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Chaelos
2010-09-07, 10:44 PM
The Inherent Mage
While the power of a Wizard is immense, it is, at best, borrowed power; without the daily replenishment of his spellbook, he is little more than an intelligent commoner. By contrast, the energies commanded by a Sorcerer are merely derivative of true power--trickled down by a dragon or fey ancestor, perhaps, yet still wild and barely realized.

These limitations may be but mere irritations in the face of the enormous power commanded by both Wizards and Sorcerers, yet Taj-Malak was well aware of them. This legendary being studied magic as a wizard for years, yet felt the inherent, unrealized potential of his own innately magical nature. After a lifetime of study, he discovered--or claimed to discover--a method of channeling his research into his own reserves of power, thereby realizing his true potential.

The writings of Taj-Malak are difficult to find and jealously guarded by those few fortunate enough to possess them. Nevertheless, to the clever and the powerful, they are of enormous value. Those who study the writings, called Inherent Magi by those (few) who have heard of them, are truly worthy of respect (or fear).

Basics and Spells Per Day
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|0lvl|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th|7th|8th| 9th

1st|
+0|
+0|
+0|
+2|Spellbook, Rotational Spells, Eschew Materials|5|3

2nd|
+1|
+1|
+1|
+3||6|4|-

3rd|
+1|
+1|
+1|
+3||6|5|3|-

4th|
+2|
+1|
+1|
+4||6|6|4|-|-

5th|
+2|
+1|
+1|
+4|Bonus Feat|6|6|5|3|-|-

6th|
+3|
+2|
+2|
+5||6|6|6|4|-|-|-

7th|
+3|
+2|
+2|
+5||6|6|6|5|3|-|-|-

8th|
+4|
+2|
+2|
+6||6|6|6|5|4|-|-|-|-|-

9th|
+4|
+3|
+3|
+6||6|6|6|5|5|3|-|-|-|-

10th|
+5|
+3|
+3|
+7|Bonus Feat|6|6|6|5|5|4|-|-|-|-

11th|
+5|
+3|
+3|
+7||6|6|6|5|5|5|3|-|-|-

12th|
+6|
+4|
+4|
+8||6|6|6|5|5|5|4|-|-|-

13th|
+6|
+4|
+4|
+8||6|6|6|5|5|5|4|3|-|-

14th|
+7|
+4|
+4|
+9||6|6|6|5|5|5|4|4|-|-

15th|
+7|
+5|
+5|
+9|Bonus Feat|6|6|6|5|5|5|4|4|3|-

16th|
+8|
+5|
+5|
+10||6|6|6|5|5|5|4|4|4|-

17th|
+8|
+5|
+5|
+10||6|6|6|5|5|5|4|4|4|3

18th|
+9|
+6|
+6|
+11||6|6|6|6|5|5|4|4|4|3

19th|
+9|
+6|
+6|
+11||6|6|6|6|6|5|5|4|4|3

20th|
+9|
+6|
+6|
+12|Bonus Feat|6|6|6|6|6|6|6|4|4|4[/table]
Alignment Any lawful (in terms of having an ordered mind, not necessarily respect for authority)
Hit Die d4.

Class Skills Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Knowledge (all skills, taken individually) (Int), Profession (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int).

Skill Points at 1st Level (2 + Int modifier) ×4.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level 2 + Int modifier.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency Simple weapons. No Armor.

Eschew Materials At 1st level, the Inherent Mage gains Eschew Materials as a bonus feat.

Rotational Spells An Inherent Mage casts arcane spells which are drawn primarily from the sorcerer/wizard spell list. At the beginning of every week, he chooses a number of spells he has scribed into his spellbook and mastered (provided below) to "know" for the week; this process takes two hours of undisturbed study and meditation. He can cast any of these "known" spells spontaneously, as a sorcerer would. This counts as spontaneous casting for purposes of Prestige Classes, but does not count as prepared casting.

For the purposes of this weekly rotation of spells, an Inherent Mage can not "know" a spell without previously mastering it and/or scribing it into one of his spellbooks.

The writings of Taj-Malak state that the realignment of spell knowledge must occur on precisely the 7th calendar day of every week. An Inherent Mage is not required to realign his spells "known" then, and if he chooses not to he retains all his old spells "known" from the week before. However, he cannot realign his spells "known" on any other day besides the 7th; the reasons for this are mystical, but unclear even to Taj-Malak.

To learn or cast a spell, an Inherent Mage must have an Intelligence score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a sorcerer’s spell is 10 + the spell level + the Inherent Mage’s Intelligence modifier.

Like other spellcasters, an Inherent Mage can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. His base daily spell allotment is given on the table above. In addition, he receives bonus spells per day if he has a high Intelligence score.

An Inherent Mage must receive the same 8 hours of rest the night before as any other caster. Additionally, he requires 1 hour in the morning to refocus his mind on the spells he has chosen to "know" for the week.

Spells "Known" Per Week
{table=head]Level|0lvl|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th|7th|8th|9th

1st|4|2

2nd|5|2

3rd|5|3|2

4th|6|3|3

5th|6|4|3|2

6th|7|4|4|3

7th|7|5|4|3|2

8th|8|5|5|4|3

9th|8|5|5|4|3|2

10th|9|5|5|5|4|3

11th|9|5|5|4|4|3|2

12th|9|5|5|4|4|4|3

13th|9|5|5|4|4|4|3|2

14th|9|5|5|4|4|4|3|3

15th|9|5|5|4|4|4|3|3|2

16th|9|5|5|4|4|4|3|3|3

17th|9|5|5|4|4|4|3|3|3|1

18th|9|5|5|4|4|4|3|3|3|2

19th|9|5|5|4|4|4|3|3|3|2

20th|9|5|5|4|4|4|3|3|3|3

[/table]

Spellbook An Inherent Mage requires a spellbook, as the Wizard does, in order to rotate his spells at the beginning of a week. This spellbook functions in exactly the same way as a Wizard's, except that, if the Inherent Mage loses his spellbook, he retains the spells he had previously chosen for the week. He cannot change them until he recovers his old spellbook or masters a new one. Any prestige classes or feats that grant extra spells are placed in the Inherent Mage's spellbook, but he cannot by any means increase the number of spells he chooses to "know" every week. Feats or abilities such as Alacritous Cogitation, which allow a prepared caster to "spontaneously" cast any spell he has in his spellbook, do not function for an Inherent Mage. However, the Mage of the Arcane Order prestige class functions normally for an Inherent Mage. Boccob's Blessed Book functions normally for an Inherent Mage.

Bonus Feats At 5th, 10th, 15th, and 20th level, an Inherent Mage gains a bonus feat. At each such opportunity, she can choose a metamagic feat or a Spell Focus feat. The Inherent Mage must still meet all prerequisites for a bonus feat, including caster level minimums.


Designer Notes
This is my first base class, and as such I understand if it is a little rough around the edges. Essentially, I wanted to create an Intelligence-based spontaneous caster that circumvents the "new player" trap of the Sorcerer; namely, rather than be utterly screwed by unfortunate, circumstantial or downright poor spell selection, this class actually has the ability to adapt to threats given a week of breathing room. Unlike the sorcerer, it also forces the player to spend money on spells, which is, contrary to theoretical optimization, actually a significant handicap in plenty of games.

Right off the bat, I should say that this class is balanced to be a healthy medium between the much-lauded Wizard and the awesome-yet-poorly-executed Sorcerer; it is, thus, intended to be marginally more powerful than a Sorcerer yet "weaker" in the theoretical sense than a Wizard. I don't give spontaneous casting near as much credit as the WotC designers do; in my mind, it just makes things easier for the player to keep track of.

But, yes--PEACH please!