[DnD 3.5] Archivist ACF: Spell Knowledge [PEACH]

[Warclam]

OK, so the archivist is a great class and all, but sometimes I don't want the scholar-of-forbidden-secrets vibe; I just want a divine wizard. In particular, I want a school for archivist medics for a campaign, and Dark Knowledge just doesn't make sense. So, here is a proposed variant archivist:


Spell Knowledge, replaces Dark Knowledge
Some archivists do not have the same thirst for hidden lore as their colleagues. Rather than risk life and limb in pursuit of dark secrets, these archivists prefer to master the manipulation of energies and favourite spells. However, this leaves them less prepared than their associates for the dangerous creatures that lurk in abandoned catacombs.

At 1st level the archivist chooses to focus on either positive or negative energy. She can now channel stored spell energy into cure spells or inflict spells, depending on what energy type she chooses. This works like the cleric's ability "Spontaneous Casting", including the alignment restriction.

At 5th, 11th, and 14th levels, the archivist chooses one spell she already knows. She can now convert spell energy into the chosen spell as if it were a cure or inflict spell.


How does it look? I know the fluff sucks, sorry, but are the mechanics OK?

As a related issue, can someone please tell me what PEACH means? It seems like something that indicates the poster is asking for input, but I'm not sure. I don't want to use it without knowing. Answered! Thanks Anarril!

[Warclam]

bumping for another try.

[drakir_nosslin]

So, if I understand what you're aiming for here, it's to give archivists the ability to convert prepared spells into cure/inflict, like the cleric, plus three others?

I think that you need to reword it a bit, since I had to read it a few times to understand what you were aiming for, and I'm still not sure that I've got it right.

Maybe something like: 'At 1st lvl an archivist chooses to focus on either positive or negative energy. She can now channel stored spell energy into healing spells or inflict spells, depending on what energy type she chooses. This works like the cleric's ability "Spontaneous Casting".

At 5th, 11th and 14th lvl the Archivist chooses one spell she already knows. She can now convert spell energy into the chosen spell as if it were a cure or inflict spell.'

Also, you need to specify what you mean with 'knows', if that doesn't mean that it is written in the prayer book. Is it simply enough to know of the spell, or to have casted it a single time. Or does the archivist need to have access to the spell in written form at the time of level up?

[Anarril]

The ACF seems ok as far as I can tell.
PEACH means Please Evaluate And Critique Honestly and has the intention you already had inferred. Partially it is asking for input (and wouldn't we all want that :smallsmile:), partially it is emphasizing that the poster is not just asking for meaningless compliments but looking for an honest, possibly critical review of of his/her work in order to improve it. To be honest I think that last part is usually implied in Homebrew forums such as this so adding PEACH should not be needed but well, if you create something awesome you take all the attention you can get I suppose :smallsmile:.

[Warclam]

The ACF seems ok as far as I can tell.
PEACH means Please Evaluate And Critique Honestly and has the intention you already had inferred. Partially it is asking for input (and wouldn't we all want that :smallsmile:), partially it is emphasizing that the poster is not just asking for meaningless compliments but looking for an honest, possibly critical review of of his/her work in order to improve it. To be honest I think that last part is usually implied in Homebrew forums such as this so adding PEACH should not be needed but well, if you create something awesome you take all the attention you can get I suppose :smallsmile:.

Thank you! I've been wondering about that for a while. I'll add it to this thread's title. Good to know the ACF looks fine too.


So, if I understand what you're aiming for here, it's to give archivists the ability to convert prepared spells into cure/inflict, like the cleric, plus three others?

I think that you need to reword it a bit, since I had to read it a few times to understand what you were aiming for, and I'm still not sure that I've got it right.

Maybe something like: 'At 1st lvl an archivist chooses to focus on either positive or negative energy. She can now channel stored spell energy into healing spells or inflict spells, depending on what energy type she chooses. This works like the cleric's ability "Spontaneous Casting".

At 5th, 11th and 14th lvl the Archivist chooses one spell she already knows. She can now convert spell energy into the chosen spell as if it were a cure or inflict spell.'

Also, you need to specify what you mean with 'knows', if that doesn't mean that it is written in the prayer book. Is it simply enough to know of the spell, or to have casted it a single time. Or does the archivist need to have access to the spell in written form at the time of level up?

Sorry the wording was confusing, but your interpretation is what I meant. I'll clear that up in the first post, switching to your (far superior) wording.

The difference between 'knowing' a spell and having it in a prayer/spellbook is a technicality I made use of once with a wizard who used Spontaneous Divination. If you carefully read the rules for adding to a spellbook, you'll see that learning a spell is a separate process that happens before scribing it into a spellbook. From here in the SRD: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicOverview/arcaneSpells.htm#writingaNewSpellintoaSpellbook


Once a wizard understands a new spell, she can record it into her spellbook.

Thus, if you are able to cast the spell without preparing it from your book, you can just leave it out of the book and save yourself the 100gp per page. Making that distinction is needlessly confusing though, so I'll remove it.