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View Full Version : The Dimir Secretkeeper [Work in Progress] [Base Class, D&D 3.5]



Ziegander
2012-01-26, 02:43 PM
Under Construction!

The Dimir Secretkeeper

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQR4sDLDp7Y1zj51PK6P2lyslYPHHiZK As544TgWXiT8hNKP6-0

Alignment: Neutral Evil
Hit Die: 1d6

{table=head]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special

1st|+0|+0|+2|+2|Aura of Deception, Dark Knowledge (Tactics), Trapfinding

2nd|+1|+0|+3|+3|Sneak Attack +1d6

3rd|+2|+1|+3|+3|Petty Thieving

4th|+3|+1|+4|+4|Steal Spells

5th|+3|+1|+4|+4|Guile, Sneak Attack +2d6

6th|+4|+2|+5|+5|Dark Knowledge (Puissance)

7th|+5|+2|+5|+5|Steal Thoughts

8th|+6/+1|+2|+6|+6|Sneak Attack +3d6

9th|+6/+1|+3|+6|+6|Transmute

10th|+7/+2|+3|+7|+7|Dark Knowledge (Foe)

11th|+8/+3|+3|+7|+7|Sneak Attack +4d6

12th|+9/+4|+4|+8|+8|Steal Memories

13th|+9/+4|+4|+8|+8|Dark Knowledge (Skill)

14th|+10/+5|+4|+9|+9|Sneak Attack +5d6

15th|+11/+6/+1|+5|+9|+9|Improved Guile

16th|+12/+7/+2|+5|+10|+10|Transmute Self

17th|+12/+7/+2|+5|+10|+10|Sneak Attack +6d6

18th|+13/+8/+3|+6|+11|+11|Steal Soul

19th|+14/+9/+4|+6|+11|+11|Dark Knowledge (Dread Secret)

20th|+15/+10/+5|+6|+12|+12|Lord of Secrets, Sneak Attack +7d6
[/table]

Class Skills (8 + Int modifier): All skills.

Weapon & Armor Proficiencies
A Dimir Secretkeeper is proficient with all simple weapons and all light or one-handed martial weapons, with light armor, but not with shields.

Aura of Deception (Su): A Dimir Secretkeeper is shrouded in mystery making her, all items in her possession, and all ongoing spells affecting her, immune to and exempt from Divination effects, unless the caster succeeds on a caster level check against DC 11 + her class level. If the caster's check fails, the Dimir Secretkeeper can attempt a Bluff check as an immediate action, opposed by the caster's Sense Motive skill, to relay false information of the type that the Divination attempted to acquire. This works just like a normal use of the Bluff skill.

Dark Knowledge (Ex): A number of times per day equal to 3 + her Intelligence modifier, no more than once per encounter, a Dimir Secretkeeper may draw upon her cache of secrets to grant herself and her allies benefits against creatures they face. To benefit from Dark Knowledge an ally must be able to see, hear, and understand the Dimir Secretkeeper, but otherwise the ability has no maximum range beyond line of sight.

To use Dark Knowledge, a Dimir Secretkeeper must first succeed on a Knowledge check to identify a creature's special powers or vulnerabilities appropriate to the creature (see Knowledge Skill (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/knowledge.htm)). If her check succeeds, she may spend a swift action to grant herself one of the benefits listed below. For every 5 points her check beats the DC by she may grant an additional benefit.


Tactics - A 1st level Dimir Secretkeeper may grant herself and her allies a +1 insight bonus to attack and damage rolls for the rest of the encounter. This bonus increases to +2 at 6th level, +3 at 10th, +4 at 13th, and +5 at 19th.



Puissance - A 6th level Dimir Secretkeeper may grant herself and her allies a +2 insight bonus to AC and saving throws for the rest of the encounter. This bonus increases to +3 at 10th level, +4 at 13th, and +5 at 19th.



Foe - A 10th level Dimir Secretkeeper and her allies pinpoint the location of any identified creatures within 30ft and deal those creatures 1d6 extra damage with their attacks. The radius of detection and extra damage increase to 45ft and 2d6 respectively at 13th level, and 60ft and 3d6 at 19th.



Skill - A 13th level Dimir Secretkeeper may grant herself and her allies a +10 insight bonus to all skill and ability checks made against the identified creatures. This bonus increases to +15 at 19th level.



Dread Secret - A 19th level Dimir Secretkeeper may grant herself and her allies the ability to make a single death attack against the identified creatures before the ends of their next respective turns. Making a death attack is a standard action, and if it hits, the identified creature must succeed at a Fort save (DC 10 + 1/2 Dimir Secretkeeper level + her Intelligence modifier) or be slain outright. Even if the creature's save succeeds it becomes Frightened for 1 minute. This effect cannot escalate a creature's Fear condition.


Trapfinding (Ex): As Rogue.

Sneak Attack (Ex): Starting at 2nd level; as Rogue.

Petty Thieving (Ex): Starting at 3rd level, once per round, when a Dimir Secretkeeper successfully hits a foe with a sneak attack, she may make a Disarm attempt against that creature or a Sleight of Hand attempt to take something from that creature, as a free action without provoking attacks of opportunity. If she tries to Disarm her foe and fails, that foe doesn't get to attempt to Disarm her back.

Steal Spells (Su): Starting at 4th level, when a Dimir Secretkeeper successfully hits a foe with a sneak attack, that foe must succeed at a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 Dimir Secretkeeper level + her Dexterity modifier) to avoid losing a number of spell slots and/or daily uses of spell-like abilities whose total combined levels do not exceed the number of extra damage dice the Dimir Secretkeeper's sneak attack dealt. This ability cannot be used to steal spell-like abilities that aren't measured in daily uses.

If a Dimir Secretkeeper hits a foe with multiple sneak attacks in the same action, that foe makes only a single saving throw, with a DC increased by 1 for each successful sneak attack, but if that save fails, then the Dimir Secretkeeper may steal a number of slots or SLAs whose total combined levels do not exceed the total combined number of extra damage dice dealt to that foe this turn from her sneak attacks.

If a creature loses spell slots or daily uses of spell-like abilities in this way, then the Dimir Secretkeeper gains them until her next extended rest (8 hours of sleep for most creatures). If a creature that lost spell slots in this way was a prepared caster, the Dimir Secretkeeper automatically knows what spells are prepared in her stolen spell slots. Likewise, she automatically knows the spell-like abilities she has stolen.

However, if a creature that lost spell slots in this way was a spontaneous caster, then when the Dimir Secretkeeper attempts to cast a spell from one of her stolen spell slots she casts a random spell of the appropriate spell level from the victim's list of spells known. She may attempt a Use Magic Device check, DC 15 + spell slot level, in order to cast a specific spell of the appropriate level from the victim's list of spells known.

It is recommended that the player of a Dimir Secretkeeper keep separate listings of spell slots stolen from prepared casters, spell slots stolen from spontaneous casters, and of daily uses per day of spell-like abilities.

Guile (Ex): A 5th level Dimir Secretkeeper is able to resist the effects of even unusual attacks with elegant ease. Whenever she succeeds on a Reflex or Will saving throw against an effect that has a reduced effect on a successful save, such as a with an entry of Reflex half or Will partial, she suffers no ill effects instead.

Steal Thoughts (Su): Starting at 7th level, when a Dimir Secretkeeper successfully hits a foe with a sneak attack, that foe must succeed at a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 Dimir Secretkeeper level + her Dexterity modifier) to avoid becoming Staggered for 1 round and subject to a Detect Thoughts effect as the spell, automatically allowing the Dimir Secretkeeper to read its surface thoughts for the next hour.

If a Dimir Secretkeeper hits a foe with multiple sneak attacks in the same action, that foe makes only a single saving throw, with a DC increased by 1 for each successful sneak attack.

If a foe that casts spells or has daily uses of spell-like abilities fails its save against this effect, then it does not make a separate Will save to avoid losing spell slots and/or daily uses of spell-like abilities. Instead, if it fails its save against this effect, then it is considered to have also failed its save against the Dimir Secretkeeper's Steal Spells ability.

Transmute (Su): Starting at 9th level, a number of times per day equal to 3 + her Intelligence modifier, a Dimir Secretkeeper may alter spell slot or daily use of a spell-like ability she has stolen, changing it to be any spell she likes of the same level or lower from the same class spell list. She may even do this with spell slots stolen from spontaneous casters.

Steal Memories (Su): Starting at 12th level, when a creature fails its save against the Dimir Secretkeeper's Steal Thoughts ability, at the Dimir Secretkeeper's option, it loses all memory of the past few minutes, up to 1 minute per class level and, instead of being Staggered for 1 round, that creature loses its next move or standard action (the Dimir Secretkeeper's choice).

Improved Guile (Ex): Starting at 15th level, when a Dimir Secretkeeper fails its Reflex or Will save against an effect, she may attempt a new save against the same DC at the start of her next turn, and may substitute the higher of her Reflex or Will saves for a save of the type that the effect normally allows. She may only make a single new save in this way for each effect.

Transmute Self (Su): Starting at 16th level, by spending two daily uses of her Transmute ability, a Dimir Secretkeeper can polymorph herself into any creature whose HD doesn't exceed her class level from Tiny to Huge size as the Shapechange spell. She must be familiar with the form she wishes to take and she may not change forms during the effect without spending additional uses of her Transmute ability.

Steal Soul (Su): Starting at 18th level, when a creature fails its save against the Dimir Secretkeeper's Steal Thoughts ability, at the Dimir Secretkeeper's option, it gains two negative levels and, instead of being Staggered for 1 round, that creature becomes Dazed for 1 round (or, if immune, it loses its next move or standard action).

If a creature is slain by these negative levels, instead of rising as a Wight, the Dimir Secretkeeper stores that creature's soul within herself, preventing that creature from being resurrected by any means, including Wish or Miracle. For every soul stored in this way, the Dimir Secretkeeper gains 5 temporary hit points, which stack with other temporarily hit points she has, and a +1 bonus to ability checks, attack rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and effective class level (whenever her level is used in a die roll or calculation, increase it by one for each stored soul). If a Dimir Secretkeeper is slain, then all her stored souls are freed and may depart to the afterlife or be returned to their bodies by any normal means.

Lord of Secrets (Ex): Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?


Under Construction!

Ravnica: City of Guilds
The Azorius Logistician, the Boros Legionnaire, the Dimir Secretkeeper, the Golgari Graveborne, the Gruul Bloodbreaker, the Izzet Mathmagican, the Orzhov Ghostwayman, the Rakdos Hellraiser, the Selesnya Convoker, and the Simic Visionary.

Ziegander
2012-01-26, 03:49 PM
Before I move on, I'd like to know what people think of the Steal Spells mechanic I'm using. Please!

Othesemo
2012-01-26, 04:02 PM
That's... terrifying. Fits the dimir quite well, I think. However, I have one suggestion. Perhaps you should put a cap on the maximum level of the stolen spell? A level 4 dimir lackey running around with Mage's Disjunction under his belt might be a tad on the ridiculous side.

Also, I'd change the thing about sleep for two reasons. The first is that it actually encourages the player to go without sleep for as long as possible if he has any spells stolen, which I believe that it is unique in doing. The second is that some races (warforged, ghouls, what have you) don't require any sleep, which would make them either never have the spells or have them indefinitely depending on how you read the rules, both of which would be sub-optimal.

All in all, though, it fits my favorite guild quite well, I think. I'm looking forward to the Orzhov.

gkathellar
2012-01-26, 04:15 PM
I remember playing a Dimir mill deck, and get a really strong sense that mill was a core mechanic of the guild. I'd love to see even a minor ability approximating the ability to wear down or remove your opponent's options like that (Steal Spells doesn't seem quite the thing).

Ziegander
2012-01-26, 04:18 PM
I remember playing a Dimir mill deck, and get a really strong sense that mill was a core mechanic of the guild. I'd love to see even a minor ability approximating the ability to wear down or remove your opponent's options like that (Steal Spells doesn't seem quite the thing).

You're right! I've got just the thing.

Pyromancer999
2012-01-26, 04:30 PM
Steal Spell seems to be fine for the most part. Still, instead of keeping separate lists of spells stolen, it might be smarter to just select a spell at random to be stolen. Also, you might want to make it be the total level of the spells stolen equal the number of extra dice dealt, instead of having the total number of spells stolen be equal to the number of extra dice dealt. Otherwise, with one hit, the Dimir Secretkeeper can just be like, "Hi, I sorta stole most/all of your highest level spells.", which is sort of overpowered.

Ziegander
2012-01-26, 04:41 PM
Steal Spell seems to be fine for the most part. Still, instead of keeping separate lists of spells stolen, it might be smarter to just select a spell at random to be stolen.

I don't want the stealing to be random that would bog down her turn and be annoying for the character.


Also, you might want to make it be the total level of the spells stolen equal the number of extra dice dealt, instead of having the total number of spells stolen be equal to the number of extra dice dealt. Otherwise, with one hit, the Dimir Secretkeeper can just be like, "Hi, I sorta stole most/all of your highest level spells.", which is sort of overpowered.

This, however, is a great idea. I'll work it in.

Othesemo
2012-01-26, 04:48 PM
I see a potential problem with Steal Soul. Supposing that your target is in a Mind Fog or just has a low will save, the Secretkeeper could spam sneak attacks against the target using the extra standard action gained from each attack. And every time he hit, the target's saving throw would decrease by two and his DC would increase by 1. The secretkeeper could plausibly kill any flat-footed or flanked target who failed his first save or two with negative levels in one round, and gain a crapload of hit points and bonuses in the process.

EDIT: Either I misread or you edited while I was making the post- either way, this isn't a concern any more.

Ziegander
2012-01-26, 04:49 PM
I see a potential problem with Steal Soul. Supposing that your target is in a Mind Fog or just has a low will save, the Secretkeeper could spam sneak attacks against the target using the extra standard action gained from each attack. And every time he hit, the target's saving throw would decrease by two and his DC would increase by 1. The secretkeeper could plausibly kill any flat-footed or flanked target who failed his first save or two with negative levels in one round, and gain a crapload of hit points and bonuses in the process.

I've gotten rid of the extra actions gained from the various Steal X abilities. That crap was broken.

Chronos
2012-01-26, 05:50 PM
The Petty Thieving ability looks awfully powerful, to me. With a full attack, you could easily be stripping off three or four items per round. I'd limit it to once per round, and I'd probably also exclude Sleight of Hand from it, since it's not hard to pump that up to auto-success.

Ziegander
2012-01-26, 05:59 PM
The Petty Thieving ability looks awfully powerful, to me. With a full attack, you could easily be stripping off three or four items per round. I'd limit it to once per round, and I'd probably also exclude Sleight of Hand from it, since it's not hard to pump that up to auto-success.

I will limit it to once per round, but including Sleight of Hand is basically the point of it. I don't want to get rid of that aspect.