Fates
2013-06-29, 01:55 AM
The Planar Binder
Hope not ever to see Heaven. I have come to lead you to the
other shore; into eternal darkness; into fire and into ice.
-Dante
Planar binders are binders whose unique powers allow them to bind the spirits of elementals and outsiders (hereafter known as "essences") to themselves, rather than vestiges. From here on out, they will simply be referred to as "binders."
(I'll consider adding more fluff later)
Making a Binder
Binders can serve many roles in the party, depending on what essences they bind to themselves. They are able to fill several niches, from frontline combatant to blaster to party buffer or healer, and even thief/spy. Due to their high charisma and array of social skills, Binders can also make an excellent party face.
Abilities
In order to bind such powerful forces to their bodies, Binders require a strong force of will. Charisma is by far their most important ability, as it determines their skill at binding, as well as the save DCs of supernatural and spell-like abilities granted by their essences. Beyond that, a good dexterity score is useful due to their lack of medium or heavy armour proficiency, and constitution is, as always, necessary for durability in combat.
Alignment
Binders may be of any alignment, and their alignment greatly affects how they function as a class. While it is possible for any binder to bind any manner of essence, binding an essence of an opposing alignment can be a great challenge, while essences of your own alignment are quite easy to bind.
Hit Die: d8
Starting gold/Starting Age: As Cleric
Class Skills: Bluff (Cha) Concentration (Con) Craft (Int) Decipher Script (Int) Diplomacy (Cha) Gather Information (Cha) Intimidate (Cha) Knowledge (arcana, religion, the planes) (Int) Profession (Wis) Sense Motive (Wis) Speak Language (Int)
{table=head]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special|Maximum Essence Level
1|+0|2|0|2|Planar Binding (1 Essence), Aligned Influence +1|1st
2|+1|3|0|3|Pact Augmentation (1 Ability), Suppress Sign|1st
3|+2|3|1|3|—|2nd
4|+3|4|1|4|Bonus Feat|2nd
5|+3|4|1|4|Pact Augmentation (2 Abilities)|3rd
6|+4|5|2|5|Integral Bond I| 3rd
7|+5|5|2|5|Aligned Influence +2|4th
8|+6/+1|6|2|6|Planar Binding (2 Essences)|4th
9|+6/+1|6|3|6|Integral Bond II|5th
10|+7/+2|7|3|7|Pact Augmentation (3 Abilities)|5th
11|+8/+3|7|3|7|Bonus Feat|6th
12|+9/+4|8|4|8|—|6th
13|+9/+4|8|4|8|Integral Bond III|7th
14|+10/+5|9|4|9|Planar Binding (3 Essences)|7th
15|+11/+6/+1|9|5|9|Aligned Influence +3|8th
16|+12/+7/+2|10|5|10|Pact Augmentation (4 Abilities)|8th
17|+12/+7/+2|10|5|10|—|9th
18|+13/+8/+3|11|6|11|Bonus Feat|9th
19|+14/+9/+4|11|6|11|Integral Bond IV|9th
20|+15/+10/+5|12|6|12|Pact Augmentation (4 Abilities), Planar Binding (4 Essences)|9th
[/table]
Class Features
Weapons/Armour Proficiency
Binders are proficient with all simple weapons, as well as light armour and shields.
Planar Binding (Su)
Through special methods known only to binders, you can contact an essence and make a pact with it. At 1st level, you can make a pact with one essence at a time. At higher levels, you can form and maintain pacts with multiple essences simultaneously, as shown on the table above. You must complete the summoning and binding process with each separately, so each has its normal chance to influence you. You bear the physical sign of binding for each one. Your effective binder level, or EBL (your binder class level plus any soul binding bonuses you receive from prestige classes or other sources), determines the maximum level of essence you can summon, as well as all other functions related to binding essences. This value equates to your binder class level, as given on the table, for this purpose. If the essence you are trying to contact is of a higher level than your indicated maximum, you cannot summon it.
To contact an essence, you must draw a seal visibly on a surface (generally the ground), making the image at least 5 feet across. You may attempt to contact either a specific outsider whose name you know (and usually learned from summoning it previously) or you may simply summon an outsider of a chosen variety, IE babau, astral deva, or small fire elemental. Drawing a seal requires the ability to mark a surface and 1 minute of concentration, and the act provokes attacks of opportunity. A seal not used within 1 minute of its drawing loses all potency, and you must draw a new one to contact the essence. An essence might also have other requirements for contact, as noted in its entry.
Once the seal is drawn, you must perform a ritual requiring a full-round action to summon the corresponding essence. If you are summoning a specific individual during this time, you must touch the seal and call out to the essence using both its name and its title. A manifestation of the chosen outsider, or its essence, appears in the seal's space as soon as you finish the ritual. The essence is not an actual creature; it is merely the incarnation of the outsider's soul, and cannot harm or be harmed by any creature. Creatures that interact with the image or study it carefully automatically recognize it as immaterial. The summoned essence ignores everyone but you. If you fail to address it within 1 round, it disappears. The essence speaks in whatever languages the creature would normally be capable of speaking- this means that certain essences, such as most elementals, cannot be summoned without knowledge of their native language.
To make a pact with your summoned essence, you must make a binding check (1d20 + your effective binder level + your Cha modifier). This process requires 1 minute, but you can choose to make a rushed binding check as a full-round action at a —10 penalty. The DC for this check is provided in the description of each essence. You must make your perilous pact alone; others cannot aid you in any way. You gain a +4 bonus to your binding check if you already know the name of the essence, and an additional +2 if you have bound it in the past.
Whether the binding check succeeds or fails, you gain the powers granted by the essence for 24 hours. During that time, you cannot rid yourself of the essence unless you possess the Expel Vestige feat. Success or failure does, however, determine other aspects of the pact. If you fail the binding check, the essence influences your personality and your actions, and you are said to have made a poor pact. (Specifically, the essence's presence changes your general demeanor, and it can force you to perform or refrain from certain actions.) If you fail your binding check by 5 or more, you cannot summon that essence or any others of the same sort of creature (IE imp, coure as opposed to devil, eladrin) for 24 hours. If your binding check is successful, the essence has no control over your actions and does not influence your personality. In this case, you are said to have made a good pact.
While under the influence of an essence, you must adhere to its requirements to the best of your ability. If you are conscious and free-willed, and you encounter a situation in which you cannot or will not refrain from a prohibited action or perform a required one, you take a —1 penalty on attack rolls, saving throws, and checks until that essence leaves you. If you are influenced by more than one essence, you must act according to all their influences. If you fail to fulfill the requirements of more than one essence or disobey a single essence more than once, the penalties stack.
As long as you are bound to an essence, you manifest a specific physical sign of its presence, as given in its entry. This sign is real, not an illusory or shapechanging effect, and someone using true seeing perceives it just as it is. You can hide a sign by mundane or magical means without penalty, or you can prevent it from appearing at all if you have the suppress sign ability.
Essences are bound to your soul by the pact. They cannot be targeted or expelled by any means except the Expel Vestige feat, nor can they be suppressed except by an antimagic field or similar effect.
The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against any supernatural power granted by an essence is 10 + 1/2 your effective binder level + your Cha modifier.
Attempting to bind an essence of a different alignment from that of those currently bound to you can be problematic, as most essences disdain sharing a body with other extraplanar creatures of different alignments. You take a penalty of -1 to your binding check for every step away from the alignment of each axis of your current essences the new essence is, and an additional -4 for each essence that is of the opposite alignment; the binding check gains a bonus of +2 for each currently bound essence with an alignment on the same part of either access of their own (+2 if the G/E axis is the same, +2 if the L/C axis is the same). Demons and devils are a special case, as, due to the ongoing blood war between the two, attempting to bind one while the other is present incurs an extra -4. Celestials and fiends gain no bonus to the binding check for sharing an alignment axis, due to their absolute hatred for each other. True Neutral essences incur an extra -1 when attempting to bind essences of extreme alignments. So, for example, if a 20th-level binder attempts to bind a trumpet archon, but already has a greater earth elemental, a ghael eladrin and a glabrezu demon bound, he would end up with a -10 penalty to his binding check; -2 from the elemental, because, being neutral, it is one step away from the archon on both axes. -8 from the glabrezu, because it is two steps away from the archon on both axes (-4), and of the opposite alignment (-4). The Ghael has no effect, as it is two steps away from the archon on the law/chaos axis, resulting in a -2 penalty, but is also good, like the archon, resulting in a +2 bonus.
If that's all too much for you to remember (I'm sure it is for me), just check this handy little table!
{table=head]Alignment of Essence|LG|NG|CG|LN|TN|CN|LE|NE|CE
LG|+4|+1|+0|+1|-2|-3|-2|-3|-8
NG|+1|+4|+1|-2|+1|-2|-3|-6|-3
CG|+0|+1|+4|-3|-2|+1|-8|-3|-2
LN|+1|-2|-3|+4|+1|-6|+1|-2|-3
TN|-3|+1|-3|+1|+4|+1|-3|+1|-3
CN|-3|-2|+1|-6|+1|+4|-3|-2|+1
LE|-2|-3|-8|+1|-2|-3|+4|+1|-4
NE|-3|-6|-3|-2|+1|-2|+1|+4|+1
[/table]
Aligned Influence (Ex)
The creatures of the outer plains have considerable insight as to the motives of the person binding them, and will submit or resist accordingly. A binder gains a +2 bonus on her binding check for every alignment she shares with an essence she attempts to bind. If the outsider manifesting the essence has at least 10 intelligence and wisdom, the binder takes a -2 penalty to her binding check for every alignment of hers that is opposed to the essences. For example, a NG binder would gain a +2 bonus on her binding check when binding LG essences, but would take a -2 penalty when binding NE essences.
In addition, the DCs for any ability granted by an essence of the same alignment as you is increased by 1. This bonus increases to +2 at 7th level and +3 at 15th level.
Pact Augmentation (Su)
Beginning at 2nd level, you can draw additional power from the essences you bind. As long as you are bound to at least one essence, you can choose one ability from the following list. Each time you rebind a essence, you also reselect your pact augmentation ability.
As you attain higher levels, you can make additional selections from the list. You gain one additional ability at 5th, 10th, 16th, and 20th level (to a maximum of five selections at 20th level). You can choose a single ability multiple times, and their effects stack.
{table=head]Pact Augmentation Abilities
+5 Hit Points
Energy Resistance 5 (any one element)
DR 2/Silver, Cold Iron, Alignment*, +X**
+1 Insight Bonus to all Saving Throws
+2 Natural Armor Bonus to AC
+2 Insight Bonus to all cha-based skill checks
+2 Insight Bonus on Binding Checks
Natural and Weapon Attacks Bypass DR: Silver, Cold Iron, Alignment*, +X**
+1 Insight Bonus to Attack Rolls
+2 Insight Bonus to Initiative Checks
[/table]
*Choose One Alignment
**X=1/4 Binder Level.
Suppress Sign (Ex)
At 2nd level and higher, when you make a good pact, you can choose not to exhibit the physical sign that normally accompanies a pact with an essence. You can suppress or reveal the sign at will as a swift action. With a poor pact, you gain the powers of the essence, but you cannot suppress its sign. You show it for the duration of the pact and are influenced by it as normal.
Bonus Feats
Binders may choose either fighter bonus feats or feats found in the Pact Magic chapter in Tome of Magic (for all feat-related intents and purposes, essences are identical to vestiges). The binder must possess all the requirements for their chosen feat.
Integral Bond (Su)
As the binder increases in power, he is able to form closer bonds with the essences which he binds to his soul. This gives him additional powers and resistances over time.
I: The binder gains a immunity to fear effects.
II: The binder gains SR 12+class levels, that does not impede positive spell effects, and increases by two against the spells and spell-like abilities of outsiders.
III: The binder gains immunity to ability damage/drain, and a permanent magic circle spell of the alignment of the binder's choice, centered on the binder and activated or deactivated as a free action.
IV: The binder gains the outsider type, and is immune to banishment and mind-affecting spells and effects.
Essences Still to Come!
Hope not ever to see Heaven. I have come to lead you to the
other shore; into eternal darkness; into fire and into ice.
-Dante
Planar binders are binders whose unique powers allow them to bind the spirits of elementals and outsiders (hereafter known as "essences") to themselves, rather than vestiges. From here on out, they will simply be referred to as "binders."
(I'll consider adding more fluff later)
Making a Binder
Binders can serve many roles in the party, depending on what essences they bind to themselves. They are able to fill several niches, from frontline combatant to blaster to party buffer or healer, and even thief/spy. Due to their high charisma and array of social skills, Binders can also make an excellent party face.
Abilities
In order to bind such powerful forces to their bodies, Binders require a strong force of will. Charisma is by far their most important ability, as it determines their skill at binding, as well as the save DCs of supernatural and spell-like abilities granted by their essences. Beyond that, a good dexterity score is useful due to their lack of medium or heavy armour proficiency, and constitution is, as always, necessary for durability in combat.
Alignment
Binders may be of any alignment, and their alignment greatly affects how they function as a class. While it is possible for any binder to bind any manner of essence, binding an essence of an opposing alignment can be a great challenge, while essences of your own alignment are quite easy to bind.
Hit Die: d8
Starting gold/Starting Age: As Cleric
Class Skills: Bluff (Cha) Concentration (Con) Craft (Int) Decipher Script (Int) Diplomacy (Cha) Gather Information (Cha) Intimidate (Cha) Knowledge (arcana, religion, the planes) (Int) Profession (Wis) Sense Motive (Wis) Speak Language (Int)
{table=head]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special|Maximum Essence Level
1|+0|2|0|2|Planar Binding (1 Essence), Aligned Influence +1|1st
2|+1|3|0|3|Pact Augmentation (1 Ability), Suppress Sign|1st
3|+2|3|1|3|—|2nd
4|+3|4|1|4|Bonus Feat|2nd
5|+3|4|1|4|Pact Augmentation (2 Abilities)|3rd
6|+4|5|2|5|Integral Bond I| 3rd
7|+5|5|2|5|Aligned Influence +2|4th
8|+6/+1|6|2|6|Planar Binding (2 Essences)|4th
9|+6/+1|6|3|6|Integral Bond II|5th
10|+7/+2|7|3|7|Pact Augmentation (3 Abilities)|5th
11|+8/+3|7|3|7|Bonus Feat|6th
12|+9/+4|8|4|8|—|6th
13|+9/+4|8|4|8|Integral Bond III|7th
14|+10/+5|9|4|9|Planar Binding (3 Essences)|7th
15|+11/+6/+1|9|5|9|Aligned Influence +3|8th
16|+12/+7/+2|10|5|10|Pact Augmentation (4 Abilities)|8th
17|+12/+7/+2|10|5|10|—|9th
18|+13/+8/+3|11|6|11|Bonus Feat|9th
19|+14/+9/+4|11|6|11|Integral Bond IV|9th
20|+15/+10/+5|12|6|12|Pact Augmentation (4 Abilities), Planar Binding (4 Essences)|9th
[/table]
Class Features
Weapons/Armour Proficiency
Binders are proficient with all simple weapons, as well as light armour and shields.
Planar Binding (Su)
Through special methods known only to binders, you can contact an essence and make a pact with it. At 1st level, you can make a pact with one essence at a time. At higher levels, you can form and maintain pacts with multiple essences simultaneously, as shown on the table above. You must complete the summoning and binding process with each separately, so each has its normal chance to influence you. You bear the physical sign of binding for each one. Your effective binder level, or EBL (your binder class level plus any soul binding bonuses you receive from prestige classes or other sources), determines the maximum level of essence you can summon, as well as all other functions related to binding essences. This value equates to your binder class level, as given on the table, for this purpose. If the essence you are trying to contact is of a higher level than your indicated maximum, you cannot summon it.
To contact an essence, you must draw a seal visibly on a surface (generally the ground), making the image at least 5 feet across. You may attempt to contact either a specific outsider whose name you know (and usually learned from summoning it previously) or you may simply summon an outsider of a chosen variety, IE babau, astral deva, or small fire elemental. Drawing a seal requires the ability to mark a surface and 1 minute of concentration, and the act provokes attacks of opportunity. A seal not used within 1 minute of its drawing loses all potency, and you must draw a new one to contact the essence. An essence might also have other requirements for contact, as noted in its entry.
Once the seal is drawn, you must perform a ritual requiring a full-round action to summon the corresponding essence. If you are summoning a specific individual during this time, you must touch the seal and call out to the essence using both its name and its title. A manifestation of the chosen outsider, or its essence, appears in the seal's space as soon as you finish the ritual. The essence is not an actual creature; it is merely the incarnation of the outsider's soul, and cannot harm or be harmed by any creature. Creatures that interact with the image or study it carefully automatically recognize it as immaterial. The summoned essence ignores everyone but you. If you fail to address it within 1 round, it disappears. The essence speaks in whatever languages the creature would normally be capable of speaking- this means that certain essences, such as most elementals, cannot be summoned without knowledge of their native language.
To make a pact with your summoned essence, you must make a binding check (1d20 + your effective binder level + your Cha modifier). This process requires 1 minute, but you can choose to make a rushed binding check as a full-round action at a —10 penalty. The DC for this check is provided in the description of each essence. You must make your perilous pact alone; others cannot aid you in any way. You gain a +4 bonus to your binding check if you already know the name of the essence, and an additional +2 if you have bound it in the past.
Whether the binding check succeeds or fails, you gain the powers granted by the essence for 24 hours. During that time, you cannot rid yourself of the essence unless you possess the Expel Vestige feat. Success or failure does, however, determine other aspects of the pact. If you fail the binding check, the essence influences your personality and your actions, and you are said to have made a poor pact. (Specifically, the essence's presence changes your general demeanor, and it can force you to perform or refrain from certain actions.) If you fail your binding check by 5 or more, you cannot summon that essence or any others of the same sort of creature (IE imp, coure as opposed to devil, eladrin) for 24 hours. If your binding check is successful, the essence has no control over your actions and does not influence your personality. In this case, you are said to have made a good pact.
While under the influence of an essence, you must adhere to its requirements to the best of your ability. If you are conscious and free-willed, and you encounter a situation in which you cannot or will not refrain from a prohibited action or perform a required one, you take a —1 penalty on attack rolls, saving throws, and checks until that essence leaves you. If you are influenced by more than one essence, you must act according to all their influences. If you fail to fulfill the requirements of more than one essence or disobey a single essence more than once, the penalties stack.
As long as you are bound to an essence, you manifest a specific physical sign of its presence, as given in its entry. This sign is real, not an illusory or shapechanging effect, and someone using true seeing perceives it just as it is. You can hide a sign by mundane or magical means without penalty, or you can prevent it from appearing at all if you have the suppress sign ability.
Essences are bound to your soul by the pact. They cannot be targeted or expelled by any means except the Expel Vestige feat, nor can they be suppressed except by an antimagic field or similar effect.
The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against any supernatural power granted by an essence is 10 + 1/2 your effective binder level + your Cha modifier.
Attempting to bind an essence of a different alignment from that of those currently bound to you can be problematic, as most essences disdain sharing a body with other extraplanar creatures of different alignments. You take a penalty of -1 to your binding check for every step away from the alignment of each axis of your current essences the new essence is, and an additional -4 for each essence that is of the opposite alignment; the binding check gains a bonus of +2 for each currently bound essence with an alignment on the same part of either access of their own (+2 if the G/E axis is the same, +2 if the L/C axis is the same). Demons and devils are a special case, as, due to the ongoing blood war between the two, attempting to bind one while the other is present incurs an extra -4. Celestials and fiends gain no bonus to the binding check for sharing an alignment axis, due to their absolute hatred for each other. True Neutral essences incur an extra -1 when attempting to bind essences of extreme alignments. So, for example, if a 20th-level binder attempts to bind a trumpet archon, but already has a greater earth elemental, a ghael eladrin and a glabrezu demon bound, he would end up with a -10 penalty to his binding check; -2 from the elemental, because, being neutral, it is one step away from the archon on both axes. -8 from the glabrezu, because it is two steps away from the archon on both axes (-4), and of the opposite alignment (-4). The Ghael has no effect, as it is two steps away from the archon on the law/chaos axis, resulting in a -2 penalty, but is also good, like the archon, resulting in a +2 bonus.
If that's all too much for you to remember (I'm sure it is for me), just check this handy little table!
{table=head]Alignment of Essence|LG|NG|CG|LN|TN|CN|LE|NE|CE
LG|+4|+1|+0|+1|-2|-3|-2|-3|-8
NG|+1|+4|+1|-2|+1|-2|-3|-6|-3
CG|+0|+1|+4|-3|-2|+1|-8|-3|-2
LN|+1|-2|-3|+4|+1|-6|+1|-2|-3
TN|-3|+1|-3|+1|+4|+1|-3|+1|-3
CN|-3|-2|+1|-6|+1|+4|-3|-2|+1
LE|-2|-3|-8|+1|-2|-3|+4|+1|-4
NE|-3|-6|-3|-2|+1|-2|+1|+4|+1
[/table]
Aligned Influence (Ex)
The creatures of the outer plains have considerable insight as to the motives of the person binding them, and will submit or resist accordingly. A binder gains a +2 bonus on her binding check for every alignment she shares with an essence she attempts to bind. If the outsider manifesting the essence has at least 10 intelligence and wisdom, the binder takes a -2 penalty to her binding check for every alignment of hers that is opposed to the essences. For example, a NG binder would gain a +2 bonus on her binding check when binding LG essences, but would take a -2 penalty when binding NE essences.
In addition, the DCs for any ability granted by an essence of the same alignment as you is increased by 1. This bonus increases to +2 at 7th level and +3 at 15th level.
Pact Augmentation (Su)
Beginning at 2nd level, you can draw additional power from the essences you bind. As long as you are bound to at least one essence, you can choose one ability from the following list. Each time you rebind a essence, you also reselect your pact augmentation ability.
As you attain higher levels, you can make additional selections from the list. You gain one additional ability at 5th, 10th, 16th, and 20th level (to a maximum of five selections at 20th level). You can choose a single ability multiple times, and their effects stack.
{table=head]Pact Augmentation Abilities
+5 Hit Points
Energy Resistance 5 (any one element)
DR 2/Silver, Cold Iron, Alignment*, +X**
+1 Insight Bonus to all Saving Throws
+2 Natural Armor Bonus to AC
+2 Insight Bonus to all cha-based skill checks
+2 Insight Bonus on Binding Checks
Natural and Weapon Attacks Bypass DR: Silver, Cold Iron, Alignment*, +X**
+1 Insight Bonus to Attack Rolls
+2 Insight Bonus to Initiative Checks
[/table]
*Choose One Alignment
**X=1/4 Binder Level.
Suppress Sign (Ex)
At 2nd level and higher, when you make a good pact, you can choose not to exhibit the physical sign that normally accompanies a pact with an essence. You can suppress or reveal the sign at will as a swift action. With a poor pact, you gain the powers of the essence, but you cannot suppress its sign. You show it for the duration of the pact and are influenced by it as normal.
Bonus Feats
Binders may choose either fighter bonus feats or feats found in the Pact Magic chapter in Tome of Magic (for all feat-related intents and purposes, essences are identical to vestiges). The binder must possess all the requirements for their chosen feat.
Integral Bond (Su)
As the binder increases in power, he is able to form closer bonds with the essences which he binds to his soul. This gives him additional powers and resistances over time.
I: The binder gains a immunity to fear effects.
II: The binder gains SR 12+class levels, that does not impede positive spell effects, and increases by two against the spells and spell-like abilities of outsiders.
III: The binder gains immunity to ability damage/drain, and a permanent magic circle spell of the alignment of the binder's choice, centered on the binder and activated or deactivated as a free action.
IV: The binder gains the outsider type, and is immune to banishment and mind-affecting spells and effects.
Essences Still to Come!