TheGeckoKing
2011-01-27, 04:29 PM
The Psi-Shade
http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs20/f/2007/298/0/7/sand_wraith_by_AlexaSharlOt_by_PrinceofPersia_club .jpg
Come on down, night above,
And kiss this dead realm good day.
For the sky shall fall,
And the Reaper shall call,
For it seems we are all fated to die.
- The Damned Shade's Lament
Once apon a time, in a Demiplane called Vesperiz, far beyond existing now, there once was the city of Arcadia. It was a land of thinkers, and in a magical world, this normally means either casters of the logical Arcane, or in this case, Psionic Manifesters. The city of Arcadia was a wonderous land, filled with glistening crystals, playful Shadow Fae that flourished through the land until the lighting of crystals drove them away, and the laughter of most who dwelt there. Alas, the ones with all forget the ones with none, and after a while, a colossal horde of Psion-Killer Golem laden Barbarians, lead by a mad Artificer of Crystal, tried their luck. They had already turned most of the demiplane into a wasteland, but Arcadia was one of the few bastions of hope. The Arcadians fought back the barbarians with relative ease, but the Psion-Killers simply would not be stopped. The few Arcanists in Arcadia tried their best with Shadow Magic, learnt from examining the Shadow Fae, but were exhausted after a short while and slaughtered, the shadow whisps fled, and Arcadia was plundered and left to drown in sorrow, and decay into just another lost city.
Or so the barbarians thought.
The Shadowy Fae that swarmed Arcadia were not dispelled by the crystal lighting that night, and by some eldritch conglomeration, fused with the latent death, the lingering hate, and the psionic fallout, and became the Damned Shade of Arcadia. It swept through Vesperiz, from Arcadia on the far east, to Nix on the far west, drowning out the starlight. And once it covered all in the demiplane, it rose and rose and rose, it screeched it's Lament to all that could be heard, and died. And fell, and fell, and fell. And so it was that the particular demiplane Arcadia was on was drowned in shades, forever changed by the Damned Shade's Lament.
The shade was broken and trapped in the sorry demiplane, but it managed to ever so slightly seep through the cracks of logic and reality, and now it whispers it's lament to all that it can manage, throughout the Great Wheel. Some say The Damned Shade says it's Lament for a purpose, while others regard it as just a last echo of a crippled being. Specifically, thoes already Psionic in nature, and strong in Mind and Body, can make relative sense out of the Damned Shade's Lament. And they can use it to pull energies from the Damned Shade's corpse. They can pull and pull and drain and drain until they become almost a Damned Shade themselves. These fated men and women call themselves Psi-Shades.
Becoming a Psi-Shade
How you would normally become a member of this prestige class.
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Skills: Autohypnosis 10 Ranks
Feats: Narrow Minded
Psionics: Must have a Manifester Level of at least 5
Special: Must of heard and understood the Damned Shade's Lament in a dream, a vision, or another strange circumstance.
Class Skills
Skills Points at Each Level:2 + int
The Shademind Adept's class skills are;
Autohypnosis (Wis), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (Psionics) (Int), Knowledge (The Planes) (Int), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Search (Int), and Swim (Str).
Hit Dice: d8
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Manifesting
1st|
+0|
+2|
+0|
+0|Cloak of Shades|
---
2nd|
+1|
+3|
+0|
+0|Hyperspace of Shades|+1 existing class level
3rd|
+2|
+3|
+1|
+1|Penumbral Ray|+1 existing class level
4th|
+3|
+4|
+1|
+1|Darkvision 30ft|+1 existing class level
5th|
+3|
+4|
+1|
+1|Dark Ideas|+1 existing class level
6th|
+4|
+5|
+2|
+2|Darkvision 60ft|+1 existing class level
7th|
+5|
+5|
+2|
+2|Penumbral Drowning|+1 existing class level
8th|
+6/+1|
+6|
+2|
+2|Darkvision 90ft|+1 existing class level
9th|
+6/+1|
+6|
+3|
+3|Umbral Lament|+1 existing class level
10th|
+7/+2|
+7|
+3|
+3|A Shade Remade|
---[/table]
Weapon Proficiencies: A Shademind Adept gains no new proficiencies.
Manifesting: At every level except 1st and 10th level, a Psi-Shade gains additional power points per day and access to new powers as if she had also gained a level in whatever manifesting class she belonged to before she added the prestige class. She does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (bonus feats, metapsionic or item creation feats, psicrystal special abilities, and so on). This essentially means that she adds the level of Psi-Shade Monarch to the level of whatever manifesting class the character has, then determines power points per day, powers known, and manifester level accordingly.
If a character had more than one manifesting class before she became a Psi-Shade, she must decide to which class she adds the new level of slayer for the purpose of determining power points per day, powers known, and manifester level.
Cloak of Shades(Su): At 1st level, a Psi-Shade learns the first way to utilize the Damned Shade's remains - draping it over themselves by feeding it with their own mental force. As a full-round action, a Psi-Shade may use their connection to drag all shadows, however small, and wear them. When you use this class ability, you must pay any number of power points, up to your manifester level. All physical attacks made against you have a [PP spent*5]% chance of missing, and magical attacks have a 15% less chance of missing than physical attacks (Minimum 0%). This effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to 1/4 your manifester level (Rounded down).
Hyperspace of Shades(Ex): At 2nd level, the Psi-Shade learns a most disturbing trick - to hide his belongings in the Damned Shade's corpse, connected to his own shadow. As a swift action, you may put any object you are holding into your own shadow, or take out one object and put it into your hand (You need a free hand to do this). Your shadow functions in all ways as a Bag of Holding (Type III), with a few stipulations. You cannot place your shadow into a Portable Hole, but a Portable Hole placed into your shadow destroys all objects kept in your shadow, and the Portable Hole is lost forever in the Damned Shade's corpse, but otherwise the shadow is kept as normal. Sharp objects cannot pierce your shadow, and living creatures last for 1 minute before suffocating. You cannot place someone in your shadow unless they are willing.
Darkvision(Ex): At 4th level, your eyes become accustomed to the darkness. You gain Darkvision out 30ft, or your existing Darkvision increases by 30ft. At 6th and 8th level, your Darkvision is increased by a further 30ft each time.
Penumbral Ray(Ex): At 3rd level, the Psi-Shade learns to focus the Damned Shade's leftover energies into fleshburning force. By paying a number of PP (Max Points payable = Manifester Level), you may fire a 100ft ray that deals [PP Spent]d6 damage to all caught in it's blast. Half of this damage is pure hate, wrenched from the Damned Shade's corpse, and so cannot be healed by anything short of magical effects.
Dark Ideas(Su): At 5th level, a Psi-Shade learns how to mimic the arcanists who tried to save Arcadia, and their Shadow Magic. Once per day, as a Full-Round Action, a Shademind Adept may choose one power of the Metacreativity or Psychokinesis diciplines, with a power level no higher than their Manifester Level/2, and manifest it immediately (You must still pay PP and any XP required). The powers do not manifest as normal, and look like whispy, shadowy versions of the normal powers.
Penumbral Drowning(Ex): At 7th level, the Psi-Shade is so bound to darkness that it follows them, like a pet follows it's master. The Shademind Adept and everything within 100ft is treated as if it were in Shadowy Illumination. This may be suppressed/reactivated as a free action.
Umbral Lament(Su): At 9th level, the Psi-Shade has delved into the connection between him and the Damned Shade so much that he can, for a small moment, mimic the effect the Damned Shade's Lament had on the Demiplane of Vesperiz, a feat most men would call madness.
Once per day, as a full-round action requiring concentration and expending your Psionic Focus, you may summon the Damned Shade, if only for a second, and warp the land.
Everything within a 100ft radius is affected by this for a number of rounds equal to your manifester level;
All Melee attacks made in the area have a 50% miss chance.
All Search and Spot checks take a -15 penalty.
A creature can only move half it's movement speed as a move action.
Any teleportation effects with a destination inside the area automatically fail.
Anyone that dies within the area immediately rise as a Shadow one round later. These Shadows will not attack the Psi-Shade under any circumstances, but the Psi-Shade gains no XP for destroying them.
A Shade Remade: At 10th level, you finally reach the end of the road, and your connection with the Damned Shade remakes you into what the Damned Shade once was, originally - The Shadow Fae of Arcadia. You gain the Fae type, and Regeneration 1 which is bypassed Brilliant Energy Weapons.
Playing a Psi-Shade
Combat: Psi-Shades are nasty sneaks, as they can't be hit easily, they can zap you from far away at higher levels, and at the pinnacle of their power they just make life hell by knocking out all the lights.
Advancement: As the Psi-Shade levels, they might take a few levels in Shadowcaster or even Shadowcraft Mage if they can qualify, all the better to help understand the Damned Shade.
Resources: The main resources Psi-Shade require are their own mind, a good concentration, and a skill manipulating shadows with their minds.
Psi-Shades in the World
Oh, so, your a Shadowcaster? No? Child of the Night? No?
The main problem Psi-Shadeshave is that no-one knows who they are. They get confused with Shadowcasters, Children of the Night, Illusionists, Binders......this means Psi-Shades are considered at best mad nutters and at worst heretics using unknown, black magic.
Daily Life: The life of a Psi-Shade is normally filled with aquiring power to better control the connection to the Damned Shade. If the power is gained by helping, or by hurting, then that simply defines HOW the connection will be used, and nothing else. In Vesperiz, they are feared, as the populace still think they could wreck the shattered demiplane as the Damned Shade once did. The higher level Psi-Shades are the most feared, being pseudo-avatars of the Damned Shade themselves.
Notables: One of the more famous Psi-Shade was the first, a Mr Azraze Smythe. He taught other Psi-Shades whenever he could, but as a devout worshipper of Vecna, made sure things were kept under wraps even beyond his death, which is why the Psi-Shades now suffer from such anonimity.
Organizations: The only true organization of Psi-Shades are the Star Eaters, a mad group of cultists trying to harness the Damned Shade's powers to extinguish all the stars in the sky. This is most disconserting for the other Psi-Shades, who have PR problems as-is.
Comments:
This stemmed from just trying to make a Psionic version of the Shadow Counjuration/Evocation spells, but then it kinda sprawled into a Prc. So shoot me :smalltongue:
http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs20/f/2007/298/0/7/sand_wraith_by_AlexaSharlOt_by_PrinceofPersia_club .jpg
Come on down, night above,
And kiss this dead realm good day.
For the sky shall fall,
And the Reaper shall call,
For it seems we are all fated to die.
- The Damned Shade's Lament
Once apon a time, in a Demiplane called Vesperiz, far beyond existing now, there once was the city of Arcadia. It was a land of thinkers, and in a magical world, this normally means either casters of the logical Arcane, or in this case, Psionic Manifesters. The city of Arcadia was a wonderous land, filled with glistening crystals, playful Shadow Fae that flourished through the land until the lighting of crystals drove them away, and the laughter of most who dwelt there. Alas, the ones with all forget the ones with none, and after a while, a colossal horde of Psion-Killer Golem laden Barbarians, lead by a mad Artificer of Crystal, tried their luck. They had already turned most of the demiplane into a wasteland, but Arcadia was one of the few bastions of hope. The Arcadians fought back the barbarians with relative ease, but the Psion-Killers simply would not be stopped. The few Arcanists in Arcadia tried their best with Shadow Magic, learnt from examining the Shadow Fae, but were exhausted after a short while and slaughtered, the shadow whisps fled, and Arcadia was plundered and left to drown in sorrow, and decay into just another lost city.
Or so the barbarians thought.
The Shadowy Fae that swarmed Arcadia were not dispelled by the crystal lighting that night, and by some eldritch conglomeration, fused with the latent death, the lingering hate, and the psionic fallout, and became the Damned Shade of Arcadia. It swept through Vesperiz, from Arcadia on the far east, to Nix on the far west, drowning out the starlight. And once it covered all in the demiplane, it rose and rose and rose, it screeched it's Lament to all that could be heard, and died. And fell, and fell, and fell. And so it was that the particular demiplane Arcadia was on was drowned in shades, forever changed by the Damned Shade's Lament.
The shade was broken and trapped in the sorry demiplane, but it managed to ever so slightly seep through the cracks of logic and reality, and now it whispers it's lament to all that it can manage, throughout the Great Wheel. Some say The Damned Shade says it's Lament for a purpose, while others regard it as just a last echo of a crippled being. Specifically, thoes already Psionic in nature, and strong in Mind and Body, can make relative sense out of the Damned Shade's Lament. And they can use it to pull energies from the Damned Shade's corpse. They can pull and pull and drain and drain until they become almost a Damned Shade themselves. These fated men and women call themselves Psi-Shades.
Becoming a Psi-Shade
How you would normally become a member of this prestige class.
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Skills: Autohypnosis 10 Ranks
Feats: Narrow Minded
Psionics: Must have a Manifester Level of at least 5
Special: Must of heard and understood the Damned Shade's Lament in a dream, a vision, or another strange circumstance.
Class Skills
Skills Points at Each Level:2 + int
The Shademind Adept's class skills are;
Autohypnosis (Wis), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (Psionics) (Int), Knowledge (The Planes) (Int), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Search (Int), and Swim (Str).
Hit Dice: d8
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Manifesting
1st|
+0|
+2|
+0|
+0|Cloak of Shades|
---
2nd|
+1|
+3|
+0|
+0|Hyperspace of Shades|+1 existing class level
3rd|
+2|
+3|
+1|
+1|Penumbral Ray|+1 existing class level
4th|
+3|
+4|
+1|
+1|Darkvision 30ft|+1 existing class level
5th|
+3|
+4|
+1|
+1|Dark Ideas|+1 existing class level
6th|
+4|
+5|
+2|
+2|Darkvision 60ft|+1 existing class level
7th|
+5|
+5|
+2|
+2|Penumbral Drowning|+1 existing class level
8th|
+6/+1|
+6|
+2|
+2|Darkvision 90ft|+1 existing class level
9th|
+6/+1|
+6|
+3|
+3|Umbral Lament|+1 existing class level
10th|
+7/+2|
+7|
+3|
+3|A Shade Remade|
---[/table]
Weapon Proficiencies: A Shademind Adept gains no new proficiencies.
Manifesting: At every level except 1st and 10th level, a Psi-Shade gains additional power points per day and access to new powers as if she had also gained a level in whatever manifesting class she belonged to before she added the prestige class. She does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (bonus feats, metapsionic or item creation feats, psicrystal special abilities, and so on). This essentially means that she adds the level of Psi-Shade Monarch to the level of whatever manifesting class the character has, then determines power points per day, powers known, and manifester level accordingly.
If a character had more than one manifesting class before she became a Psi-Shade, she must decide to which class she adds the new level of slayer for the purpose of determining power points per day, powers known, and manifester level.
Cloak of Shades(Su): At 1st level, a Psi-Shade learns the first way to utilize the Damned Shade's remains - draping it over themselves by feeding it with their own mental force. As a full-round action, a Psi-Shade may use their connection to drag all shadows, however small, and wear them. When you use this class ability, you must pay any number of power points, up to your manifester level. All physical attacks made against you have a [PP spent*5]% chance of missing, and magical attacks have a 15% less chance of missing than physical attacks (Minimum 0%). This effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to 1/4 your manifester level (Rounded down).
Hyperspace of Shades(Ex): At 2nd level, the Psi-Shade learns a most disturbing trick - to hide his belongings in the Damned Shade's corpse, connected to his own shadow. As a swift action, you may put any object you are holding into your own shadow, or take out one object and put it into your hand (You need a free hand to do this). Your shadow functions in all ways as a Bag of Holding (Type III), with a few stipulations. You cannot place your shadow into a Portable Hole, but a Portable Hole placed into your shadow destroys all objects kept in your shadow, and the Portable Hole is lost forever in the Damned Shade's corpse, but otherwise the shadow is kept as normal. Sharp objects cannot pierce your shadow, and living creatures last for 1 minute before suffocating. You cannot place someone in your shadow unless they are willing.
Darkvision(Ex): At 4th level, your eyes become accustomed to the darkness. You gain Darkvision out 30ft, or your existing Darkvision increases by 30ft. At 6th and 8th level, your Darkvision is increased by a further 30ft each time.
Penumbral Ray(Ex): At 3rd level, the Psi-Shade learns to focus the Damned Shade's leftover energies into fleshburning force. By paying a number of PP (Max Points payable = Manifester Level), you may fire a 100ft ray that deals [PP Spent]d6 damage to all caught in it's blast. Half of this damage is pure hate, wrenched from the Damned Shade's corpse, and so cannot be healed by anything short of magical effects.
Dark Ideas(Su): At 5th level, a Psi-Shade learns how to mimic the arcanists who tried to save Arcadia, and their Shadow Magic. Once per day, as a Full-Round Action, a Shademind Adept may choose one power of the Metacreativity or Psychokinesis diciplines, with a power level no higher than their Manifester Level/2, and manifest it immediately (You must still pay PP and any XP required). The powers do not manifest as normal, and look like whispy, shadowy versions of the normal powers.
Penumbral Drowning(Ex): At 7th level, the Psi-Shade is so bound to darkness that it follows them, like a pet follows it's master. The Shademind Adept and everything within 100ft is treated as if it were in Shadowy Illumination. This may be suppressed/reactivated as a free action.
Umbral Lament(Su): At 9th level, the Psi-Shade has delved into the connection between him and the Damned Shade so much that he can, for a small moment, mimic the effect the Damned Shade's Lament had on the Demiplane of Vesperiz, a feat most men would call madness.
Once per day, as a full-round action requiring concentration and expending your Psionic Focus, you may summon the Damned Shade, if only for a second, and warp the land.
Everything within a 100ft radius is affected by this for a number of rounds equal to your manifester level;
All Melee attacks made in the area have a 50% miss chance.
All Search and Spot checks take a -15 penalty.
A creature can only move half it's movement speed as a move action.
Any teleportation effects with a destination inside the area automatically fail.
Anyone that dies within the area immediately rise as a Shadow one round later. These Shadows will not attack the Psi-Shade under any circumstances, but the Psi-Shade gains no XP for destroying them.
A Shade Remade: At 10th level, you finally reach the end of the road, and your connection with the Damned Shade remakes you into what the Damned Shade once was, originally - The Shadow Fae of Arcadia. You gain the Fae type, and Regeneration 1 which is bypassed Brilliant Energy Weapons.
Playing a Psi-Shade
Combat: Psi-Shades are nasty sneaks, as they can't be hit easily, they can zap you from far away at higher levels, and at the pinnacle of their power they just make life hell by knocking out all the lights.
Advancement: As the Psi-Shade levels, they might take a few levels in Shadowcaster or even Shadowcraft Mage if they can qualify, all the better to help understand the Damned Shade.
Resources: The main resources Psi-Shade require are their own mind, a good concentration, and a skill manipulating shadows with their minds.
Psi-Shades in the World
Oh, so, your a Shadowcaster? No? Child of the Night? No?
The main problem Psi-Shadeshave is that no-one knows who they are. They get confused with Shadowcasters, Children of the Night, Illusionists, Binders......this means Psi-Shades are considered at best mad nutters and at worst heretics using unknown, black magic.
Daily Life: The life of a Psi-Shade is normally filled with aquiring power to better control the connection to the Damned Shade. If the power is gained by helping, or by hurting, then that simply defines HOW the connection will be used, and nothing else. In Vesperiz, they are feared, as the populace still think they could wreck the shattered demiplane as the Damned Shade once did. The higher level Psi-Shades are the most feared, being pseudo-avatars of the Damned Shade themselves.
Notables: One of the more famous Psi-Shade was the first, a Mr Azraze Smythe. He taught other Psi-Shades whenever he could, but as a devout worshipper of Vecna, made sure things were kept under wraps even beyond his death, which is why the Psi-Shades now suffer from such anonimity.
Organizations: The only true organization of Psi-Shades are the Star Eaters, a mad group of cultists trying to harness the Damned Shade's powers to extinguish all the stars in the sky. This is most disconserting for the other Psi-Shades, who have PR problems as-is.
Comments:
This stemmed from just trying to make a Psionic version of the Shadow Counjuration/Evocation spells, but then it kinda sprawled into a Prc. So shoot me :smalltongue: