Baveboi
2013-10-29, 02:40 AM
The Arcanist of Imaskar
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/pgtf_gallery/78890.jpg
Imaskar have been a great empire in the east during the time Netheril was but a gathering of tribes and I always felt they received much less love and dedication than the other users of High Magic, like the Elven empires and their brother Arcanists from Netheril. This class is an ongoing effort to fix that, at least in part. That's why I am going for it.
As for the how, I found Arcanist's and Dicefreak's version of the old Netherese Arcanist to be very good and flavorful and I wanted to take part in that, at least a little. I am also using another version of the Netherese Arcanist found in a PDF that neither have had previous contact with, according to their own testimony. What had began as a scoobydoo-esque type of mystery has now became one of my most beloved treasures, as it stands like a Nether Scroll inside my hard-drive. If you want to see the PDF in question, send me a PM, I am not as jealous of my own knowledge as the Netherese were. :smallbiggrin:
Note that the class has been severely toned down from the other aforementioned versions in an effort to compensate for a spontaneous variant of a wizard, something that Dicefreak and Arcanist had done, in part, but in my opinion still retained their power levels way over nine thousand. This class is supposed to wage war against gods and build entire planar cities, but out of sheer hard-work and effort, not because they have an edge the size of Soul Edge. That said, it will suffer some alterations as I go and probably receive an Epic Version and two or three prestige classes(!), but this is the core of it.People, PEACH this. PEACH like no one has ever PEACHed before.
Feel free to judge the class as harshly as you want. This is my third attempt at homebrew (the others were just minor development of existing classes) so I am eager to know what the community here in the Playgrounds think of this. But please be gentle...
. Arcanists were the major spellcasters of the old empires of yore who spammed the globe, from the northern tribes of Netheril to the shinning deserts of High Imaskar. Considered one of the most prestigious of professions, the Arcanist was the equivalent to the modern-day wizard or sorcerer. But with this prestige came a price. Their philosophy rendered them incapable of accepting any help from divine magic from any source, to the point they would sooner die than willingly accept healing from a priestly spell.
. One of the largest differences between Imaskari spell-casters and their brethren from more modern times concerned the aspect of spell memorization. Arcanists didn't memorize spells, they simply reached into the weave—the source of all magic—and plucked out the mystical energies they sought. They still recorded the spells that they knew upon spell books for review from time to time, but they didn't need to spend hours studying for spells. They could still cast only the spells they knew, however, and their magical storehouse of knowledge still required a good night’s sleep to replenish itself.
. Adventures:
. Characteristics:
. Alignment:
. Religion:
. Background:
Game Rule Information
. Abilities: Intelligence determines how powerful a spell an Arcanist can cast, how many spells she can cast, and how hard those spells are to resist. To learn or cast a spell, the Arcanist must have an Intelligence score equal to at least 10 + the spell’s level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against an Arcanist’s spell is 10 + the spell’s level + the Arcanist’s Intelligence modifier. High Dexterity is helpful for an Arcanist, because she typically wears little or no armor. A good Constitution is also helpful, as it gives an Arcanist extra hit points, a resource that she is otherwise very low on.
. Alignment: Any.
. Hit Die: d4.
. Class Skills:
The arcanist’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Knowledge (all skills, taken individually) (Int), Profession (Wis), Spellcraft (Int) and Use Magic Device (Cha).
. Skill Points at 1st Level: (2 + Int modifier) x 4.
. Skill Points at Higher Levels: 2 + Int modifier.
Table 1-1
{table=head]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special|Arks/day|Weave Depth
1st|+0|+0|+0|+2|Familiar, Spellbook, Fields of Magic, Divine Aversion|1|1st|
2nd|+1|+0|+0|+3||2|1st|
3rd|+1|+1|+1|+3||5|2nd|
4th|+2|+1|+1|+4||9|2nd|
5th|+2|+1|+1|+4|Lesser Imaskari Craft|14|3rd|
6th|+3|+2|+2|+5||22|3rd|
7th|+3|+2|+2|+5||30|4th|
8th|+4|+2|+2|+6||42|4th|
9th|+4|+3|+3|+6||54|5th|
10th|+5|+3|+3|+7|Greater Imaskari Craft|70|5th|
11th|+5|+3|+3|+7||86|6th|
12th|+6/+1|+4|+4|+8||106|6th|
13th|+6/+1|+4|+4|+8||126|7th|
14th|+7/+2|+4|+4|+9||150|7th|
15th|+7/+2|+5|+5|+9|Imaskari Artisan|174|8th|
16th|+8/+3|+5|+5|+10||202|8th|
17th|+8/+3|+5|+5|+10||230|9th|
18th|+9/+4|+6|+6|+11||262|9th|
19th|+9/+4|+6|+6|+11||292|9th|
20th|+10/+5|+6|+6|+12|Epic Spellcasting|324|9th|[/table]
Class Feature
All of the following are class features of the arcanist.
. Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: Arcanists are proficient with the club, dagger, heavy crossbow, light crossbow, and quarterstaff, but not with any type of armor or shield. Armor of any type interferes with an arcanist’s movements, which can cause her spells with somatic components to fail.
. Spells: An arcanist casts arcane spells which are drawn from the sorcerer/wizard spell list. An arcanist need not choose and prepare her spells ahead of time. Instead, she can cast any spell she has recorded in her spell library (see Spellbooks, below) simply by drawing energy from the Weave and shaping it appropriately. The spells an arcanist can cast in this way are limited by her level (see Weave Depth, below).
. Weave Depth: The more complex a spell is, the deeper an arcanist must reach into the fabric of magic to cast it. An arcanist begins play with the ability to cast cantrips and 1st-level spells. As she attains higher levels, the arcanist may gain the ability to cast more complex spells from the list of Wiz/Sorc spells.
. Arks: An Arcanist’s ability to cast spells is limited by the arks she has available. Her base daily allotment of arks is given on Table 1–1. In addition, she receives bonus arcs per day if she has a high Intelligence score (see Table 1–5). Certain feats and items may also provide bonus arcs per day. Each spell costs a certain number of arcs to cast. The higher the level of the spell, the more arcs it costs. Table 1–2 describes each spell’s cost per level. In order to replenish her store of arks, the Arcanist must rest for at least eight hours and then spend fifteen minutes concentrating on the fabric of magic itself. Any arks spent within the last eight hours count against the Arcanist’s daily limit and are not restored.
Table 1–2: Ark Costs per Spell Level
Spell Level|Ark Cost
0|0*
1st|1
2nd|3
3rd|5
4th|7
5th|9
6th|11
7th|13
8th|15
9th|17
* 0-level spells (cantrips) typically cost no arks to cast. An Arcanist can cast a number of cantrips per day equal to 3 + her Int modifier. Any additional 0-level spells in a day cost 1 ark each.
. Metamagic: WIP
. Bonus Languages: An arcanist may substitute Draconic for one of the bonus languages available to the character because of her race.
. Familiar: An Arcanist can obtain a Familiar as per the Wizard and Sorcerer Class Feature.
. Spellbook: An arcanist must learn spells before she can cast them, and part of this process is scribing them into her library of spellbooks. The process of scribing a spell is the same for an arcanist as it is for a wizard. If by any chance an Arcanist looses one or more of his spellbooks he can write his spells down again from memory within one week per intelligence modifier (minimum 1) or risk forgetting all his spells. Because this is such a investing task she must spend 100xp per spellbook lost and recovered in this manner. In case an Arcanist looses all her spellbooks at the same time, the lack of reference material and frantic work makes this task even more taxing for her mind, increasing the xp penalty to 200xp.
. An Arcanist begins play with one spellbook containing all 0-level sorcerer/wizard spells, minus spells from her prohibited field, plus three 1st-level spells of your choice. For each point of Intelligence bonus the Arcanist has, the spellbook holds one additional 1st-level spell of your choice. At each new Arcanist level, she gains two new spells of any spell level or levels that she can cast (based on her new Arcanist level) for her spellbook. At any time, an Arcanist can also attempt to add spells found in other spellbooks to her own.
. Fields of Magic: Arcanists differ from other spellcasters in their division of magic into three fields —invention, mentalism, and variation— rather than the traditional eight schools. Every Arcanist must select at 1st level one field as her major field of specialization, and one as her lesser field. The Arcanist gains a +2 bonus on Spellcraft checks to identify and scribe spells from her major field since its spells come naturally to her. Contrarily, spells of the lesser field are harder to master and she receives -2 penalty on spellcraft checks to identify and to scribe spells from that field. Alternatively, she can choose to forbid her lesser field entirely, receiving a Bonus Feat as per the Wizard class feature and bonus Arks as per the table 1-3. The choice of fields is permanent and can't be changed later.
Table 1–3 Bonus Arks from Specialization per Level
{table=head]Class Levels|Bonus Arks
1-2|1
3-4|4
5-6|9
7-8|16
9-10|25
11-12|36
13-14|49
15-16|64
17-20|81[/table]
. Divine Aversion: Arcanists were renowned for their haughtiness concerning matters of magical assistance through priestly magic. They believed that to accept a beneficial spells by a priest was bellow their position in many ways. The reason varies constantly and drastically, but the mindset of an arcanist is built to shun all divine magic. As an effect any harmless spell a cleric, or any divine caster, uses on an Arcanist that allows a saving throw must be saved. In the case of a success, the Arcanist resists the spell and it has no further effect. This ability has no effect on harmful divine spells.
. This effect extends to any spell completion or spell trigger itens, such as scrolls and wands. Thus they do rely heavily on potions of healing and similar curatives, believing them to be magically created concoctions and thus free of the meddling hand of the gods.
. Lesser Imaskari Craft: The people of Imaskar were renownmed for their powerful magical artifacts. At 5th level an arcanist must select a bonus Item Creation feat from the following list: Craft Magic Weapons and Armor, Craft Woundrous Items or Craft Wand. He gains that feat even if he doesn't meet the prerequisites for it. She also receives +2 on Craft skill checks made to create the item in relation to her chosen feat.
. Greater Imaskari Crat: At 10th level an arcanist must select a bonus Item Creation feat from the following list: Craft Rod, Craft Staff or Craft Ring. She gains that feat even if she doesn't meet the prerequisites for it. She also receives +2 on Craft skill checks made to create the item in relation to her chosen feat.
. Imaskari Artisan: At 15th level an Arcanist can choose any one Magic Item Creation Feat obtainable either by the Lesser or Greater Imaskari Craft class features. Alternatively, she can choose a Feat she already knows, further expecializing in that feat. She receives +2 to all Use Magic Device to activate items pertaining to the feat of her specialization and receives a +2 caster level when determining the power of said items. Additionally she needs only spend half of the gold needed to craft said item (1/4th of the item's oficial rice). If an Arcanist chooses to specialize this way she receives a -2 caster level whenever creating items ruled by other Feats that are not of her field of specialization outside of the feats obtained by Lesser or Greater Imaskari Craft class features.
. Epic Spellcasting: At 20th level, an arcanist gains the Epic Spellcasting feat as a bonus feat, even if she does not meet the prerequisites.
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/pgtf_gallery/78890.jpg
Imaskar have been a great empire in the east during the time Netheril was but a gathering of tribes and I always felt they received much less love and dedication than the other users of High Magic, like the Elven empires and their brother Arcanists from Netheril. This class is an ongoing effort to fix that, at least in part. That's why I am going for it.
As for the how, I found Arcanist's and Dicefreak's version of the old Netherese Arcanist to be very good and flavorful and I wanted to take part in that, at least a little. I am also using another version of the Netherese Arcanist found in a PDF that neither have had previous contact with, according to their own testimony. What had began as a scoobydoo-esque type of mystery has now became one of my most beloved treasures, as it stands like a Nether Scroll inside my hard-drive. If you want to see the PDF in question, send me a PM, I am not as jealous of my own knowledge as the Netherese were. :smallbiggrin:
Note that the class has been severely toned down from the other aforementioned versions in an effort to compensate for a spontaneous variant of a wizard, something that Dicefreak and Arcanist had done, in part, but in my opinion still retained their power levels way over nine thousand. This class is supposed to wage war against gods and build entire planar cities, but out of sheer hard-work and effort, not because they have an edge the size of Soul Edge. That said, it will suffer some alterations as I go and probably receive an Epic Version and two or three prestige classes(!), but this is the core of it.People, PEACH this. PEACH like no one has ever PEACHed before.
Feel free to judge the class as harshly as you want. This is my third attempt at homebrew (the others were just minor development of existing classes) so I am eager to know what the community here in the Playgrounds think of this. But please be gentle...
. Arcanists were the major spellcasters of the old empires of yore who spammed the globe, from the northern tribes of Netheril to the shinning deserts of High Imaskar. Considered one of the most prestigious of professions, the Arcanist was the equivalent to the modern-day wizard or sorcerer. But with this prestige came a price. Their philosophy rendered them incapable of accepting any help from divine magic from any source, to the point they would sooner die than willingly accept healing from a priestly spell.
. One of the largest differences between Imaskari spell-casters and their brethren from more modern times concerned the aspect of spell memorization. Arcanists didn't memorize spells, they simply reached into the weave—the source of all magic—and plucked out the mystical energies they sought. They still recorded the spells that they knew upon spell books for review from time to time, but they didn't need to spend hours studying for spells. They could still cast only the spells they knew, however, and their magical storehouse of knowledge still required a good night’s sleep to replenish itself.
. Adventures:
. Characteristics:
. Alignment:
. Religion:
. Background:
Game Rule Information
. Abilities: Intelligence determines how powerful a spell an Arcanist can cast, how many spells she can cast, and how hard those spells are to resist. To learn or cast a spell, the Arcanist must have an Intelligence score equal to at least 10 + the spell’s level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against an Arcanist’s spell is 10 + the spell’s level + the Arcanist’s Intelligence modifier. High Dexterity is helpful for an Arcanist, because she typically wears little or no armor. A good Constitution is also helpful, as it gives an Arcanist extra hit points, a resource that she is otherwise very low on.
. Alignment: Any.
. Hit Die: d4.
. Class Skills:
The arcanist’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Knowledge (all skills, taken individually) (Int), Profession (Wis), Spellcraft (Int) and Use Magic Device (Cha).
. Skill Points at 1st Level: (2 + Int modifier) x 4.
. Skill Points at Higher Levels: 2 + Int modifier.
Table 1-1
{table=head]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special|Arks/day|Weave Depth
1st|+0|+0|+0|+2|Familiar, Spellbook, Fields of Magic, Divine Aversion|1|1st|
2nd|+1|+0|+0|+3||2|1st|
3rd|+1|+1|+1|+3||5|2nd|
4th|+2|+1|+1|+4||9|2nd|
5th|+2|+1|+1|+4|Lesser Imaskari Craft|14|3rd|
6th|+3|+2|+2|+5||22|3rd|
7th|+3|+2|+2|+5||30|4th|
8th|+4|+2|+2|+6||42|4th|
9th|+4|+3|+3|+6||54|5th|
10th|+5|+3|+3|+7|Greater Imaskari Craft|70|5th|
11th|+5|+3|+3|+7||86|6th|
12th|+6/+1|+4|+4|+8||106|6th|
13th|+6/+1|+4|+4|+8||126|7th|
14th|+7/+2|+4|+4|+9||150|7th|
15th|+7/+2|+5|+5|+9|Imaskari Artisan|174|8th|
16th|+8/+3|+5|+5|+10||202|8th|
17th|+8/+3|+5|+5|+10||230|9th|
18th|+9/+4|+6|+6|+11||262|9th|
19th|+9/+4|+6|+6|+11||292|9th|
20th|+10/+5|+6|+6|+12|Epic Spellcasting|324|9th|[/table]
Class Feature
All of the following are class features of the arcanist.
. Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: Arcanists are proficient with the club, dagger, heavy crossbow, light crossbow, and quarterstaff, but not with any type of armor or shield. Armor of any type interferes with an arcanist’s movements, which can cause her spells with somatic components to fail.
. Spells: An arcanist casts arcane spells which are drawn from the sorcerer/wizard spell list. An arcanist need not choose and prepare her spells ahead of time. Instead, she can cast any spell she has recorded in her spell library (see Spellbooks, below) simply by drawing energy from the Weave and shaping it appropriately. The spells an arcanist can cast in this way are limited by her level (see Weave Depth, below).
. Weave Depth: The more complex a spell is, the deeper an arcanist must reach into the fabric of magic to cast it. An arcanist begins play with the ability to cast cantrips and 1st-level spells. As she attains higher levels, the arcanist may gain the ability to cast more complex spells from the list of Wiz/Sorc spells.
. Arks: An Arcanist’s ability to cast spells is limited by the arks she has available. Her base daily allotment of arks is given on Table 1–1. In addition, she receives bonus arcs per day if she has a high Intelligence score (see Table 1–5). Certain feats and items may also provide bonus arcs per day. Each spell costs a certain number of arcs to cast. The higher the level of the spell, the more arcs it costs. Table 1–2 describes each spell’s cost per level. In order to replenish her store of arks, the Arcanist must rest for at least eight hours and then spend fifteen minutes concentrating on the fabric of magic itself. Any arks spent within the last eight hours count against the Arcanist’s daily limit and are not restored.
Table 1–2: Ark Costs per Spell Level
Spell Level|Ark Cost
0|0*
1st|1
2nd|3
3rd|5
4th|7
5th|9
6th|11
7th|13
8th|15
9th|17
* 0-level spells (cantrips) typically cost no arks to cast. An Arcanist can cast a number of cantrips per day equal to 3 + her Int modifier. Any additional 0-level spells in a day cost 1 ark each.
. Metamagic: WIP
. Bonus Languages: An arcanist may substitute Draconic for one of the bonus languages available to the character because of her race.
. Familiar: An Arcanist can obtain a Familiar as per the Wizard and Sorcerer Class Feature.
. Spellbook: An arcanist must learn spells before she can cast them, and part of this process is scribing them into her library of spellbooks. The process of scribing a spell is the same for an arcanist as it is for a wizard. If by any chance an Arcanist looses one or more of his spellbooks he can write his spells down again from memory within one week per intelligence modifier (minimum 1) or risk forgetting all his spells. Because this is such a investing task she must spend 100xp per spellbook lost and recovered in this manner. In case an Arcanist looses all her spellbooks at the same time, the lack of reference material and frantic work makes this task even more taxing for her mind, increasing the xp penalty to 200xp.
. An Arcanist begins play with one spellbook containing all 0-level sorcerer/wizard spells, minus spells from her prohibited field, plus three 1st-level spells of your choice. For each point of Intelligence bonus the Arcanist has, the spellbook holds one additional 1st-level spell of your choice. At each new Arcanist level, she gains two new spells of any spell level or levels that she can cast (based on her new Arcanist level) for her spellbook. At any time, an Arcanist can also attempt to add spells found in other spellbooks to her own.
. Fields of Magic: Arcanists differ from other spellcasters in their division of magic into three fields —invention, mentalism, and variation— rather than the traditional eight schools. Every Arcanist must select at 1st level one field as her major field of specialization, and one as her lesser field. The Arcanist gains a +2 bonus on Spellcraft checks to identify and scribe spells from her major field since its spells come naturally to her. Contrarily, spells of the lesser field are harder to master and she receives -2 penalty on spellcraft checks to identify and to scribe spells from that field. Alternatively, she can choose to forbid her lesser field entirely, receiving a Bonus Feat as per the Wizard class feature and bonus Arks as per the table 1-3. The choice of fields is permanent and can't be changed later.
Table 1–3 Bonus Arks from Specialization per Level
{table=head]Class Levels|Bonus Arks
1-2|1
3-4|4
5-6|9
7-8|16
9-10|25
11-12|36
13-14|49
15-16|64
17-20|81[/table]
. Divine Aversion: Arcanists were renowned for their haughtiness concerning matters of magical assistance through priestly magic. They believed that to accept a beneficial spells by a priest was bellow their position in many ways. The reason varies constantly and drastically, but the mindset of an arcanist is built to shun all divine magic. As an effect any harmless spell a cleric, or any divine caster, uses on an Arcanist that allows a saving throw must be saved. In the case of a success, the Arcanist resists the spell and it has no further effect. This ability has no effect on harmful divine spells.
. This effect extends to any spell completion or spell trigger itens, such as scrolls and wands. Thus they do rely heavily on potions of healing and similar curatives, believing them to be magically created concoctions and thus free of the meddling hand of the gods.
. Lesser Imaskari Craft: The people of Imaskar were renownmed for their powerful magical artifacts. At 5th level an arcanist must select a bonus Item Creation feat from the following list: Craft Magic Weapons and Armor, Craft Woundrous Items or Craft Wand. He gains that feat even if he doesn't meet the prerequisites for it. She also receives +2 on Craft skill checks made to create the item in relation to her chosen feat.
. Greater Imaskari Crat: At 10th level an arcanist must select a bonus Item Creation feat from the following list: Craft Rod, Craft Staff or Craft Ring. She gains that feat even if she doesn't meet the prerequisites for it. She also receives +2 on Craft skill checks made to create the item in relation to her chosen feat.
. Imaskari Artisan: At 15th level an Arcanist can choose any one Magic Item Creation Feat obtainable either by the Lesser or Greater Imaskari Craft class features. Alternatively, she can choose a Feat she already knows, further expecializing in that feat. She receives +2 to all Use Magic Device to activate items pertaining to the feat of her specialization and receives a +2 caster level when determining the power of said items. Additionally she needs only spend half of the gold needed to craft said item (1/4th of the item's oficial rice). If an Arcanist chooses to specialize this way she receives a -2 caster level whenever creating items ruled by other Feats that are not of her field of specialization outside of the feats obtained by Lesser or Greater Imaskari Craft class features.
. Epic Spellcasting: At 20th level, an arcanist gains the Epic Spellcasting feat as a bonus feat, even if she does not meet the prerequisites.