[3.5] Help me build this character I dreamed up last night

[Pechvarry]

short version of my dream: 2 (rather weak) gods fought, and the evil guy injured the good god, who expunged her weakness by creating a mortal man to inherit it for her, leaving him comatose and wasting away (but with no physical injury). This permanently reduced her strength, but bought her victory over the evil guy.
Against all odds, the mortal man lived.

I want to build this man.

Instead of boring you with all the specifics, I'll just specify what this man requires to be realized:


I'm not looking for a hyper-optimized build, as I wouldn't play it. But I'd still like him to be strong enough to face level-appropriate challenges.
He must be a rogue (by archetype and skill set, not necessarily by class).
A large part of his schtick must revolve around creation/conjuration, but it's far better if I can minimize spellcasting.
He must possess some small ability for teleportation (likely Shadow Hand maneuvers).
This is a good guy.
LA+0
All sources available.

As my dream focused on the goddess, and "ended" with this man's first awakening, I only know that he's a combination of the features she shed (those of an opportunistic urchin) along with a very pale shadow of her personality and abilities (the good-guy morality, and the abilities listed above).

This means I could probably take this in one of 2 ways: the first is Incarnum, with soulmelds making for a pretty good shadow of the goddess' more permanent creations.

The second way would be something like the Shadowsmith (ToM) Prestige Class. But that class is horrifyingly weak. So a better version of that thematic would work well (including the shadow bits -- those actually work really well for a supernatural creation-based rogue).

Anyone have any ideas of how to portray a "creates stuff" rogue in D&D?

[Chilingsworth]

All that comes to mind off the top of my head: A beguiler with the Arcane Disciple (Creation) feat.

EDIT: Or, maybe the Artifice domain instead, or both.

[Elycium]

Hmmm

Maybe you can multi-class Wizard whit some other fighting class like Paladin (well, he is a good guy isn’t?)

Or Cleric whit paladin.

Or a Druid whit a Barbarian.

[JeminiZero]

Simple way: 1 Rogue / 4 Wizard or Sorc / 10 Unseen Seer.

Spells such as Minor (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/minorCreation.htm) and Major Creation (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/majorCreation.htm) can be used to make stuff, and of course to teleport (with Sorcerer better at representing it as an innate ability).

If you really don't want spellcasting, there is also the Psionic version of minor and major creation (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/majorCreationPsionic.htm), but thats probably not what you want either. :smalltongue:

Besides that... well, when you say "All sources available", does that include Homebrew?

[Pechvarry]

Shadowcraft mage could also do the trick, but yeah, I'd rather avoid spellcasting (and I'd prefer a more martial bent). Psychic Warrior or Lurk (or even Ardent, I suppose, but ehh) could be pretty cool, and are much more thematic than spellcasting, but are still something of a compromise.

I think the cleanest way to do it would be Factotum with Trickery Devotion (and Opportunistic Piety) plus the Creation line via Arcane Dilettante.

But I think it could be a bit more unique with something like Swordsage/ dips/ Umbral Disciple with some incarnum and the Trickery Devotion feat (hmm. I wonder if I could UMD some Nightsticks to fuel Domain feats...) and perhaps a steady supply of Shapesand.

Those are the 2 ways I'm leaning most towards right now, but they both could use some help fleshing out.


Besides that... well, when you say "All sources available", does that include Homebrew?

If you have something particular in mind that would fit the bill, I'm open to it. I'd love to investigate Shadowsmith rebuilds, if they exist (and I've tried at least 3 times now).

[limejuicepowder]

I was going to suggest psionic rogue or lurk, but I was swordsaged. Still recommending those though.

Alternatively, pick a spell caster and just have him use only thematically appropriate spells. You could even fluff spells like invisibility to be his insane hiding skills or w/e. Most spell casters have lower skill points though, so a dip in to rogue might be what you need.

rogue 1/sorcerer X with the able learner feat is my suggestion.

[Keld Denar]

There was a fairy race with the ability to craft items out of shadows, but the items went away if they let go of them for more than a round. Fax Celestis wrote a big write up of them a while back, I'll have to find it. They have like, a +3 or +4 LA, which is kinda crappy, but they have unlimited creation of whatever they want out of shadowstuffs.

EDIT: Found them. Shaedling from MM V. 4 RHD, and no listed LA, but I'd imagine they are at least +3 or +4, given their Shadow Gossamer ability.

[Chilingsworth]

The Shaedling LA is listed on the next page (in the Shaedling characters section) It's +3.

[Phelix-Mu]

You can probably skillmonkey your way into Sandshaper PrC. Their creation ability using sand is much more versatile than Shadowsmith (which can work okay, but needs homebrew support, frankly... some feats or subsequent PrC to improve functionality...no npc that I use for Shadowsmith ever dumps 10 levels into it, even the cleric of Lolth that my druid reprogrammed into a ninja).

Let's see. Requirements hard to meet for Sand Shaper are arcane caster level 5th. Touchstone (City of the Dead) should be read up on, it can probably be refluffed to be more relevant to your character concept and the setting. Maybe has to do with some iconic place where the man first realized his special destiny, or the place of his star-crossed birth.

Alright, so maybe Dragonfire Adept or Warlock; I think the CL req can be met by invoker level. It's easy to make a DFA or Warlock that have a non-magical magic-user flavor, since they don't have to say magical words or whatever. Refluff the desert out of Sand Shaper, maybe Dust Shaper. I homebrewed ____-Shapers for all the elements once, a mountain of paperwork and a couple substandard results, but a few gems emerged (like a slightly tweaked Water Shaper). Basically, Sand Shaper is flavor gold, and you can easily repurpose it.

So, start with an invoker of some sort, I'd go with DFA unless you can change the pre-reqs for Sand Shaper to suit flavor. You may need 8 levels, but I think some op-fu will indicate that, at least for warlock, you can PrC effectively before 8th. Perhaps rogue/warlock/arcane trickster/sand shaper and ToB feats to for teleport. Unoptimized, to be sure, but lots of flexibility in there.

Incarnum is a whole different bag of marbles, one I don't know much about. The only one I read about much is Totemist, and I'm not sure that is your flavor right there. None of the PrC in that book are jumping to mind, either.

[Piggy Knowles]

What if you re-fluffed the dragonmark line of feats from Eberron into being the sign of divinity left upon you? That could be handy. The Mark of Making would give you access to the creation line of spells without requiring any other spellcasting.

Shadowcaster is tough to play at the low levels, but would probably be a better choice than Shadowsmith. Maybe a human with the Mark of Making feats, starting things off with a level in rogue? Rogue 1/Shadowcaster 19 is honestly a pretty decent build - start with Able Learner and Least Dragonmark as your first level feats. Max Sleight of Hand and focus on the Night's Long Fingers path, which will let you steal through your Umbral Hand. Maybe something like this:

Human, Rogue 1/Shadowcaster 19

Standard Feats:
1- Able Learner, Least Dragonmark (Make Whole)
3- Craven
6- Lesser Dragonmark (Minor Creation)
9- Darkstalker
12- Shadow Familiar
15- Improved Familiar
18- Greater Dragonmark (Major Creation)

...and take Still Mystery and Favored Mystery for all your shadowcaster bonus feats.

For your familiar, you could get a lot of fun out of one of the BoED familiars - it seems like a thematically fun choice given your concept. The coure eladrin and the musteval guardinal are both excellent choices. The former will be an incorporeal little fairy-thing like Navi or Tinkerbell, but with crazy stealth thanks to the dark template. The musteval guardinal is a weird little ferret thing, and can turn you invisible all day long.

For mysteries, maybe something along the lines of:

Fundamentals:
Basically all of them, but definitely nab Umbral Hand, Sight Obscured, Black Candle and Arrow of Dusk before anything else.

Apprentice:
Quicker than the Eye, Bend Perspective, Piercing Sight, Trail of Haze, Umbral Fist, Killing Shadows

Initiate:
Step into Shadow, Shadow Evocation, Feign Life, Pass into Shadow, Greater Shadow Evocation, Bolster

Master:
Ephemeral Image, Truth Revealed, Far Sight, Umbral Body, Shadow Time x2, Reflection of Things to Come x2


For other build ideas...

In a campaign that is currently on hiatus, I was playing the following character, which seems like it would fit:

Changeling, rogue 1/artificer 2/factotum 3/uncanny trickster 3

1. Changeling Rogue1- Able Learner
2. Artificer1- Scribe Scroll
3. Artificer2- Brew Potion, Darkstalker
4. Factotum1-
5. Factotum2-
6. Factotum3- Skill Focus (Bluff)
7. Uncanny Trickster1-
8. Uncanny Trickster2- Craft Wondrous Item
9. Uncanny Trickster3- Craft Homunculous, Persona Immersion


...with the following skill benchmarks:

MAX:
Bluff, Diplomacy, Hide, Listen, Move Silently, Sense Motive, Spot, UMD (184 ranks total)

OTHER SKILL BENCHMARKS:
Autohypnosis 1 rank, balance 5 ranks, concentration 1 rank, craft (alchemy) 10 ranks, disable device 10 ranks, disguise 5 ranks, gather information 5 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 1 rank, knowledge (local) 5 ranks, knowledge (religion) 1 rank, open lock 5 ranks, search 18 ranks, sleight of hand 12 ranks, spellcraft 1 rank (80 ranks total)

SKILL TRICKS:
Assume Quirk, Clarity of Vision, Conceal Spellcasting, Listen to This, Mosquito's Bite, Nimble Charge, Second Impression, Social Recovery, Spot the Weak Point (12 ranks total)


I was planning on going from there into ardent dilettante from the Planar Handbook, occasionally splashing out to pick up casting that would let me qualify for the higher dilettante levels. I was also planning on eventually taking three levels in Spymaster for magic aura at will (hence the Skill Focus in Bluff).

In any case, it was a lot of fun, and it seems like it would fit here. Artificer was there primarily for the infusions (and uncanny trickster/ardent dilettante would advance those infusions). I fluffed it as being able to juryrig items to do new and exciting things. Say I couldn't get through a door because it was arcane locked. I'd tinker around with my lockpick set (using the spell storing item infusion to add the knock spell to them), and say that I was quickly modifying my lockpicks to bypass the door's magic. Voila, one knock later and we're through. I'd do similar things to weapons and armor, too.

Stealth skills are taken care of by max Hide/Move Silently, brains over brawn, and Darkstalker. Social skills are pretty out of this world thanks to my skill ranks, the changeling rogue sub level, natural shapeshifting abilities, Persona Immersion, and a variety of skill tricks. In combat, I'd make opportunistic attacks (personal weapon augmentation was a big help), hit enemies with alchemical items (which I made myself), steal spell component pouches and holy symbols, that sort of thing.

[Santra]

Rogue 7/ Divine Crusader X

Choose the Creation domain. You get full divine casting but only on the spells from that domain. At the end you become an Outsider as your latent divinity reasserts itself.

[Pechvarry]

Rogue bab actually delays divine crusader entry pretty significantly, actually.

Thanks for all the responses, guys. I like the changeling build, Piggy, and I always loved ardent dilettante (has that been in the ICO challenges yet? It should be) but I don't think it matches what I'm after. Shadowcaster with the dragonmarks is a fantastic idea, though (and I'd totally have to grab flicker).

mixed with what Phelix-mu said, I think I might take stab at a shadowshaper PrC, as a shadowcaster version of sandshaper. Though would be nice to have more of a melee bent.

[Phelix-Mu]

.
mixed with what Phelix-mu said, I think I might take stab at a shadowshaper PrC, as a shadowcaster version of sandshaper. Though would be nice to have more of a melee bent.

I'm sure there is a warlock's handbook somewhere on the forum that makes it very clear that a glaivelock can melee with the best of them. This is basically warlock using eldritch glaive blast shape invocation introduced in Dragon Magic. This is only good if you are going for the warlock thing for entry into Sand Shaper, though. Also see clawlock, a warlock using the Dragon Magazine feat Eldritch Claws to melee with. The effects can be nice, but not sure how prestigeing out of warlock in a different direction affects damage optimization.

Also note that warlocks miss out on some of the more tangible early benefits of Sand Shaper, namely the bonus spells known. Talk to DM about not needing to UMD storage items that have the spells on the list or some other accomodation to make up for using warlock. A similar problem arises if you use Shadowcaster to enter. Consider asking/homebrewing the refluffed Sand Shaper to have a different list of shadow-themed SLAs or initiate-level mysteries instead of the listed bonus spells.

That's the foundation of how I refluffed Sand Shaper, just changed all the element and desert flavor spells to match the new element, sticking with the same number of bonus spells known at each level for the levels listed in Sandstorm. As I mentioned, a Water Shaper emerged that was pretty darn cool, though I did add in a few flavor-based tweaks that improved performance. I don't know if you can tell, but there is a bit of Naruto/anime-themed flavor here, which I don't mind admitting. Elemental Savant and Elemental Scion of Zilargo are cool and all, but WotC dropped the ball on making more hands-on, less spell-based elemental users. And they definitely are wanting beyond the normal four elements, more obscure stuff like light shaper, air shaper (without the electricity flavor), etc.

[Hand_of_Vecna]

It won't come on line with summoning for awhile, but Binding Zceryll gives you level appropriate summoning on tap without being a true caster. Binding can be used for a lot of versatility including skill monkeying and short distance teleporting.

It could also be very good from a fluff perspective if you make bad pacts you'll be picking up flaws, which are fun to rp and could be viewed as the god's weaknesses.

[JeminiZero]

If you have something particular in mind that would fit the bill, I'm open to it. I'd love to investigate Shadowsmith rebuilds, if they exist (and I've tried at least 3 times now).
Yes well, you see the homebrew class in my sig? It was specially designed for pulling together class features into some sort of hybrid build. In this case, you want:

ToB Sublime Maneuvers
Rogue Skills (and probably sneak attack)
Minor/Major Creation as SLAs

So that might be assembled into something like this:


(Stalker focus: Sublime (Point Pool), Rogue, Magic Blooded)
Hit Die: D6 (Additionally Stalker focus gives +1 HP per Trissociate level)

Class Feature Progression
{table]Level | Highest Maneuver Level | Maneuvers Known | Stances Known | Sublime Point Pool Maximum (Recovery) | Rogue Sneak Attack | Magic Blooded Spell Resistance | Magic Blooded Spell Like Abilities Gained | Special
1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 (1) | +1 | Level + 0 | | Mastery Meditation, Armored Caster (Light), Learnt Mastery Talent 1
2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 (1) | +1d6 | Level + 1 | 0th Level SLA 2/day |
3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 9 (2) | +1d6 | Level + 2 | 0th Level SLA 2/day | Focus Feature 1
4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 12 (2) | +1d6 +1d4 | Level + 3 | 1st Level SLA 1/day | Rogue-Trap Sense +1
5 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 15 (3) | +1d6 +1d4 | Level + 4 | | Learnt Mastery Talent 2
6 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 18 (3) | +2d6 +1d2 | Level + 5 | 2nd Level SLA 1/day | Rogue-Uncanny Dodge
7 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 21 (4) | +2d6 +1d2 | Level + 6 | | Focus Feature 2
8 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 24 (4) | +3d6 | Level + 7 | 3rd Level SLA 1/day | Rogue-Trap Sense +2
9 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 27 (5) | +3d6 | Level + 8 | | Learnt Mastery Talent 3
10 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 30 (5) | +3d6 +1d4 | Level + 9 | 4th Level SLA 1/day | Rogue-Improved Uncanny Dodge
11 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 33 (6) | +3d6 +1d4 | Level + 10 | | Focus Feature 3
12 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 36 (6) | +4d6 +1d2 | Level + 11 | 5th Level SLA 1/day | Rogue-Trap Sense +3
13 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 39 (7) | +4d6 +1d2 | Level + 11 | | Learnt Mastery Talent 4
14 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 42 (7) | +5d6 | Level + 12 | 6th Level SLA 1/day | Rogue-Special Ability 1
15 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 45 (8) | +5d6 | Level + 12 | | Focus Feature 4
16 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 48 (8) | +5d6 +1d4 | Level + 13 | 7th Level SLA 1/day | Rogue-Trap Sense +4
17 | 9 | 10 | 4 | 51 (9) | +5d6 +1d4 | Level + 13 | | Learnt Mastery Talent 5
18 | 9 | 10 | 4 | 54 (9) | +6d6 +1d2 | Level + 14 | 8th Level SLA 1/day | Rogue-Special Ability 2
19 | 9 | 11 | 4 | 60 (10) | +6d6 +1d2 | Level + 14 | | Focus Feature 5
20 | 9 | 11 | 4 | 60 (10) | +7d6 | Level + 15 | 9th Level SLA 1/day | Rogue-Trap Sense +5
[/table]


Other Progression
{table]Level | Base Attack Bonus | Reflex | Good Save | Poor Save | Mastery Points | Trissociate Bonus
1 | +0 | +2 | +2 | +0 | 5 | 1
2 | +1 | +3 | +3 | +0 | 6 | 1
3 | +2 | +3 | +3 | +1 | 7 | 1
4 | +3 | +4 | +4 | +1 | 8 | 1
5 | +3 | +4 | +4 | +1 | 9 | 2
6 | +4 | +5 | +5 | +2 | 11 | 2
7 | +5 | +5 | +5 | +2 | 13 | 2
8 | +6/+1 | +6 | +6 | +2 | 15 | 2
9 | +6/+1 | +6 | +6 | +3 | 17 | 3
10 | +7/+2 | +7 | +7 | +3 | 20 | 3
11 | +8/+3 | +7 | +7 | +3 | 23 | 3
12 | +9/+4 | +8 | +8 | +4 | 26 | 3
13 | +9/+4 | +8 | +8 | +4 | 29 | 4
14 | +10/+5 | +9 | +9 | +4 | 33 | 4
15 | +11/+6/+1 | +9 | +9 | +5 | 37 | 4
16 | +12/+7/+2 | +10 | +10 | +5 | 41 | 4
17 | +12/+7/+2 | +10 | +10 | +5 | 45 | 5
18 | +13/+8/+3 | +11 | +11 | +6 | 50 | 5
19 | +14/+9/+4 | +11 | +11 | +6 | 55 | 5
20 | +15/+10/+5 | +12 | +12 | +6 | 60 | 5
[/table]


Class Skills (6 + Int modifier per level): With Skill Category focus, all skills are class skills.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A Stalker focus Trissociate is proficient with all simple weapons, and 1 martial weapon of his choosing. He is also proficient with light armor, and with all shields (except for Tower Shields).

Special (Skill): You choose may choose to gain either Trapfinding (as the Rogue class feature), or the Track feat on level 1. This choice once made, is permanent. (Not included in the table above)

Focus Feature (Skill): Whenever you gain a Focus Feature, you may select any feat that you qualify for, which falls under one of the following categories:
*Any feat that provides a bonus to one or more skills (including skill focus and the skill affinity feats)
*Darkstalker (Lords of Madness)
*Certain Associate Feats, such as Insightful Binder feat for the Binder Associate
*Alternatively, you may select Average Skill (see below)

Average Skill:
Requirements: Skill Category Focus Trissociate
Special: This can only be taken as a Focus Feature, and cannot be bought using normal character feats.
Benefit: A Trissociate may select any one skill on his class skill list. Henceforth he can always take 10 on any skill check based off that skill, even if stress and distractions would normally prevent him from doing so. This is similiar to the Rogue's Skill Mastery Special Ability, except that it only applies to one skill. This skill selection is permanent and may not be changed barring special and intensive retraining (read: DM fiat).
Special: This feat can be selected multiple times. Each time it applies to a new skill.

Maneuvers: Pick any 2 disciplines. If the discipline you selected requires a special feat to qualify for (e.g. certain homebrew disiplines), you must acquire that feat before learning maneuvers from that discipline. You gain maneuvers from these disciplines with your initiator level equal to your Trissociate level. Your maneuvers known and stances known are detailed in the table above. You always ready all the Sublime association maneuvers that you know (hence there is no maneuvers readied column). Unlike other Martial adepts, you may not swap out your maneuvers known when you level.

Sublime Point Pool: You have a pool of Sublime Points, the maximum size of which is detailed in the table above. When you initiate a Sublime association maneuver, you must spend a number of Sublime Points equal to 3 times the maneuver's level (e.g. a Level 1 maneuver would cost 3 Sublime Points to use). You cannot initiate a maneuver if the Sublime Points spent would bring your pool below 0. The Maneuver is not expended, and is ready to initiate again the next round (provided you have the Sublime Points to support it). Your Sublime Point Pool gradually replenishes itself. Once per round, at the start of your turn, add the indicated Recovery number to your Sublime Point Pool. You cannot exceed your pool's maximum size.

Other Notes: Because you ready all the Sublime association maneuvers which you know, you cannot apply the Adaptive Style feat, or the Extra Maneuver Readied feat to your Sublime association maneuvers (although you may still use it for other Martial Adept classes to which it applies). However you can still take and benefit normally from other Martial Adept Feats, such as Martial Study and Martial Stance.

Others: You gain class features as per the Rogue (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/rogue.htm) according to the table above.
Special: You can trade your Trap Sense, to gain the Penetrating Strike ACF (Dungeonscape).

Magic Blooded Spell Resistance: You gain Spell Resistance according to the table above. Note that the 'Level' in the column refers to your Trissociate Level.

Magic Blooded Spell Like Abilities Gained (Sp): When you gain this association, select a spellcasting class that provides 0th-9th levels spells. (E.g. within Core, there is Wizard/Sorcerer, Cleric and Druid. Outside of Core, there are other classes such as Wu Jen, Shugenja etc). If your selected class has a spell list that is customizable (e.g. Clerics can select domains which adds spells), then you may also customize your selected class spell list, and it cannot be changed thereafter (e.g. if you select Cleric, you may also pick 2 domains, and this choice is permanent once made.)

You may acquire spells from your selected class spell list, as spell-like abilities (SLAs) following the table above. At the indicated levels, you may select a particular spell of the appropriate level, and gain it as a SLA. Additionally, whenever you gain another level in Trissociate, you may swap out one of your existing SLAs, for another of the same level, from your selected class spell list.

Your SLAs functions in all ways like a normal SLA (e.g. same casting time as the original spell, no somatic of verbal components) except as noted here: If the original spell has any costly material component, XP cost, sacrifice or corruption cost for your selected spellcasting class, you must pay the same cost when casting your SLA. Non-costly material components are not required. A costly focus which is not expended by the original spell when it is cast, is also not required for your SLA. The Save DCs, where applicable, are based on your highest mental ability score- Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma (10 + spell level + highest mental ability score modifier).

Others: Your Rogue associate starter ability is a single point of sneak attack damage.

Primary Automatic Mastery Talents
Recover Sublime Points: Without needing to enter Mastery Meditation, as a free action, you may spend Mastery Points to regain Sublime Points. Each Mastery Point you spend provides you with 3 Sublime Points. You still cannot exceed your pool's maximum size.

Secondary Automatic Mastery Talents (available from Trissociate level 2 onwards)
Boost Sneak Attack: As a free action, you may spend mastery points to increase the damage dealt by a successful Sneak Attack. You activate this ability after making a successful Sneak Attack (i.e. it has hit the enemy) but before you roll for damage. This costs 1 Mastery Point, and adds a number of d6 Sneak Attack dice, equal to your Trissociate bonus (E.g. a Trissociate bonus of +3 grants you an additional +3d6 of Sneak Attack damage). If you have multiple attacks (e.g. from two weapon fighting or iterative BAB), you can apply Boost Sneak Attack to each successful attack seperately.

Recover Spell Like Ability (Magic Blooded): You may recover an expended spell like ability as if you did not cast it. This is a supernatural ability. By entering Mastery Meditation and spending mastery points equal to the level of the spell, which the spell like ability duplicates, you may recover 1 use of that spell like ability. Level 0 spells cost no mastery points to restore in this manner.

You can only use this to recover spell like abilities gained from the specified Trissociate Association. It cannot be applied to spell like abilities gained from other classes or Associations (although they may have their own equivalent of this talent). You may accelerate the conversion process by spending more mastery points. By spending mastery points equal to double the level of the spell, which the spell like ability duplicates, you may recover that spell like ability as a free action, even when you are not in Mastery Meditation. Level 0 spells cost 1 mastery point to restore in this manner.


Common Trissociate Class Features
(Author's Note: this set of features is common for all Trissociates regardless of Focus or Associations selection. You probably only need to read this once, when making your first Trissociate. Hence, it has been seperated out and placed at the end, so that you can skip it if you want, for subsequent Trissociates.)

Chosen Save (Ex): Depending on the Focus he has picked, a Trissociate has one of his saves become good (Fortitude for Battle, Reflex for Skill, Will for Mental). Besides this Focus Save, he may pick a second save to have good progression. His third save then has poor progression, unless modified by one of the Trissociate selected Associations.

Mastery Points (Ex): A Trissociate has a pool of Mastery points, which he can use to augment his abilities in various ways (depending on his selected Focus and Associations). A Trissociates has a maximum number of Mastery points as listed in the table above. He can restore 1/8 of his pool (rounded up) for each hour of rest he takes. Hence he can completely restore his pool by resting for 8 hours, but even if his rest is interrupted, his Mastery Points will be partially restored. Unless otherwise stated, any usage of his Mastery Pool is considered an Extraordinary ability.

Mastery Meditation (Ex): A Trissociate can focus his mind to replenish the various spent abilities he gains from his Associations, usually (but not always) spending Mastery points in the process. Entering Mastery Meditation simply requires 5 minutes of concentration. Mastery Meditation ends when the Trissociate wants it to, although it also automatically ends whenever the Trissociate takes damage.

While in Mastery Meditation, a Trissociate can freely channel as many Mastery points as he posesses, to recovering his Association's abilities. He cannot willingly move from his position, although he can be moved by others (e.g. if he is sitting on a cart), and as such is considered flat-footed while Meditating. Otherwise he can take any action he normally could, including casting spells.

Adaptation: There are some character concepts for whom meditation might not be an appropriate activity. In these cases, you can replace Mastery Meditation with 5 minutes of some other suitable non-combat activity. For example, a pious character might pray for 5 minutes. Other possible activities include: martial exercises, polishing equipment, singing and dancing on the spot, howling (at the moon), or even simply resting.

Trissociate Bonus (Ex): Many Mastery Talents (both learnt and automatic) provide a numerical bonus to a particular ability. The numerical bonus is based on the Trissociate bonus, which gradually improves as indicated, when the Trissociate advances.

Armored Caster (Ex): When casting spells, invocations, and other similiar abilities that might be affected by Arcane Spell Failure which he gains from his Associations, a Trissociate can ignore Arcane Spell Failure from light armor, but not from shields. (Unless otherwise stated, Spell Like Abilites work normally and hence do not suffer from Arcane Spell Failure at all.)

Learnt Mastery Talents (Ex): A Mastery Talent is a trick that costs Mastery points, and which a Trissociate can use to augment himself in some way. Some Mastery Talents are automatically known depending on his selected Associations (see Associations below). Whereas other must be learnt. This column indicates the number of Learnable Mastery Talents which a Trissociate knows.


Learnable Mastery Talents
Whenever a Trissociate can learn a new Mastery Talent, he selects one talent from the list below. This selection is permanent and cannot be changed, barring special and intensive retraining (read: DM fiat). Unless otherwise stated, all Learnable Mastery Talents are extraordinary abilities that are activated as a free action. The bonus each provides is an untyped bonus which stacks with everything else, but not with itself (so the same talent cannot be applied repeatedly).

Save Boost: Whenever he makes a saving throw, a Trissociate may spend 1 Mastery point to add his Trissociate bonus to that saving throw. This does not require any action on his part, and he can activate this talent even when it is not his turn. In the event he gets to make a reroll of the same saving throw, he may reapply this bonus to the reroll, without spending additional points.

Fast Heal: A Trissociate may spend 1 Mastery Point to gain fast healing equal to his Trissociate Bonus, for 10 rounds. This fast healing stacks with one other source of fast healing of his choice (changeable every round). He may choose to activate this ability even when he is dying, which automatically stabilizes him.

E.g. Lets say a level 6 Trissociate with a Trissociate bonus of +2 is under the effect of the vigor spell which grants him Fast Healing of 2. He can activate his Trissociate Bonus Fast Healing of 2 points. He can choose to stack his Trissociate Fast Healing on top of the vigor spell for a total of 4 points of Fast Healing.

Attack Boost: Whenever he makes an attack rolls, a Trissociate may spend 1 Mastery point to add his Trissociate Bonus to that particular attack roll. Trissociate may choose to use this ability multiple times per round, for each seperate attack which he makes (e.g. iterative full attack).

Speed Boost: A Trissociate may spend 1 Mastery point to increase his speed for all modes of movement, which lasts until the start of his next turn. The speed increase so gained, is equal to his Trissociate bonus multiplied by 10 ft.

Skill Boost: Whenever he makes a skill check, a Trissociate may spend 1 Mastery point to gain a bonus equal to his Trissociate Bonus to that single skill check, regardless of how long the check takes (e.g. a Gather Information check may take several hours). He may also apply this bonus when he is taking 10 or 20 to that skill check (provided circumstances allow him to take 10 or 20 in the first place).

Penetration: Whenever a Trissociate uses a spell, spell-like-ability, invocation, psionic power or soulmeld obtained from his Associations, he may spend 1 Mastery point as part of the casting / manifesting / invoking action, to add his Trissociate Bonus to caster, manifester, invoker or meldshaper level rolls, for the purpose of overcoming spell or power resistance.

Resilience: Whenever a Trissociate uses a spell, spell-like-ability, invocation, psionic power or soulmeld obtained from his Associations, he may spend 1 Mastery point as part of the casting / manifesting / invoking action, to add his Trissociate Bonus to Dispel DC, making the effect harder to dispel. He can also apply this to the effective meldshaper level of his soulmelds, for the purposes of resisting suppression checks (e.g. Dispel Magic) and unshaping checks (Unshape Soulmeld and Soulmeld Disjunction). He may apply this bonus when he is shaping his soulmelds, and he must spend 1 Mastery point for each seperate soulmeld affected, and the effect lasts for 24 hours. Should he wish to regain the bonus beyond 24 hours, he must reshape his soulmelds and spend Mastery points again.

Lingering: Whenever a Trissociate uses a spell, spell-like-ability, invocation, psionic power or soulmeld obtained from his Associations, he may spend 1 Mastery point as part of the casting / manifesting / invoking action, to add his Trissociate Bonus to caster level for the purpose of determining the effect's duration. Spells / powers / soulmelds whose duration is not affected by caster level (e.g. endure elements) are not affected.

Extended Reach: Whenever a Trissociate uses a spell, spell-like-ability, invocation, psionic power or soulmeld obtained from his Associations, he may spend 1 Mastery point as part of the casting / manifesting / invoking action, to add his twice his Trissociate Bonus to caster level, for the purpose of determining the effect's range. Spells / powers / soulmelds which have a fixed range (e.g. personal, touch) are not affected.

[Pechvarry]

Off-topic: Gemini, I just forwarded the trissociate to my brother. He's been mulling over generic classes for his next campaign, and I think your class could achieve what he's after with a lot more grace than what UA has. Not that I expect him to get it started soon.

@vecna: this is perhaps the first time in 6 months that my first reaction wasn't binder. Zceryll doesn't really fit (though I could reflavor out of pseudonatural), but malphas would be a good start.