Xuldarinar
2014-02-13, 07:43 PM
AETHER THEURGE
"I have looked to the stars and into the void that lies beyond them, and it stared back. At first, I didn't look away for fear of being consumed. Now that it has shown me so much, why would I ever wish to look to anything else? "
Between the stars, beyond the lights that give us comfort, is darkness. The cold vacuum of space and the horrific entities that lie there and further still, these are the focuses of the aether theurge. With each gesture, with every moment of contemplation, they delve more deeply into the starry void, and grow ever more removed from the world they were born into. The more detached from reality, the more powerful their magics become.
MAKING AN AETHER THEURGE
Table 1-1: The Aether Theurge
Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Maximum Mystery Level|Maximum Vestige Level
1st|+0|+2|+0|+2|Mysteries of the Stars|1st|-
2nd|+1|+3|+0|+3|Unhinge|1st|-
3rd|+1|+3|+1|+3|-|1st|-
4th|+2|+4|+1|+4|-|2nd|-
5th|+2|+4|+1|+4|Unhinge|2nd|-
6th|+3|+5|+2|+5|-|3rd|-
7th|+3|+5|+2|+5|-|3rd|-
8th|+4|+6|+2|+6|Unhinge|4th|-
9th|+4|+6|+3|+6|-|4th|-
10th|+5|+7|+3|+7|Soul Binding|5th|1st
11th|+5|+7|+3|+7|Unhinge|5th|1st
12th|+6/+1|+8|+4|+8|-|6th|2nd
13th|+6/+1|+8|+4|+8|-|6th|2nd
14th|+7/+2|+9|+4|+9|Unhinge|7th|3rd
15th|+7/+2|+9|+5|+9|-|7th|3rd
16th|+8/+3|+10|+5|+10|-|8th|4th
17th|+8/+3|+10|+5|+10|Unhinge|8th|4th
18th|+9/+4|+11|+6|+11|-|9th|5th
19th|+9/+4|+11|+6|+11|-|9th|5th
20th|+10/+5|+12|+6|+12|Deranged Ascent|9th|6th
Class Skills (x + Int modifier per level, x4 at 1st level):
CLASS FEATURES
Weapon and Armor Proficiency:
Mysteries of the Stars: You do not cast spells as other classes do, but instead invoke mystical secrets called mysteries. You may prepare one mystery per aether theurge level you possess. Up to 7th level, you can only prepare apprentice mysteries. At 8th level, you gain access to initiate mysteries and at 14th you become able to use master mysteries. When preparing mysteries, you may choose to prepare a mystery more than once to gain additional set of uses of it.
Unlike shadowcasters, your mysteries never progress from being cast as arcane spells, nor are you bound to paths. Whenever you cast a mystery, observers can make a DC 15 Spot check to note that your shadow is making different gestures from the ones you make when you cast the mystery.
In order to prepare or cast a mystery, you must have an Intelligence score of at least 10 + the mystery's level. The save DC for your mysteries equals 10 + mystery level - twice your Wis modifier. Even though as an aether theurge you do not "cast spells" in the traditional sense, your levels in this class count for the purpose of determining your overall caster level. All mysteries you prepare are usable once per day, but you gain bonus uses to all mysteries you have prepared of a certain level range, based on low Wisdom, as shown on the table below. For example, if an aether theurge possesses a wisdom score of 7, all apprentice path and initiate path mysteries he knows become usable 2/day.
Aether theurges prepare their mysteries through meditation and study. Each Aether theurge must spend 1 hour at night time in meditation to regain his daily allotment of mysteries. In preparing their mysteries, they cannot prepare any initiate mysteries without first preparing at least 6 apprentice path mysteries, and they cannot prepare any master mysteries without preparing at least 12 lower level mysteries, excluding fundamentals.
{table=head] Score|Modifier|Apprentice|Initiate|Master
11-10|0|-|-|-
9-8|-1|1|-|-
7-6|-2|1|1|-
5-4|-3|2|1|1
3-2|-4|2|2|1
1|-5|3|2|2 [/table]
Unhinge: Through continued use of magic drawn from the void between the stars, not to mention contemplation of it's nature, your mind and body begin to change. Upon reaching 2nd level, and every three levels there after, select one of the following. Unless a selection says otherwise, you may chose it more than once.
Aberrant Durability: You gain Damage Reduction 1/Magic. (If Byeshk is a material that exists in your campaign, you may instead gain DR 1/Byeshk)
Aberrant Resistance: You gain Resistance to Acid 1 and Resistance to Electricity 1.
Farmagic: In your meditation, you've learned how to reach further out when preparing your spells, broadening your repertoire. You may treat all the following spells as mysteries you can prepare. Blink, Blur, Etherial Jaunt, Greater Invisibility, Implosion, Scintillating Pattern, Stinking Cloud, Summon Monster I-IX (Pseudonatural animals and vermin only), Telekinesis, and Touch of Idiocy. You may not select this benefit more than once.
Mithridatism: Though continued exposure to magics that gradually poison the mind, body and soul, your body has grown resilient against far less exotic toxins. You gain Immunity to Poison. You cannot gain this benefit more than once.
Tentacles: A powerful tentacle sprouts from somewhere on your body. You gain one tentacle attack based on your size.
{table=head]Size|Tentacle Damage|Reach with Tentacles
Fine|1|0ft.
Diminutive|1|0 ft.
Tiny|1d2|0 ft.
Small|1d3|5 ft.
Medium|1d4|5 ft.
Large|1d6|10 ft.
Huge|1d8|15 ft.
Gargantuan|2d6|20 ft.
Colossal|3d6|30 ft. [/table]
Soul Binding (Su): Reaching further and further out, you learn how to draw upon beings from beyond reality known as vestiges. Starting at 10th level, you can make a pact with one vestige at a time. Unlike binders, you cannot form pacts with more than one vestige at a time. This follows all rules for binders, except that your effective binder level is your aether theurge minus 10, and you cannot make a binding check, thus meaning you always make a poor pact. Vestige abilities that are dependent upon charisma are instead dependent upon your wisdom penalty. The maximum level vestige you can bind is based on your aether theurge, as listed on the table above.
Deranged Ascent: Upon reaching 20th level, your form goes yet another horrific change. You gain the outsider type, the native subtype, and gain Change Shape as a supernatural ability. As a standard action, you
can take the form of a grotesque, tentacled mass. This ability functions as described for the change shape ability (see page 306 of the Monster Manual), except as follows:
— Your movement modes do not change.
— You retain any tentacle attacks you previously attained and gain two additional tentacle attacks when making a full attack.
— You becomes amorphous. You cannot be flanked, and are not subject to extra damage from critical hits.
— Creatures native to the Material Plane take a –1 morale penalty on attack rolls against you in your amorphous form.
__________________
The idea came to me. I know its not done, and when it is it may not even remotely resemble what it is now, in name or mechanics. What my aim is should be clear enough, which is the flavor itself. My flavor text here is, lack luster, but it will develop with everything else. In short, the idea is a magic user who grows more and more removed as they progress. At first drawing from shadow magic, but connected to space rather than the plane of shadow. As they advance they reach further out, eventually drawing upon elements of the far-realm and vestiges, pulling from beyond the planes. The mechanics don't necessarily reflect that, not well at least, but thats something that I want to work on. If this sinks, it sinks. If it stays afloat, I'll develop it as much as I can until it sinks to the bottom. Anyways, I hope its enjoyed and any and all (preferably constructive) input will be greatly appreciated.
"I have looked to the stars and into the void that lies beyond them, and it stared back. At first, I didn't look away for fear of being consumed. Now that it has shown me so much, why would I ever wish to look to anything else? "
Between the stars, beyond the lights that give us comfort, is darkness. The cold vacuum of space and the horrific entities that lie there and further still, these are the focuses of the aether theurge. With each gesture, with every moment of contemplation, they delve more deeply into the starry void, and grow ever more removed from the world they were born into. The more detached from reality, the more powerful their magics become.
MAKING AN AETHER THEURGE
Table 1-1: The Aether Theurge
Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Maximum Mystery Level|Maximum Vestige Level
1st|+0|+2|+0|+2|Mysteries of the Stars|1st|-
2nd|+1|+3|+0|+3|Unhinge|1st|-
3rd|+1|+3|+1|+3|-|1st|-
4th|+2|+4|+1|+4|-|2nd|-
5th|+2|+4|+1|+4|Unhinge|2nd|-
6th|+3|+5|+2|+5|-|3rd|-
7th|+3|+5|+2|+5|-|3rd|-
8th|+4|+6|+2|+6|Unhinge|4th|-
9th|+4|+6|+3|+6|-|4th|-
10th|+5|+7|+3|+7|Soul Binding|5th|1st
11th|+5|+7|+3|+7|Unhinge|5th|1st
12th|+6/+1|+8|+4|+8|-|6th|2nd
13th|+6/+1|+8|+4|+8|-|6th|2nd
14th|+7/+2|+9|+4|+9|Unhinge|7th|3rd
15th|+7/+2|+9|+5|+9|-|7th|3rd
16th|+8/+3|+10|+5|+10|-|8th|4th
17th|+8/+3|+10|+5|+10|Unhinge|8th|4th
18th|+9/+4|+11|+6|+11|-|9th|5th
19th|+9/+4|+11|+6|+11|-|9th|5th
20th|+10/+5|+12|+6|+12|Deranged Ascent|9th|6th
Class Skills (x + Int modifier per level, x4 at 1st level):
CLASS FEATURES
Weapon and Armor Proficiency:
Mysteries of the Stars: You do not cast spells as other classes do, but instead invoke mystical secrets called mysteries. You may prepare one mystery per aether theurge level you possess. Up to 7th level, you can only prepare apprentice mysteries. At 8th level, you gain access to initiate mysteries and at 14th you become able to use master mysteries. When preparing mysteries, you may choose to prepare a mystery more than once to gain additional set of uses of it.
Unlike shadowcasters, your mysteries never progress from being cast as arcane spells, nor are you bound to paths. Whenever you cast a mystery, observers can make a DC 15 Spot check to note that your shadow is making different gestures from the ones you make when you cast the mystery.
In order to prepare or cast a mystery, you must have an Intelligence score of at least 10 + the mystery's level. The save DC for your mysteries equals 10 + mystery level - twice your Wis modifier. Even though as an aether theurge you do not "cast spells" in the traditional sense, your levels in this class count for the purpose of determining your overall caster level. All mysteries you prepare are usable once per day, but you gain bonus uses to all mysteries you have prepared of a certain level range, based on low Wisdom, as shown on the table below. For example, if an aether theurge possesses a wisdom score of 7, all apprentice path and initiate path mysteries he knows become usable 2/day.
Aether theurges prepare their mysteries through meditation and study. Each Aether theurge must spend 1 hour at night time in meditation to regain his daily allotment of mysteries. In preparing their mysteries, they cannot prepare any initiate mysteries without first preparing at least 6 apprentice path mysteries, and they cannot prepare any master mysteries without preparing at least 12 lower level mysteries, excluding fundamentals.
{table=head] Score|Modifier|Apprentice|Initiate|Master
11-10|0|-|-|-
9-8|-1|1|-|-
7-6|-2|1|1|-
5-4|-3|2|1|1
3-2|-4|2|2|1
1|-5|3|2|2 [/table]
Unhinge: Through continued use of magic drawn from the void between the stars, not to mention contemplation of it's nature, your mind and body begin to change. Upon reaching 2nd level, and every three levels there after, select one of the following. Unless a selection says otherwise, you may chose it more than once.
Aberrant Durability: You gain Damage Reduction 1/Magic. (If Byeshk is a material that exists in your campaign, you may instead gain DR 1/Byeshk)
Aberrant Resistance: You gain Resistance to Acid 1 and Resistance to Electricity 1.
Farmagic: In your meditation, you've learned how to reach further out when preparing your spells, broadening your repertoire. You may treat all the following spells as mysteries you can prepare. Blink, Blur, Etherial Jaunt, Greater Invisibility, Implosion, Scintillating Pattern, Stinking Cloud, Summon Monster I-IX (Pseudonatural animals and vermin only), Telekinesis, and Touch of Idiocy. You may not select this benefit more than once.
Mithridatism: Though continued exposure to magics that gradually poison the mind, body and soul, your body has grown resilient against far less exotic toxins. You gain Immunity to Poison. You cannot gain this benefit more than once.
Tentacles: A powerful tentacle sprouts from somewhere on your body. You gain one tentacle attack based on your size.
{table=head]Size|Tentacle Damage|Reach with Tentacles
Fine|1|0ft.
Diminutive|1|0 ft.
Tiny|1d2|0 ft.
Small|1d3|5 ft.
Medium|1d4|5 ft.
Large|1d6|10 ft.
Huge|1d8|15 ft.
Gargantuan|2d6|20 ft.
Colossal|3d6|30 ft. [/table]
Soul Binding (Su): Reaching further and further out, you learn how to draw upon beings from beyond reality known as vestiges. Starting at 10th level, you can make a pact with one vestige at a time. Unlike binders, you cannot form pacts with more than one vestige at a time. This follows all rules for binders, except that your effective binder level is your aether theurge minus 10, and you cannot make a binding check, thus meaning you always make a poor pact. Vestige abilities that are dependent upon charisma are instead dependent upon your wisdom penalty. The maximum level vestige you can bind is based on your aether theurge, as listed on the table above.
Deranged Ascent: Upon reaching 20th level, your form goes yet another horrific change. You gain the outsider type, the native subtype, and gain Change Shape as a supernatural ability. As a standard action, you
can take the form of a grotesque, tentacled mass. This ability functions as described for the change shape ability (see page 306 of the Monster Manual), except as follows:
— Your movement modes do not change.
— You retain any tentacle attacks you previously attained and gain two additional tentacle attacks when making a full attack.
— You becomes amorphous. You cannot be flanked, and are not subject to extra damage from critical hits.
— Creatures native to the Material Plane take a –1 morale penalty on attack rolls against you in your amorphous form.
__________________
The idea came to me. I know its not done, and when it is it may not even remotely resemble what it is now, in name or mechanics. What my aim is should be clear enough, which is the flavor itself. My flavor text here is, lack luster, but it will develop with everything else. In short, the idea is a magic user who grows more and more removed as they progress. At first drawing from shadow magic, but connected to space rather than the plane of shadow. As they advance they reach further out, eventually drawing upon elements of the far-realm and vestiges, pulling from beyond the planes. The mechanics don't necessarily reflect that, not well at least, but thats something that I want to work on. If this sinks, it sinks. If it stays afloat, I'll develop it as much as I can until it sinks to the bottom. Anyways, I hope its enjoyed and any and all (preferably constructive) input will be greatly appreciated.