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Rauthiss
2010-06-25, 01:11 PM
This was my entry in the last PrC Contest, and I figured I would give it its own thread, for commentary and such.

Spellslayer

http://imgur.com/FAnKB.jpg
(Image from http://jocarra.deviantart.com/gallery/#/dpjql4)

"Your Magic is nothing." - Blythe, a Spellslayer

The power of spellcasters is lauded throughout history. For a long time, warriors have questioned ways to defeat powerful wizard foes. However, a select few have realized that the best way to fight fire is with fire. These are the Spellslayers

BECOMING A SPELLSLAYER
Many spellslayers are multiclass fighter/wizards or Duskblades.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Base Attack Bonus: +5
Skills: Spellcraft 11 ranks, Concentration 5 ranks
Feat: Improved Counterspell
Proficiency: Proficient with all Martial Weapons
Spellcasting: Able to cast 3rd level arcane spells

Class Skills
The Spellslayer's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Jump (Str), Knowledge (all skills taken individually) (Int), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), Swim (Str)
Skills Points at Each Level: 4 + int

Hit Dice: d8

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

1st|
+1|
+2|
+0|
+2|Resistance, Mage Slayer|-

2nd|
+2|
+3|
+0|
+3|Disrupting Strike|+1 existing arcane class level

3rd|
+3|
+3|
+1|
+3|Dispel Mastery|+1 existing arcane class level

4th|
+4|
+4|
+1|
+4|Advanced Counterspell|+1 existing arcane class level

5th|
+5|
+4|
+1|
+4|Antimage Aura|+1 existing arcane class level

6th|
+6|
+5|
+2|
+5|Greater Dispel Mastery|+1 existing arcane class level

7th|
+7|
+5|
+2|
+5|Counterburn|+1 existing arcane class level

8th|
+8|
+6|
+2|
+6|Dispelling Strike|+1 existing arcane class level

9th|
+9|
+6|
+3|
+6|Counterspell Feedback|+1 existing arcane class level

10th|
+10|
+7|
+3|
+7|Counterspell Rebound|+1 existing arcane class level[/table]

Weapon Proficiencies: Spellslayers gain no proficiencies.

Resistance: A spellslayer gains a bonus to all saves against arcane spells equal to his class level.

Mage Slayer: A spellslayer has Spell Resistance equal to 20 + his class level.

Disrupting Strike: Whenever a spellslayer of 2nd level or more causes damage to a spellcasting opponent, the DC of the concentration check to avoid losing the spell increases by the spellslayer's class level.

Dispel Mastery: A spellslayer of 3rd level or more adds Dispel Magic to his spell list as a 2nd level spell.

Advanced Counterspell: A spellslayer of 4th level or more can counterspell as an immediate action, without readying an action.

Antimage Aura: A spellslayer of 5th level or more projects an aura out to 60 ft. that prevents spellcasting. Any character within the area that the spellslayer does not specifically designate as unaffected by this ability must make a caster level check of DC 10 + the spellslayer's class level whenever attempting to cast an arcane spell or lose the spell to no effect.

Greater Dispel Mastery: A spellslayer of 6th level or more adds Greater Dispel Magic to his spell list as a 5th level spell.

Counterburn: Whenever a spellslayer of 7th level or more successfully counters a spell, The caster of the countered spell takes damage equal to the Spellslayer's class level.

Dispelling Strike: Whenever a spellslayer of 8th level or more successfully hits an opponent, he may, as a free action, cast Dispel Magic or Greater Dispel Magic, as a targeted dispel targeting the opponent or an object that opponent has on his person. (This includes any objects that opponent is holding.)

Counterspell Feedback: A spellslayer of 9th level or more furthers his mastery of counterspelling - Whenever he successfully counters a spell, the caster of the countered spell cannot cast spells for 1 round.

Counterspell Rebound: Whenever a spellslayer of 10th level or more successfully counters a spell, he may choose to cast the spell that was countered. The spell does not cause him to lose a spell slot, but finctions in all other ways as if the spellslayer cast it himself - caster levels, DCs, etc. are all based on the Spellslayer.


PLAYING A SPELLSLAYER
A spellslayer is meant to do one thing - defeat other spellcasters, through denial of their abilities. Since most of a spellslayer's abilities function on counterspelling, he will often choose a spellcaster and focus on nullifying them alone.
Combat: Spellslayers often choose to go toe to toe with spellcasters, approaching fearlessly thanks to their antimagic abilities, then attacking them while counterspelling defensive spells.
Advancement: Many spellslayers choose to stay on the path of the spellslayer once they have entered it, mainly because a number of their abilities are dependent on their class level. However, some choose to delve into other magic-fighting combinations, such as eldritch knight and spellsword.
Resources: Very few spellslayers cooperate, mainly because their abilities to fight other spellcasters also make them suited for fighting other spellslayers. However, small sects of them have been known to group on occasion to fight powerful mages.

SPELLSLAYERS IN THE WORLD
"It was useless! Everything I cast just slipped away!" - Mialee, an Elven Wizard

Spellslayers often choose to be mercenaries, their unique talents making them useful for any person who needs to face a spellcaster.
Daily Life: A general spellslayer's day consists of training in botht he sword and the spell.
Notables: Two notable spellslayers of the time are Blythe Nocturnus and Javier the Undaunted. Blythe is a ruthless assassin, hired by a number of thieves guilds to assure that they are not caught by spellcasters. His name has spread among the underworld. Javier, however, is a crusader that fights against liches the world over. He has made this his personal quest after having seen a church destroyed by a Lich, and will often face them in melee, taking full advantage of his resistance to their arcane magic.
Organizations: There are no formal spellslayer organizations.


NPC Reaction
Many NPCs view spellslayers as nearly invulnerable bastions of power, mainly because they can easily overpower spellcasters, often lauded for their power. The ability to negate magic has resulted in a stereotype of spellslayers as withdrawn, defensive people, more concerned about their own protection than defeating others.

SPELLSLAYERS IN THE GAME
Adding a spellslayer to a game will drastically reduce the power of spellcasters. Since nearly everything a spellcaster can do can be negated or reflected by a spellslayer, many of the fearsome spells become nothing more than tools to defeat the one who casted them.
Adaptation: The spellslayer, as given, is a highly generic prestige class, making adaptation very easy. Essentially, any spellcaster or abjurer who chooses to study swordplay may be introduced to the ideals of the spellslayer class.
Encounters: Spellslayers lend themselves to support roles in NPC encounters, assisting another, more threatening character by nullifying any extremely powerful attacks against them.

Sample Encounter
Spellslayers are very rarely active characters, often content to guard or protect something.
EL 13: Blythe Nocturnus is a spellslayer who has recently been hired to kill a noble that the PCs have been assigned to protect.


Blythe Nocturnus
LE Male Human Duskblade 8/Spellslayer 5
Init +1, Senses: Listen +1, Spot +1,
Languages: Common, Undercommon, Draconic, Orc
------------------------------------------------
AC 22, touch 13, flat-footed 21
hp 94 (13d8+26)
Fort +12, Ref +4, Will +11 (+5 to any save vs. Magic)
------------------------------------------------
Speed 20 ft. (4 squares)
Melee
Base Atk +13/+8/+3, Grp +15
Atk Options +3 Rapier +19/+14/+9 (1d6+5, 15-20/x2)
Combat Gear +2 Rapier, +2 Scale Mail, +2 Light Shield
Spells Per Day: (6/10/9/7, DC 16+spell level)
Spells Known:
0: All Duskblade Spells
1: All Duskblade Spells
2: Dispel Magic, All Duskblade Spells
3: Dispelling Touch, Halt

Class Abilities
Armored Casting
Arcane Attunement, 9/day
Arcane Channeling
Swift Spell
Quick Casting
Spell Power
Resistance
Mage Slayer - SR 25
Disrupting Strike
Dispel Mastery
Advanced Counterspell
Antimage Aura (DC 15)
-----------------------------------------------
Abilities Str 15, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 22, Wis 12, Cha 10
SQ
See Above
Feats
Combat Casting, Improved Counterspell, Improved Critical (Rapier), Battle Caster, Weapon Focus (Rapier), Spell Penetration, Greater Spell Penetration
Skills
Concentration +18, Craft Arms and Armor +22, Decipher Script +22, Know (Arcana) +22, Know (Local) +11, Know (The Planes) +11, Sense Motive +17, Spellcraft +22
Possessions
+3 Rapier, +2 Scale Mail, +2 Light Shield, +2 Ring of Protection, +2 Cloak of Resistance, +4 Headband of Intellect, Wand of Invisibility, 500 GP

Dante & Vergil
2010-06-25, 02:11 PM
The class is cool, but a few of the abilities probably need to be based on caster or character level. Mage slayer may need to do this but will have to be lowered in that case, but Antimage Aura definitely needs to be based on caster level because most casters at that level will be making those opposed checks every time.

DragoonWraith
2010-06-25, 02:30 PM
Technically, you get into this class before 10, so the DC on the CL check is a bit higher than a full-caster's bonus at the same level. Still, it's not much - you get in at 9, you have a DC 11 aura - and a CL check of a full-caster at the same level is 1d20+9. Failure on a 1 only...

15+Lv. would get you DC 16, failure on a 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5, 25% chance. That looks a bit better. You'd get up to 25, which would be a 20% chance of failure for a full-caster without any +CL (1d20+20, which is rather unlikely, however).

Overall, I like the 20%-30% chance of failure here; it seems appropriate for an action-less bonus that affects all in a wide area. The main issue is the difference between a character who loses a spellcasting level or two, and maybe has an Orange Ioun Stone but no more CL bonuses than that, and the character who has a CL of like 30 by ECL 20 (both very possible), which makes balancing this quite difficult.

Milskidasith
2010-06-25, 02:36 PM
This is actually pretty decent, although the numbers need tweaking, and removing casting ability for a round is pretty bad when counterspelling is an immediate action that you can automatically succeed on. Otherwise, it looks pretty good as an anti caster, and for pure casters it's OK (since you get immediate action spellcasting *and* get to block off your enemies spells), although losing two caster levels hurts.

Witty Username
2010-06-29, 12:16 AM
Okay If I use this as inspiration for an anti-mage discipline for ToB classes?

And, nice class, I haven't seen much improvements for counterspelling.

Counterburn doesn't do very much damage, I would think class level times the level of the spell countered would be more appropriate.

zenanarchist
2010-06-29, 01:20 AM
This was my entry in the last PrC Contest, and I figured I would give it its own thread, for commentary and such.

Spellslayer

http://imgur.com/FAnKB.jpg
(Image from http://jocarra.deviantart.com/gallery/#/dpjql4)

"Your Magic is nothing." - Blythe, a Spellslayer

The power of spellcasters is lauded throughout history. For a long time, warriors have questioned ways to defeat powerful wizard foes. However, a select few have realized that the best way to fight fire is with fire. These are the Spellslayers

*SNIP*


You should check out my Void Dragon base class. Messes with spell casters in all kinds of ways. lol