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The Demented One
2006-08-23, 08:41 PM
Thessalian Oracle

Thessalian Oracles are strange druidic withces who invoke the bestial, predatory aspect of nature, which they call the Thesallian Way, to channel wyrd visions. They do not so much peer through the veil as they rip the veil to shreds with a knife, then use it to wipe the blood from their hands. No one person has ever been credited with being “the first Thessalian Oracle.” Rather, it is believed the Thessalian Way is part of the consciousness of all creatures, and the oracles simply have whatever it takes to channel it. Thessalian Oracles can speak with the dead, call forth prophetic elemental weirds, and speak secrets of primordial power.

Hit Die: d8.

Requirements
To qualify to become a Thessalian Oracle, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.
Alignment: Neutral evil
Feats: Spell Focus (Divination)
Skills: Concentration 12 ranks, Knowledge (Nature) 12 ranks, Spellcraft 12 ranks
Spells: Able to cast commune with nature
Special: Must be female

Class Skills
The Thessalian Oracle’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (Any) (Int), Listen (Wis), Profession (Wis), Search (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), and Spot (Wis).
Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.

{table]
Level
BAB
Fort
Ref
Will
Special
Spellcasting
1st+0+2
+0+2Lore, thesallian necromancy–
2nd+1
+3+0+3
Sylvan tongue
+1 level of existing casting class
3rd+2+3
+1+3Wyrding pool
+1 level of existing casting class
4th+3+4
+1+4
Consult elemental weird
+1 level of existing casting class
5th+3+4
+1+4Secret gates
–6th+4
+5+2+5
Stolen sight
+1 level of existing casting class
7th+5+5
+2+5
Maddening secret
+1 level of existing casting class
8th+6+6
+2+6
Pierce the veil
+1 level of existing casting class
9th+6
+6+3+6
Blood calls to blood+1 level of existing casting class
10th+7+7+3+7Primal secret–
[/table]
Class Features
All the following are class features of the Thessalian Oracle prestige class.

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

Lore (Ex)
A Thessalian Oracle can legends or information regarding various topics with a lore check, just as a bard can with bardic knowledge. The Thessalian Oracle adds her level and her Wisdom modifier to the lore check, which functions otherwise exactly like a bardic knowledge check.

Thessalian Necromancy (Su)
Once per day, a Thessalian Oracle may perform a ten minute ritual, ripping the skin, eyes, ears, and tongue from the head of a dead, intelligent creature. The body of the creature need not be intact, but the head must be. The severed body parts are then arranged and animated to form a visage, which the Oracle may question, receiving one answer per class level, similar to the speak with dead. While the visage is generally destroyed after answering, a Thessalian Oracle may sustain the visage indefinitely by expending 100 xp during the ritual. Such a visage can be questioned once a day, giving one answer per class level of the Oracle per day. A 1st level Thessalian Oracle may sustain only one visage in this way at a time. She may sustain 2 at a time at 5th level and 3 at a time at 10th level.

Sylvan Tongue (Su)
A 2nd level Thessalian Oracle may communicate with plants and animals, as if under the effects of a constant speak with animals and speak with plants spell.

Wyrding Pool (Sp)
Once per day, a 3rd level Thessalian Oracle may use a natural pool of water to see through time or space, allowing her to use either divination or scrying as a spell-like ability with a caster level equal to her class level and a DC of 14 plus her Wis modifier. In addition, if she pours at least a pint of the still-warm blood of an intelligent creature that she has killed into the pool before using the ability, her caster level is increased by 1 for every 5 HD the creature had. In addition, if the creature had a Wis score of 19 or more, she may use greater scrying instead of scrying. She may use this ability twice per day at 4th level. She may use this ability three times per day at 6th level and at will at 9th level.

Consult Elemental Weird (Su)
Once per day, a 4th level Thessalian Oracle may summon an Elemental Weird from Monster Manual II by making an appropriate sacrifice. To summon an Air Weird, she must flay the body of an intelligent creature with 10 or more HD that she has killed and anoint it with 1,500 gp worth of rare perfumes. To summon an Earth Weird, she must bury the body of an intelligent creature with 10 or more HD that she has killed along with 1,500 gp worth of gemstones. To summon a Fire Weird, she must cremate the body of an intelligent creature with 10 or more HD that she has killed along with 1,500 gp worth of rare incense. To summon a Water Weird, she must submerge the body of an intelligent creature with 10 or more HD that she has killed in a natural pool of water along with a mirrored sphere worth 1,500 gp. The sacrifice is consumed by the elemental pool of the summoned weird. Once summoned, the weird remains for 1 minute per class level of the Oracle, answering any questions and performing any tasks asked of it. At 10th level, the Weird remains for 1 hour per class level.

Secret Gates (Sp)
Once per day, when a 5th level Thessalian Oracle uses her wyrding pool ability to scry on a place on the same plane as she is, she may and up to one other creature per class level may dive into the pool to be transported there, as the spell greater teleport. At 10th level, she may use this ability to be transported even to extraplanar locales, as the spell plane shift.

Stolen Sight (Su)
A 6th level Thessalian Oracle may eat the eyes of an intelligent creature with a Wis score of 19 or higher that she has killed herself. Doing so grants her the ability to see invisible and ethereal creatures normally for 24 hours. At 10th level, she instead gains the ability to see all things as they really are, as the true seeing spell.

Maddening Secret (Su)
Once per day, a 7th level Thessalian Oracle may whisper a maddening secret to a creature, driving it into a frenzied bloodlust. As a standard action, she utter the secret to all creatures within 30 ft. of her. Those that fail a Will save, DC 10 + the Thessalian Oracle’s class level + the Thessalian Oracle’s Wis modifier, gain a +6 morale bonus to Strength and may make a single extra attack at their highest base attack bonus when making a full attack. However, they take a -4 penalty to AC and take 2 points of nonlethal damage each round. Finally, they lose the ability to tell friend from foe. Instead, each round, they must attack the creature closest to them, excepting their own familiar or similar companion, deciding which creature to attack randomly if there are multiple creatures equidistant from them. However, creatures in a frenzy will not, and cannot attack the oracle even if magically compelled to do so. The frenzy ends after 1 round/class level of the Oracle.

Pierce the Veil (Ex)
Whenever an 8th level Thessalian Oracle attempts to use a divination spell or effect on a creature otherwise protected by them, even by something as powerful as wish or mind blank, she may make a caster level check opposed by the caster level of the protecting effect. If she succeeds, she may ignore the protective effect, and use her divination normally. She may not overcome epic effects with this ability.

Blood Calls to Blood (Su)
Whenever a 9th level Thesallian Oracle uses her wyrding pool ability to scry on a creature, if she uses the blood of a creature closely related to the target, she may learn extra information about the target as she scrys on it. She learns the following about the target:
* Its name, race, alignment, and character class.
* A general estimate of its level or Hit Dice: low (5 HD or lower), medium (6 to 11 HD), high (12 to 20 HD), very high (21 HD to 40 HD), or deific (41 HD or higher).
* Its location (including place of residence, town, country, world, and plane of existence).
* Significant items currently in its possession.
* Any significant activities or actions the creature has undertaken in the previous 8 hours, including details such as locales traveled through, the names or races of those the creature fought, spells it cast, items it acquired, and items it left behind (including the location of those items).

Primal Secret (Su)
Once per day, a 10th level Thessalian Oracle may whisper an ancient secret of primordial power to a creature, causing it to revert to a feral form. As a standard action, she utter the secret to all creatures within 30 ft. of her. Those that fail a Will save, DC 20 + the Thessalian Oracle’s Wis modifier, take 3d6 points of Intelligence damage, though this cannot reduce them below 1 Int. If brought to an Int score of 2 or lower, the damage is converted to permanent and they revert to an animalistic form. Within 1d10 rounds, it transforms, permanently gaining the pelt (http://www.giantitp.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=Contests;action=display;num=11559418 07;start=2#2) template. Only a miracle, reality revision, wish, or similarly powerful effect can undo the Int drain and, in doing so, remove the pelt template. Every creature so transformed gains a link to the Oracle. Though she has no overt control over them, they may not attack her or take any overt offensive action against her, even if magically compelled. In addition, as long as they remain within 10 miles of her, she may see through their eyes, taking a standard action to switch from her perspective to the pelt.

martyboy74
2006-08-23, 08:48 PM
For the wyrding pool, how much blood is neccessary? As it's worded, a Thessalian Oracle could technically use her own blood. If they were a divine caster (had an intelligience over 19), it'd work out even better for them, with no apparent downsides.

The Demented One
2006-08-23, 08:53 PM
For the wyrding pool, how much blood is neccessary? As it's worded, a Thessalian Oracle could technically use her own blood. If they were a divine caster (had an intelligience over 19), it'd work out even better for them, with no apparent downsides.
A drop pint will do, but I'll add some more specifications.

Fax Celestis
2006-08-24, 12:51 AM
Any spellcaster with Spell Focus (Divination) can qualify and advance spells with this?

Mike_Lemmer
2006-08-24, 02:41 AM
The weird summoning seems underpowered. 1500 gold + a 10+ HD creature for something akin to a 4-minute summon? Now, if it was 1 hour/level, I'd consider it worth it.

The Primal Secret, however, could be devastating. Assume a 14th-level party goes up against a similarly leveled oracle. If she has a +5 Wis mod, her DC is 25. (Akin to a 9th-level wizard spell.) The average Int drain of 3d6 is 10.5, so you need an Int of 13+ to avoid reverting to a primal state.

She speaks the word and hits the entire party. The fighters are doomed; with a +5 Will save (10% chance of resisting) and Int as a dump stat, all of them will probably become feral. The high-Will ones aren't much better off; they still stand a 50/50 chance of failing, and a 50/50 chance of taking enough Int dmg to go permanently feral. I'd estimate half of the party would be toasted by this ability.

And the cures... whew! Death is easier to reverse! I believe this could be a campaign breaker, an encounter that cripples the party so much, they can't continue.

I'd suggest either:
1. Reducing the AoE to a single creature. (She has to whisper the secret into its ear for it to take effect.)
2. Reducing the DC to 17+Wis (average 7th-level spell DC).
3. Reducing the Int damage to 2d6.

The Demented One
2006-08-24, 09:44 AM
Any spellcaster with Spell Focus (Divination) can qualify and advance spells with this?
Have to be able to cast commune with nature. Druid level 9th or higher qualifies you.


The weird summoning seems underpowered. 1500 gold + a 10+ HD creature for something akin to a 4-minute summon? Now, if it was 1 hour/level, I'd consider it worth it.
Based the pricing on that of planar ally, with a sacrifice in place of xp. I plan to expand the class to 10 levels, which should net a longer duration for this.


The Primal Secret, however, could be devastating. Assume a 14th-level party goes up against a similarly leveled oracle. If she has a +5 Wis mod, her DC is 25. (Akin to a 9th-level wizard spell.) The average Int drain of 3d6 is 10.5, so you need an Int of 13+ to avoid reverting to a primal state.
Probably will balance out a bit more after said expansion. This is gonna remain the capstone ability. Will reduce the range to 20 ft., though.