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View Full Version : [3.P Base Class] Mystic Poet: A Wis-based, divine-casting bard



ajkkjjk52
2011-01-11, 04:55 PM
I was thinking about a bard for a pseudo-oriental game, and hit upon the idea of a travelling poet whose poems were so insightful as to produce magical effects in those who heard. It occurred to me that this character made more sense based on wisdom than on charisma, and so have endeavored to rework the Pathfinder Bard to be wisdom-based. Other than that, and a few reflavorings and a modified spell list, I’ve tried to minimize changes to maintain balance.

Most of the changes are just substituting divine for arcane and Wis for Cha. I’ve changed the class skills list a bit and reworked a few abilities, as well as losing the strong Reflex save in exchange for medium armor proficiency and losing some visual bard-song abilities in exchange for all divine poetry abilities being audible-only. The spells are drawn mostly from the bard list, with a few from cleric, druid, and witch.

Please PEACH. Or, rather, Please EACH.

Mystic Poet
Hit Die: d8

{TABLE]Level | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special | |1|2|3|4|5|6
1| +0 | +0|+0 |+2 |Mystic Insight, Divine Poetry, Orisons, Counterverse, Fascinate, Inspire Courage +1||1|-|-|-|-|-
2| +1 | +0|+0 |+3 |Poetic Insight, Practiced Ear||2|-|-|-|-|-
3| +2 | +1|+1 |+3 |Inspire Competence +2||3|-|-|-|-|-
4| +3 | +1| +1|+4 |||3|1|-|-|-|-
5| +3 | +1| +1| +4|Inspire Courage +2, Lore Master 1/day||4|2|-|-|-|-
6| +4 | +2|+2 |+5 |Suggestion||4|3|-|-|-|-
7| +5 | +2| +2| +5|Inspire Competence +3||4|3|1|-|-|-
8| +6/+1 | +2| +2| +5|Dirge of Doom||4|4|2|-|-|-
9| +6/+1 | +3|+3 |+6|Inspire Greatness||5|4|3|-|-|-
10| +7/+2 | +3|+3 |+7 |Wisdom of Experience||5|4|3|1|-|-
11| +8/+3 | +3| +3|+7 |Inspire Competence +4, Inspire Courage +3, Lore Master 2/day||5|4|4|2|-|-
12| +9/+4 | +4| +4|+8 |Soothing Verse||5|5|4|3|-|-
13| +9/+4 | +4| +4| +8|||5|5|4|3|1|-
14| +10/+5 | +4| +4| +9|Frightening Verse||5|5|4|4|2|-
15| +11/+6/+1 | +5| +5| +9|Inspire Competence +5, Inspire Heroics||5|5|5|4|3|-
16| +12/+7/+2 | +5| +5|+10|||5|5|5|4|3|1
17| +12/+7/+2 | +5| +5|+10|Inspire Courage +4, Lore Master 3/day||5|5|5|4|4|2
18| +13/+8/+3 | +6|+6 |+11|Mass Suggestion||5|5|5|5|4|3
19| +14/+9/+4 | +6| +6|+11|Inspire Competence||5|5|5|5|5|4
20| +15/+10/+5 | +6| +6| +12|Deadly Verse||5|5|5|5|5|5
[/TABLE]

Class Skills
The Mystic Poet’s class skills are Appraise (Int), Bluff (Cha), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Fly (Dex), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (all) (Int), Linguistics (Int), Perception (Wis), Perform (poetry) (Cha), Perform (any other) (Cha), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), Survival (Wis), and Use Magic Device (Cha).
Skill Ranks Per Level: 6+Int modifier

Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: A mystic poet is proficient with all simple weapons, plus the shortbow, longbow, and all monk special weapons. Mystic poets are also proficient with light and medium armor and with shields.
Spells: A mystic poet casts divine spells drawn from the mystic poet spell list presented below. He can cast any spell he knows without preparing it ahead of time. Every mystic poet spell has a verbal component. To learn or cast a spell, a mystic poet must have a Wisdom score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a mystic poet’s spell is 10 + the spell level + the mystic poet’s Wisdom modifier.
Like other spellcasters, a mystic poet can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. His base daily spell allotment is identical to that of a bard. In addition, he receives bonus spells per day if he has a high Wisdom score (see Table 1-3).
The mystic poet’s selection of spells is extremely limited. A mystic poet begins play knowing four 0-level spells and two 1st level spells of the mystic poet’s choice. At each new mystic poet level, he gains one or more new spells, as a bard. (Unlike spells per day, the number of spells a mystic poet knows is not affected by his Wisdom score.)
Upon reaching 5th level, and at every third mystic poet level after that (8th, 11th, and so on), a mystic poet can choose to learn a new spell in place of one he already knows. In effect, the mystic poet “loses” the old spell in exchange for the new one. The new spell’s level must be the same as that of the spell being exchanged, and it must be at least one level lower than the highest-level mystic poet spell the mystic poet can cast. A mystic poet may swap only a single spell at any given level and must choose whether or not to swap the spell at the same time that he gains new spells known for the level.
A mystic poet need not prepare his spells in advance. He can cast any spell he knows at any time, assuming he has not yet used up his allotment of spells per day for the spell’s level.
Mystic Insight: A mystic poet adds his Wisdom modifier, in addition to his Intelligence modifier, to all Intelligence-based skills.
Divine Poetry: A mystic poet is trained to compose and recite poems that create magical effects on those around him, including himself if desired. He can use this ability for a number of rounds per day equal to 4 + his Wisdom modifier. At each level after 1st, a mystic poet can use divine poetry for 2 additional rounds per day. Each round, the mystic poet can produce any one of the types of divine poetry that he has mastered, as indicated by his level.
Starting a divine poem is a standard action but it can be maintained each round as a free action. Changing a divine poem from one effect to another requires the mystic poet to stop the previous poem and start a new one as a standard action. A divine poem cannot be disrupted, but it ends immediately if the mystic poet is killed, paralyzed, stunned, knocked unconscious, or otherwise prevented from taking a free action to maintain it each round. A mystic poet cannot have more than one divine poem in effect at one time.
At 7th level, a mystic poet can start a divine poem as a move action instead of a standard action. At 13th level a mystic poet can start a divine poem as a swift action.
A divine poem is an audible effect; the targets must be able to hear the mystic poet for the poem to have any effect, and such poems are language dependent. Deaf creatures are immune to divine poems.
Adaptation: The divine poetry ability counts as bardic performance for the purpose of meeting spell and prestige class prerequisites. In the feat or prestige class, change all instances of “arcane” to “divine” and all Charisma dependencies of abilities to Wisdom. This should always be done with the consultation of the GM.
Counterverse (su): At 1st level, a divine poet learns to counter magical effects that depend on sound (but not spells that have verbal components). Each round of the counterverse he makes a Perform(poetry) skill check. Any creature within 30 feet of the mystic poet (including the mystic poet himself) that is affected by a sonic or language-dependent magical attack may use the mystic poet’s Perform check result in place of its saving throw if, after the saving throw is rolled, the Perform check result proves to be higher. If a creature within the range of the counterverse is already under the effect of a non-instantaneous sonic or language-dependent magical attack, it gains another saving throw against the effect each round it hears the counterverse, but it must use the mystic poet’s Perform skill check result for the save. Counterverse does not work on effects that don’t allow saves.
Fascinate (su): A 1st level, a mystic poet can use his poetry to cause one or more creatures to become fascinated with him. Each creature to be fascinated must be within 90 feet, able to hear the bard, and capable of paying attention to him. The distraction of nearby combat or other dangers prevents this ability from working. For every three levels beyond 1st, he can target one additional creature with this ability.
Each creature within range receives a Will save (DC 10 + ½ the mystic poet’s level + the mystic poet’s Wis modifier) to negate the effect. If a creature’s saving throw succeeds, the mystic poet cannot attempt to fascinate that creature again for 24 hours. If its saving throw fails, the creature sits quietly and listens to the poem for as long as the mystic poet continues to maintain it. While fascinated, a target takes a -4 penalty on all skill checks made as reactions, such as Perception checks. Any potential threat to the target allows the target to make a new saving throw against the effect. Any obvious threat, such as someone drawing a weapon, casting a spell, or aiming a weapon at the target, automatically breaks the effect.
Fascinate is an enchantment (compulsion, mind-affecting ability.
Inspire Courage (su): A 1st-level mystic poet can use his poetry to inspire courage in his allies (including himself),bolstering them against fear and improving their combat abilities, To be affected, an ally must be able to hear the mystic poet’s poem. An affected ally receives a +1 moral bonus on saving throws against charm and fear effects and a +1 competence bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls. At 5th level, and every six mystic poet levels thereafter, this bonus increases by +1, to a maximum of +4 at 17th level. Inspire courage is a mind-affecting ability.
Inspire competence (su): A mystic poet of 3rd level or higher can use his performance to help an ally succeed at a task. That ally must be within 30 feet and be able to hear the mystic poet. The ally gets a +2 competence bonus on skill checks with a particular skill as long as she continues to hear the mystic poet’s performance. This bonus increases by +2 for every four levels the mystic poet has attained beyond 3rd (+3 at 7th, +4 at 11th, +5 at 15th, and +6 at 19th). Certain uses of his ability are infeasible, such as stealth, and may be disallowed at the GM’s discretion. A mystic poet can’t inspire competence in himself.
Suggestion (sp): A mystic poet of 6th level or higher can use his poetry to make a suggestion[i] (as per the spell) to a creature he has already fascinated (see above). Using this ability does not disrupt the fascinate effect, but it does require a standard action to activate (in addition to the free action to continue the fascinate effect). A mystic poet can use this ability more than once against an individual creature during an individual performance. Making a [i]suggestion does not count against a mystic poet’s daily use of divine poetry. A Will saving throw (DC 10 + ½ the mystic poet’s level + the mystic poet’s Wis modifier) negates the effect. This abilty affects only a single creature. Suggestion is an enchantment (compulsion), mind affecting, language-dependent ability.
Dirge of Doom (su): A mystic poet of 8th level or hgher can use his poetry to foster a sense of growing dread in his enemies, causing them to become shaken. To be affected, an enemy must be within 30 feet and able to hear the mystic poet’s poetry. The effect persists for as long as the enemy is within 30 feet and the mystic poet continues his poetry. This poetry cannot cause a creature to become frightened or panicked, even if the targets are already shaken from another effect. Dirge of doom is a mind-affecting fear effect.
Inspire Greatness (su): A mystic poet of 9th level or higher can use his poetry to inspire greatness in himself or a single willing ally within 30 feet, granting extra fighting capability. For every three levels the mystic poet attains beyond 9th, he can target an additional ally while using this performance (up to a maximum of four targets at 18th level). To inspire greatness, all targets must be able to hear the mystic poet. A creature inspired with greatness gains 2 bonus Hit Dice (d10s), the commensurate number of temporary hit points (apply the target’s Constitution modifier, if any, to these bonus Hit Dice), a +2 competence bonus on attack rolls, and a +1 competence bonus on Fortitude saves. The bonus Hit Dice count as regular Hit Dice for determining the effect of spells that are Hit Dice dependent. Inspire greatness is a mind-affecting ability.
Soothing Verse (su): A mystic poet of 12th level or higher can use his poetry to create an effect equivalent to a mass cure serious wounds, using the mystic poet’s level as the caster level. In addition, this performance removes the fatigued, sickened, and shaken conditions from all those affected. Using this ability requires 4 rounds of continuous performance, and the targets must be able to hear the mystic poet throughout the poem. Soothing verse affects all targets that remain within 30 feet throughout the poem.
Frightening Verse (sp): A mystic poet of 14th level or higher can use his performance to cause fear in his enemies. To be affected, an enemy must be able to hear the mystic poet recite and be within 30 feet. Each enemy within range receives a Will save (DC 10 + ½ the mystic poet’s level + the mystic poet’s Wis modifier) to negate the effect. If the save succeeds, the creature is immune to this ability for 24 hours. If the save fails, the target becomes frightened and flees for as long as the target can hear the mystic poet’s poetry.
Inspire heroics (su): A mystic poet of 15th level or higher can inspire tremendous heroism in himself or a single ally within 30 feet. For every three mystic poet levels the character attains beyond 15th, he can inspire heroics in an additional creature. To inspire heroics, all of the targets must be able to hear the mystic poet. Inspired creatures gain a +4 bonus on saving throws and a +4 dodge bonus to AC. This affect lasts for as long as the targets are able to hear the poetry. Inspire heroics is a mind-affecting ability.
Mass Suggestion (sp): This ability functions just like suggestion, but allows a mystic poet of 18th level or higher to make a suggestion simultaneously to any number of creatures he has already fascinated. Mass suggestion is an enchantment (compulsion), mind-affecting, language-dependent ability.
Deadly Verse (su): A mystic poet of 20th level or higher can use his poetry to cause one enemy to die from joy or sorrow. To be affected, the target must be able to hear the poet recite for 1 full round and be within 30 feet. The target receives a Will save (DC 10 + ½ the mystic poet’s level + the mystic poet’s Wis modifier) to negate the effect. If a chreature’s saving throw succeeds, the target is staggered for 1d4 rounds, and the bard cannot use deadly verse on that creature again for 24 hours. If a creature’s saving throw fails, it dies. Deadly verse is a mind-affecting death effect.
Orisons: Mystic poets learn a number of orisons, or 0-level spells, as a bard’s cantrips. These spells are cast like any other spell, but they do not consume any slots and may be used again.
Poetic Insight: At 2nd level, a mystic poet may use his bonus in Perform (Poetry) in place of his bonus for Diplomacy or Sense Motive. When substituting this way, the mystic poet uses his total skill bonus, including class skill bonus, un place of the substituted skill’s bonus, whether or not he has ranks in that skill.
Practiced Ear (ex): At 2nd level, the mystic poet becomes resistant to the divine poetry of others, and to sonic effects in general. The mystic poet gains a +4 onus on saving throws made against divine poetry, bardic performance, sonic, and language-dependent effects.
Lore Master (ex): At 5th level, the mystic poet becomes a master of lore and can take 10 on an Knowledge skill check that he has ranks in. A mystic poet can choose not to take 10 and can instead roll normally. In addition, once per day, the mystic poet can take 20 on any knowledge skill check as a standard action. He can use this ability one additional time per day for every six levels he possesses beyond 5th, to a maximum of three times per day at 17th level.
Wisdom of Experience (ex): At 10th level, the mystic poet can use any skill, even if the skill normally requires him to be trained. At 16th level, the mystic poet considers all skills to be class skills. At 19th level, the mysticpoet can take 10 on any skill check, even if it is not normally allowed.

Mystic Poet Spells
Mystic poets gain access to the following spells. Most of these spells are found in the Pathfinder Core Rulebook but those marked with an asterisk (*) are found in the Pathfinder Advanced Player’s Guide.

0-level spells— Create Water, Dancing Lights, Detect Magic, Ghost Sound, Guidance, Light, Lullaby, Mage Hand, Mending, Message, Open/Close, Read Magic, Resistance
1-level spells— Alarm, Beguiling Gift*, Borrow Skill*, Calm Animals, Cause Fear, Charm Person, Comprehend Languages, Confusion (lesser), Cure Light Wounds, Disguise Self, Erase, Expeditious Retreat, Feather Fall, Hypnotism, Identify, Ill Omen*, Magic Aura, Memory Lapse*, Obscure Object, Remove Fear, Restful Sleep*, Sanctuary, Share Language*, Silent Image, Sleep, Speak with Animals, Timely Inspiration*, Undetectable Alignment, Vanish*, Ventriloquism
2-level spells— Alter Self, Animal Messenger, Animal Trance, Aspect of the Bear*, Augury, Blessing of Courage and Life*, Calm Emotions, Cat’s Grace, Cure Moderate Wounds, Daze Monster, Delay Poison, Detect Thoughts, Eagle’s Splendor, Enter Image*, Enthrall, Fox’s Cunning, Ghostbane Dirge*, Grace*, Heroism, Hidden Speech*, Hold Person, Honeyed Tongue*, Hypnotic Pattern, Invisibility, Locate Object, Minor Image, Misdirection, Pyrotechnics, Scare, Shatter, Shield Other, Silence, Sound Burst, Suggestion, Tongues, Whispering Wind, Zone of Truth
3-level spells— Blink, Charm Monster, Clairaudience/Clairvoyance, Confusion, Coordinated Effort*, Crushing Despair, Cure Serious Wounds, Deep Slumber, Dispel Magic, Displacement, Elemental Speech*, Fear, Gaseous Form, Geas (Lesser), Glibness, Good Hope, Haste, Invisibility Sphere, Major Image, Phantom Steed, Prayer, Remove Curse, Scrying, Sculpt Sound, See Invisibility, Speak with Animals, Speak with Dead, Tiny Hut
4-level spells— Aspect of the Stag*, Break Enchantment, Cure Critical Wounds, Denounce*, Detect Scrying, Dimension Door, Discern Lies, Dominate Person, Freedom of Movement, Ghostbane Dirge (mass)*, Hallucinatory Terrain, Hold Monster, Invisibility (greater), Legend Lore, Modify Memory, Neutralize Poison, Rainbow Pattern, Shout, Sleepwalk*, Speak with Plants, Threefold Aspect*, True Form*, Wandering Star Motes*, Zone of Silence
5-level spells— Aspect of the Wolf*, Atonement, Cloak of Dreams*, Command (greater), Cure Light Wounds (mass), Dispel Magic (greater), Dream, False Vision, Heroism (greater), Mind Fog, Mirage Arcana, Nightmare, Persistent Image, Seeming, Shadow Walk, Song of Discord, Suggestion (mass)
6-level spells— Analyze Dweomer, Animate Objects, Brilliant Inspiration*, Cat’s Grace (mass), Charm Monster (mass), Cure Moderate Wounds (mass), Eagle’s Splendor (mass), Euphoric Tranquility*, Find the Path, Fox’s Cunning (mass), Geas/Quest, Pied Piping*, Programmed Image, Project Image, Scrying (greater), Shout (greater), Stone Tell, Sypmathetic Vibration, Veil