Zealous Scholar (3.5 PRC PEACH)

[Tesla]

'Knowledge is power.'

Requirements
Feats: Archivist of Nature, and Draconic Archivist.
Skills: Knowledge (arcana) 9 ranks , Knowledge (divine) 9 ranks, Knowledge (any) 9 ranks, and Spellcraft 9 ranks.
Spells: Ability to prepare 2nd-level arcane spells and 2nd-level divine spells.
Special: Dark Knowledge class feature.

Hit Die
d4

Skill Points
4 + Int

Class Skills
Concentration, Craft (all), Decipher Script, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Heal, Knowledge (all), Profession (all), Search, and Spellcraft.

{table=head] Level | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special | Spellcasting
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | Dark Knowledge, Spell Power +1 | +1 level of existing arcane class/+1 level of existing divine class
2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | Tome of Spells | +1 level of existing arcane class/+1 level of existing divine class
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | Bonus Feat | +1 level of existing arcane class/+1 level of existing divine class
4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | Dark Knowledge (Puissance), Spell Power +2 | +1 level of existing arcane class/+1 level of existing divine class
5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | Skill Mastery | +1 level of existing arcane class/+1 level of existing divine class
6 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 | Bonus Feat | +1 level of existing arcane class/+1 level of existing divine class
7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 | Dark Knowledge (Foe), Spell Power +3 | +1 level of existing arcane class/+1 level of existing divine class
8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 6 | Magic Knowledge | +1 level of existing arcane class/+1 level of existing divine class
9 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 6 | Bonus Feat | +1 level of existing arcane class/+1 level of existing divine class
10 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 7 | Dark Knowledge (Foreknowledge), Spell Power +4 | +1 level of existing arcane class/+1 level of existing divine class
[/table]

Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Zealous Scholars gain no proficiency in any weapons or armor.

Spellcasting: When a character takes their first level of Zealous Scholar they pick one arcane spellcasting class they belong to and one divine spellcasting class that they belong to, and then at each level they gain new spells per day and an increase in caster level (and spells known, if applicable) as if they had also gained a level in those two classes. They do not, however, gain any other class feature a character of that class would have gained. Additionally they may now prepare both classes spells simultaneously.

Dark Knowledge: A character adds their Zealous Scholar level to their Archivist level to determine how many times per day they can use their Dark Knowledge ability. Additionally they may now use their Dark Knowledge ability against any creature type.

Puissance: See the Archivist class feature of the same name.

Foe: See the Archivist class feature of the same name.

Foreknowledge: See the Archivist class feature of the same name.

Spell Power (Ex): At 1st level the caster level for the chosen spellcasting classes increases by 1. It increases again at 4th level, 7th level, and 10th level (to a maximum of +4). This benefit can't increase a Zealous Scholar's caster level to higher than their Hit Dice. This ability increases the Zealous Scholar’s effective caster level by +1 (for purposes of determining level-dependent spell variables such as damage dice or range, and caster level checks only).

Tome of Spells (Ex): At 2nd level and higher, a Zealous Scholar uses a unique system for recording the details of a spell that drastically reduces the expense of maintaining spellbooks. Every spell they learn from now on requires only a single page in their spellbook. It still takes 24 hours to scribe a spell into a spellbook and materials costing 100 gp per page. A Zealous Scholar's spellbook is difficult for non-Zealous Scholar's to decipher and use. The Spellcraft DC to decipher or prepare spells from a Zealous Scholar’s spellbook is increased by 5 for non-Zealous Scholar's.

Bonus Feats: At 3rd, 6th, and 9th level, a Zealous Scholar gains a bonus feat. At each such opportunity, they can choose a feat from the following list: Skill Focus (any Knowledge skill), any metamagic feat, any item creation feat, or Spell Mastery. The Zealous Scholar must still meet all prerequisites for a bonus feat, including caster level minimums.

Skill Mastery (Ex): At 5th level and higher, a Zealous Scholar is so capable in the use of Knowledge skills that they can use them reliably even under adverse conditions. When making a check with any Knowledge skill that they have at least 10 ranks in, they can take 10 even if stress and distractions would normally prevent them from doing so.

Magic Knowledge (Ex): At 8th level, a Zealous Scholar gains the ability to understand magic items. By spending an hour with an item they gain the same benefit as having cast Identify on it.

Author's Notes: My goal for this class was to emulate the Arcane Hierophant power level for Archivist/Wizards. The reason being that I enjoy the flavor a dual-casting librarian.

This class would be counted as a variant of Mystic Theurge to prevent outright brokenness, and due to roleplay requirements any characters who takes it would not be able to get 9th level spells before epic. Just wanted to include that for the sake of proper critiquing.

This is still a relatively rough draft so feel free to suggest anything. I welcome all critiques and suggestions. Thank you very much for taking the time to read all of this, and I sincerely hope to hear your thoughts on it soon.

[Plato Play-Doh]

I like it. I'm not an expert on balance, but it seems good to me, and the idea of the librarian that just DARES you to damage their books puts an awesome image in my head!

[Network]

The table doesn't have the + in front of BAB and saves as i'm used to, but I have nothing else to say about it.

Additionally they may now use their Dark Knowledge ability against any creature type.
Such as animals, humanoids, moustruous humanoids and outsiders? This means instant bonuses to a lot of things if the character succeeds on his skill check.

Spell Power (Ex): At 1st level the caster level for the chosen spellcasting classes increases by 1. It increases again at 4th level, 7th level, and 10th level (to a maximum of +4). This benefit can't increase a Zealous Scholar's caster level to higher than their Hit Dice.
This ability is confusing... is it a real increase (as in ''more spells per day'') or simply an increase in effective caster level? The wording suggest the former, while you probably intended the latter.

Edit :
This class would be counted as a variant of Mystic Theurge to prevent outright brokenness, and due to roleplay requirements any characters who takes it would not be able to get 9th level spells before epic. Just wanted to include that for the sake of proper critiquing.
Why? You can fulfil the prerequisites at six levels, three in both spellcasting classes, and gain access to 9th level spells just as fast as with the mystic theurge. I don't understand your point.

[Tesla]

Plato: Thank you very much for the comment, and for the interesting image.

Network: The lack of pluses was to save space, but I can see how it would be odd.


Such as animals, humanoids, moustruous humanoids and outsiders? This means instant bonuses to a lot of things if the character succeeds on his skill check.

That was intentional as I see no reason not to expand it since it is not an overtly powerful ability from what I have seen of it, and it makes them a bit more viable in the short term. Additionally the Scholar is meant to have a large amount of overall knowledge, and so it fits thematically as well.


This ability is confusing... is it a real increase (as in ''more spells per day'') or simply an increase in effective caster level? The wording suggest the former, while you probably intended the latter.

I did intend the latter, but took the wording from a poorly worded ability. Thank you for alerting me to this, and I have just edited it.


Why? You can fulfil the prerequisites at six levels, three in both spellcasting classes, and gain access to 9th level spells just as fast as with the mystic theurge. I don't understand your point.

This one is a hard one to explain, but it is essentially because a Zealous Scholar is more likely to go for two four year degrees over one eight year degree. While this post does not have much of their flavor yet, they are intended to have more general knowledge over specialized knowledge.

Balance wise it is to make it so that they are not just an outright stronger version of the Mystic Theurge, even though that class is considered weak and making it viable was an intent of this class. You could forgo this rule if it feels unbecoming, but the intent was that a Zealous Scholar would seek to continue distributed knowledge over focused knowledge. Not quite sure if that will make any sense to people other than me, but I hope that it does.

Thank you for the help.

[Network]

Thank you for the help.
I'm always glad to help whenever I can.

Spell Power (Ex): At 1st level the caster level for the chosen spellcasting classes increases by 1. It increases again at 4th level, 7th level, and 10th level (to a maximum of +4). This benefit can't increase a Zealous Scholar's caster level to higher than their Hit Dice. Additionally this ability does not affect spells per day or spells known. It increases caster level only, which helps penetrate spell resistance and increase the duration and other effects of spells.
This is not quite the wording I expected. I mean, this can work (though I'd remove ''additionally'', which seems redundant), but the side effect is that the increase also apply to prerequisites fulfilment. I'm not sure if the term ''effective caster level'' is of common use, but that's how its called in some official PrC, a notable one being the Green Star Adept. It increases the power of spells but not the spells per day, spells known or (iirc) ability to fulfil prerequisites.

[Jeff the Green]

When I saw the prereqs, I was about to shout "Hell no!", but I managed to look at the class features. This is actually pretty decent. I would personally prefer 3rd level divine or arcane and 1st-level of the other, otherwise the early levels are going to be pretty rough on a primary caster. If you don't want people to enter it at 6th-level, you should make it a crunch requirement, though I wouldn't suggest it. Mystic theurge is not the balance point you want to be going for.

For Spell Power, copy/paste the relevant text from archmage.

For Magic Knowledge, specify how this works. It really should be an SLA.

Otherwise, it's a pretty solid theurge class.