe of the Primal Emperor, one must make only a touch attack to hit, and during a sunder attempt the scythe gets a +5 to its attack roll and automatically deals enough damage to break the opponents weapon on a successful sunder check.
Souldrain: 10, 4 of which must be paid with Constitution.


<hr>
I intend to add some more weaves, and then add a short summary database of them, as in spellcasters. I need to come up with some more ideas first though.

[sidhe3141]

Hmmm... nice stuff here.
I was thinking, though, that it might be a good idea to add rules for creating a new weave progression when first taking the class, for characters studying unusual civilizations; or maybe guidelines for creating new weaves so that the DM can audjust the class to give a campaign a different feel.

Also, how much Soulstrength is recovered each day?

[Icewalker]

Well, as with most spells, the list of weaves is 100% open to additions.

Forgot to add recovery of Soulstrength, thanks, I'll fix that now.

I do intend to expand the list myself, as I commented. I really want more concentration based weaves, with the rules I set up for them.

[Heliomance]

Couple of things - you haven't actually said much about the casting mechanic. I assume they can spontaneously cast any weave they know, but you need tos tate that explicitly.

The ritual at 10th level should probably have a material cost - most such things do - and an amount of time associated with it. Fluff related details are also good - what does it involve?

Finally, I'm not sure if this is intentional or not, but as written at 9th level it's possible to have four weaves running at once - two as a move action, another as either a move or a standard action, and a fourth as a swift action.

[Cieyrin]

I have a couple of points of consternation that bugs me about this PRC. The first of these is the durations of the various weaves, which last way too long for the effects they provide at the level they can be achieved. The vast majority of them should be brought back a step in duration, from hours to minutes to rounds, as otherwise the entire party is gonna be buffed everyday w/ Soul bonuses at little cost for practically the entire adventuring day, as well as the White Phosphorous flame from hell burning fairly slowly for an all devouring pyre.

Another thing is that a good number of these need their range defined. It's covered in some of them what that is but for others, it's fairly unclear. I can't imagine all of them touch range, like the flame attacks and whatnot.

I agree with Heliomance on the weave casting mechanics being explicitly spelled out, as it's unclear currently how you go about doing so.

Supernova is overpowered for when you get it, as it outnukes 9th level and even some epic spells, which characters of 16th level don't even have access to. I know that's what you're aiming for but it should be brought back some, even if it's just a souped up version of an area disintegrate, which would be like 3 to 4 d6 per class level on a failed save and like 10d6 on a successful save.

The Rift chain of weaves has some wonky save structure going on. Instead of dividing the save DC into utter ineffectualness, apply a stiff penalty instead, perhaps -4 or -6 and then decreasing w/ the higher level weaves in the chain b/c, frankly, making 5 saves set at DC (10+2+[3-6])/2= 7-9 is pathetic, frankly requiring you to blow a lot of Soul Strength to make it even passably effective. Also, I think you have a slight typo in the first Rift, in which you refer to the 6th save when I believe you mean the 5th.

The only other gripes I have semantic in nature. When you refer to total level, the correct term is Character Level, which is what your going for, I'd say. Finally, Scholar is kinda generic a name for this class. I realize that coming up with names can be really hard but you can expend a little effort to attach a better name than simply Scholar to narrow it down into something that actually expresses what this class actually does. A suggestion I can think of off the top of is Ancient Weave Adept.

Them's my 2 coppers. Take as you will.

[Icewalker]

Range: I realized earlier today that I forgot to add this. I will fix it, the range is intended to be 'anywhere the scholar can observe'.

Duration: I'm not so sure I agree with you on this one. Maybe some of the higher order ones, Regalia of Ancient Might, could be dropped, but the first two at least aren't overpowered.

Casting mechanics: Should've been more clear. Intended to be spontaneous casting, and once again, I forgot to fill in some bits and pieces I had in my mind when I wrote it up, namely verbal and somatic components required.

I also forgot to add a small comment, which I realized later was a certain statement, ie, certain weaves, especially fourth order weaves, especially supernova, is really overpowered...Perhaps rework to smaller radius, death instead of annihilation, and save for 10d6, similar to the Jade Phoenix Mage's final ability except without a full heal involved.

As to character level, thanks, I haven't written enough classes lately and can't remember the specific semantics any more.

As to the name, I completely disagree, and would take it as an insult except that I don't, and know you are just expressing your very valid opinion, which many likely agree with, and is quite fair. I really like the name scholar for this class, which I've been planning to put together for a long time now, as a studier of ancient magic. Perhaps a little generic, but very apt, and I think the name feels like an excellent fit for the class.

On the whole, thanks very much for your help, I do need to fix these holes which I left out. Which I will do shortly...

[Heliomance]

Range: I realized earlier today that I forgot to add this. I will fix it, the range is intended to be 'anywhere the scholar can observe'.


NO. That is disgustingly overpowered. Do the words Scry and Die mean anything to you?

[Icewalker]

Fair enough. I didn't intend to allow it with scrying, but must rephrase to forcibly imply as such. You are re-weaving reality with your mind, physical proximity isn't much of an issue, only awareness. Still, no awareness via magic.

Still, it's not like being able to cast spells from somewhere others can't find you isn't unusual, considering what kind of flight, invisibility, etc spells other casters have at their disposal.

I know some measure of balance man, no scrying, no scrying. Don't panic. :smallwink:

I have added the mechanics of the spell-casting previously left out. I have reduced the duration on all the buff spells from hours to minutes. I reduced Supernova to 30 ft. instead of 100 and 'die/10d6' instead of 'annihilate/20d6', as well as taking your advice on the save reductions for the rift spells.

On the running multiple weaves front, I wasn't sure if it would be interpreted as such. It is intended to be maximum two, so Dual Weave has been rephrased to 'two' instead of 'multiple'.

I've got some additional weaves to add, will do so later.

[Heliomance]

You need to explicitly state that until you attain 9th level you cannot have multiple Weaves going at once. As you can take two move actions per round, as it stands you can have two going at once at 5th level.

[Icewalker]

True. Good point, thanks. Will fix.

Fixed. I made a lot of little mistakes with this. I really need to get back into homebrewing more, I've fallen out of the flow of it.

[Szilard]

Very cool.:smallsmile:

[Heliomance]

You still need to put in he bit about "A Scholar does not need to prepare Weaves in advance; he may cast any Weave he knows at any time, provided he has the resources to do so."

[Icewalker]

Alright, I'll include it.

I may just totally scrap this and rebuild it, I've had the concept for a long time, but never worked out a specific casting system, just threw it together in an afternoon, and this needs to be a really well made class, so.

[Kellus]

I kind of like this casting system. It's a nice blend of spontaneity with a point-based system. I also like being able to cast past your daily limit by burning your own body. It makes that 'magic is dangerous' feel.

That said, some reservations:

1) Con damage is too easy to recover. Somebody with a wand of restoration or pact magic or incarnum can easily have essentially infinite uses of their weaves, not to mention pouring tons of Con into each one since they can recover it so easily. If this is what you intended, that's okay, but I'd suggest making it into Con burn instead, which only comes back from rest. That makes it more of a last resort.

2) The saving throw DCs are wacked. 10 + (1-4) + Int + extra burn is not feasible for high-level play, which this clearly is since its a prestige class. The most powerful weaves have a save DC of 4th level spells. Not cool. I'd suggest either an unusual 10 + (two times weave order) + Int + extra burn or a more standard 10 + 1/2 character level + Int + extra burn, making it more like a supernatural ability. Or even 10 + class level + Int + extra burn. Your call.

3) Which brings me to, why is this a prestige class? A prestige class usually isn't the best place to introduce an entirely new spellcasting system. Why not make it a base class, and give yourself more room to breathe with class features, and develop the system a bit more so that it feels unique from arcane spellcasting? Don't just go with the old 'exactly like arcane spells but different'. I imagine that if somebody is interested in playing a class with strange and mysterious magic like this, it's because they want something different from "normal" magic. Make new rules for it! Not to mention,

4) At level up does the scholar simply figure out the new weaves? That's certainly how it works for, say, a sorcerer, but this guy seems more like he discovers tomes of eldritch lore and ancient manuals of magic. Maybe he could have to spend time researching or reading in order to learn his new weaves?

5) The name kind of sucks. Especially if its a prestige class, it should be an exciting name. I could understand if it was a base class, since you want that to be simple, but prestige classes are specialized! Being a 'scholar' isn't especially unique. Being an 'Eldritch Soulweaver' or 'Seeker of the Weave' is a little more prestigious.

6) Also, as a prestige class as it now stands, this is really annoying. It's one of those classes that requires arcane spellcasting to get in, but then doesn't advance it. You need 2nd level spells to get in, but then you end up learning an entirely new kind of magic. It just doesn't make sense, and its annoying to the player to have spellcasting he won't be doing anything with. Just another reason why this would work better as a base class (nudge nudge).

-=-

Anyway, like I said before, I do like it. But above all, I really think it would work better as a base class, and be made 'different' from normal arcane spellcasting. Good job! :smallsmile:

[Icewalker]

Most of these points are definitely further leaning towards scrapping this version and remaking it. I can see the disagreement with the name more as a PrC, although I'm definitely keeping it. It would fit better for a base class, which I considered, but didn't go with because I wasn't sure I had the material to flesh out an entire base class.

Still, that's probably what I'm going to go with. Remaking it into a base class.

Need to spend some more time writing out lists of weave ideas though.

As to the con damage being easy to heal, I did put in a comment that it cannot be restored by magic, only rest.

[Pyrusticia]

I definitely second the motion on making this a base class. It's a fascinating concept, which could be a lot of fun to play with, but it doesn't make much sense to require the ability to cast arcane spells to do this, since the weaves herein don't have much similarity to arcane spells.

That being said, there are two weaves I have a problem with: Rejuvinate and Revitalize. Both of them restore wounds, abilities, and spell slots, but not soul strength. Now, I completely understand why you wouldn't let it rejuvinate soul strength, since allowing it to do so would give the Scholar an unlimited well of soul strength. The problem comes in where you allow it to replenish spell slots. As long as they just heal wounds, poisons, disease, etc, it's essentially duplicating the effect of a cleric. Most groups will heal up after a fight anyway, so putting in a weave that allows them to do so in one swell foop is more efficient, but hardly game-breaking. However, as it currently stands there is no way to replenish spells or abilities without waiting for the next day. By providing a way to do this, you are essentially giving the group a whole new day, without the waiting. Again, not a huge problem...until you bring up the soul strength restriction. So now, we have a group that's just finished a harsh fight, where everyone used up their abilities, and then the group's scholar casts Revitalize. Suddenly everyone's ready to go all over again, except for the Scholar...he's still out of strength. So by using this weave, he's effectively excluding himself from the next fight.

I can't really see an easy way to fix this. As mentioned earlier, you almost have to exclude soul strength, or it makes the Scholar an endless battery. One option would be to take out the spell and ability replenishment. This would make it more balanced, but would also weaken it significantly. Another option I see would be to let it replenish soul strength, but require it to be powered by Constitution...this keeps a Scholar from using it an endless number of times during the day. Or there could easily be another fix I don't see that would be better than either I suggested. :smallfrown:

[LordZarth]

Thirded the base class motion.

I think I know the feel that you're going with with "Scholar". I've read a lot of books with that theme. I suggest something that I think preserves the feel but is less generic (and more cool), like "Ancient Scholar".

[Icewalker]

Perhaps Ancient Scholar could work.

As to Rejuvenate and Revitalize, that is a good point. The issue here is that I intend to use this for the campaign I'm working on specifically, and definitely need a balanced method of fully restoring the PCs to strength, as a couple of the most plot heavy, and likewise most major battles occur in quick succession. I don't want them finishing the epic second to last battle, only to have nothing for the epic final battle.

[Pyrusticia]

As to Rejuvenate and Revitalize, that is a good point. The issue here is that I intend to use this for the campaign I'm working on specifically, and definitely need a balanced method of fully restoring the PCs to strength, as a couple of the most plot heavy, and likewise most major battles occur in quick succession. I don't want them finishing the epic second to last battle, only to have nothing for the epic final battle.

I'd suggest going with the 'must be powered by Con' idea, then, and allow it to refresh soul strength. This would allow everyone, including the Scholar, to be refreshed for the next fight, but wouldn't allow them to turn this trick an indefinite number of times during the day.

Additionally, if this is intended to refresh between fights you may also want to add in a long casting time (5 minutes, or something). This would keep the group from suddenly refreshing all spell slots, etc, in the middle of a fight (which would definitely be unbalancing).

[Icewalker]

Casting time, that's an excellent balancing factor, yeah. Definitely, definitely.

Making it Constitution powered would limit it well I think, yeah.