Shimeran
2016-12-01, 09:40 PM
Hi folks. I've been musing over what a caster that's a bit closer to the Dying Earth source material might look like. This started by trimming them down to the much narrow number of spells prepped at a time and expanded into looser limits elsewhere, with less of a strictly daily focus. Below is a first pass for a wizard stand in which should show the rough mechanics I have in mind. Suggestions on this are welcome, including the name. Despite being wizard like, I'd actually be please to have this settle closer to tier 3 than tier 1.
Daphalan Scholar
Daphalan Scholar are students and collectors of arcane texts. Through a cultivated understanding of those texts they can draw on otherworldly forces and entities linked to those texts. Through a strong and flexible mind, they bind those agents to their psyche for service at a time of their choosing.
Role: The grimorist role is largely determined by the spells they've prepared. Beyond their spells, they often act as scholars and sages.
Alignment: Any
Hit Die: d6
Starting Wealth: 2d6 × 10 gp (average 70 gp.) In addition, each character begins play with an outfit worth 10 gp or less.
Class Skills: The scholar's class skills are Appraise (Int), Craft (Int), Fly (Dex), Knowledge (all) (Int), Linguistics (Int), Profession (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int).
Skill Ranks per Level: 2 + Int modifier.
Level
Base Attack Bonus
Fort Save
Ref Save
Will Save
Extra Capacity
Special
1st
+0
+0
+0
+2
0
Spells (4 slots), Cantrips, Tome Finder
2nd
+1
+0
+0
+3
0
Arcane Discovery, Extra Slot
3rd
+1
+1
+1
+3
0
Spell Affinity
4th
+2
+1
+1
+4
0
Arcane Discovery
5th
+2
+1
+1
+4
0
Spell Affinity
6th
+3
+2
+2
+5
1
Arcane Discovery
7th
+3
+2
+2
+5
1
Spell Affinity
8th
+4
+2
+2
+6
2
Arcane Discovery
9th
+4
+3
+3
+6
2
Spell Affinity
10th
+5
+3
+3
+7
3
Extra Slot, Arcane Discovery
11th
+5
+3
+3
+7
3
Spell Affinity
12th
+6/+1
+4
+4
+8
4
Arcane Discovery
13th
+6/+1
+4
+4
+8
4
Spell Affinity
14th
+7/+2
+4
+4
+9
5
Arcane Discovery
15th
+7/+2
+5
+5
+9
5
Spell Affinity
16th
+8/+3
+5
+5
+10
6
Arcane Discovery
17th
+8/+3
+5
+5
+10
6
Spell Affinity
18th
+9/+4
+6
+6
+11
7
Arcane Discovery
19th
+9/+4
+6
+6
+11
7
Spell Affinity
20th
+10/+5
+6
+6
+12
8
Arcane Discovery
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Scholars are proficient with all simple weapons, but not with any type of armor or shield.
Spells: You gain 4 elastic spell slots at 1st level. Unlike other spell slots, the level of each slot is based on the level of spell prepared in them, with empty slots being level 0. Any effects that change the level of slot used by a spell adjust this level accordingly. For purposes of determining the highest level spells you can prepare, count these slots as having a level equal to half your caster level. Each level taken in this class adds 1 to your caster level.
Despite their flexibility, here is a limit to how much you can safely store in these slots. For each point the total level of all such slots exceeds your caster level plus the lower of your caster level or intelligence modifier, you take a point of mental strain. Treat this strain as wisdom damage for purposes of determining penalties. You are confused while your mental strain + wisdom damage exceeds your wisdom score. Creatures immune to wisdom damage or confusion can not prepare spells that would put them over this limit. You recover from strain as if were wisdom damage, but can not heal strain while over your slot level limit.
You can prepare wizard spells into these slots by studying those spells from arcane magical writings you have deciphered. For every 20 minutes spent doing so, you can prepare up to your caster level in slot levels, with few levels taking proportionally less time. Cantrips count as ½ level for this purpose. At the DM’s discretion, additional time may be required in distracting circumstances. You can only hold a single copy of a given spell among all such spell slots.
Preparing any spell whose level is greater than a quarter your caster level inflicts a type of mental fatigue. While under that effect, you take a -2 penalty to intelligence, wisdom, and caster level checks. This form of mental fatigue can be removed with an hour of complete rest.
Each time you cast a spell from these slots, make a caster level check against a DC equal to twice the slot’s level. On a success, the spell takes effect with a save DC of 10 + spell level + intelligence modifier. On a failure, the spell is lost and you suffer a mishap as if a Scroll Mishap was triggered for the spell. In either case, you take a penalty to such checks equal to the slot’s level for 1 round as the last remnants of the spell interfere with further casting.
You can apply metamagic feats to spells from these slots when you cast them, taking extra time as if the spell was cast spontaneously.
Cantrips: At 1st level, select 1 cantrip from the wizard spell list for every 3 point of your intelligence score. You master that cantrip and can prepare it without a spellbook as per the Spell Mastery feat.
Extra Slot: At 2nd and 10th level, you gain an additional elastic spell slot.
Extra Capacity: At 6th level and every 2 levels after that the total spell slot levels you can safely hold increases by 1.
Arcane Discovery: At every even level, you may select an Arcane Discovery from the wizard’s list. Alternately, you may gain an item creation, metamagic, or spell mastery feat. You may count your class level as wizard levels for the purpose of that selection.
Spell Affinity: At 3rd level and every 2 levels after that, choose one of the following effects and one spell you have deciphered and can prepare. The chosen spell can not have a level higher than half your caster level.
Charge Conservation: When a magic item lets you spend charges to use the chosen spell, you can use the spell without expending those charges. You can do this a number of times per day equal to your caster level divided by the spell’s level. If this would give you 5 or more uses per day, you can use this ability once per round.
Ritual Casting: You can cast the chosen spell without preparing it first. However, doing so increases the casting time to a minimum of 15 minutes. When you chose the spell, the DM will set an additional component that must be used to cast the spell this way. If you require magical writings to prepare the spell, you must read from those writings during the ritual. At the rituals conclusion make a caster level check as if casting from an elastic spell slot.
Spell Retention: When you make a caster level check to cast the selected spell from a elastic spell slot, the spell is not expended if the roll is higher than 5 times the slot’s level.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Grimoirists are proficient with all simple weapons, but not with any type of armor or shield. Note that arcane spells with somatic components risk failure if cast in armor.
Spells: Grimoirists can prepare wizard spells from any spellbook they have deciphered. They can prepare one spell for every 3 points of intelligence they have. To prepare a spell, the grimoirist must have available spell capacity equal to the spell's level. A grimoirist's maximum spell capacity is equal to their class level plus half their caster level. (Grimoirists are considered full casters, with each level in the class adding 1 to their caster level.)
Actually preparing each spell involves reading the spell's text for at least 5 minutes per spell level. (Treat cantrips as ½ level for this purpose.) The caster is fascinated by the text until this process is completed or interrupted. This distracting environments may require additional time or extra steps until the process can begin. Once completed, the spell is prepared, tying up spell capacity equal to it's level. You can not prepare multiple copies of the same spell through this method. Each such prepared spell has a save DC equal to 10 + it's level + the grimoirist's intelligence modifier.
Spells prepared this way are not without their risks. Each time these prepared spells are cast, make a caster level check against a DC equal to twice the spell's level. On a failure, the spell is lost and you suffer a mishap as if a “Scroll Mishap” was triggered for the spell.
Even without mishaps, casting has it's costs. The surge of arcane power is disorienting enough to increase the DC of casting mishap checks for 1 round. It's also draining enough to temporarily exhaust spell capacity equal to the spell's level. Exhausted spell capacity becomes available again after 8 hours of complete rest.
Grimoirists use metamagic on the fly like sorcerers, complete with extended casting times. Doing so exhausts spells capacity equal to the feat's level adjustment and raises the spell's level for the purpose of mishap checks. If enough unused spell capacity is not available, the metamagic feat can not be used.
Any effects that would normally modify spell slots instead apply to the grimoirist's spell capacity. Anything that references the maximum spell level they can cast should use half their caster level, rounded up, as that's the highest level spell they can cast without risking mishaps under normal circumstances.
Cantrips: At 1st level, a grimorist masters a number of wizard cantrips equal to one more than the number of spells they can prepare. As per spell mastery, these spells can be prepared without needing a spellbook.
Tome Finder: Grimoirists have a knack for acquiring arcane texts. At 1st level, they gain a pool of points equal to 4 * (caster level + charisma score). Every level after that adds 3 * caster level * class level + charisma score to that pool. Points can be spent from this pool to reduce the cost of acquiring books and arcane magical writings or copying spells at a rate of 1 gp per point spent. This can be used by to justify lucky breaks where the player just happens to find one of those items. In those cases, the DM and player should work together on the item as the DM decides what's available but the player can skip finding the item if they're not willing to pay for it.
Bonus Feats: Grimoirists gain a bonus feat every even class level. These may be metamagic feats or item creation feats. They also qualify for spell mastery and arcane discoveries as if they were a wizard and can take either of those in place of their bonus feats.
Swift Study: At 3rd level, reduce the time to prepare spells using this class' approach to 4 minutes per spell level. This improves to 3 minutes per spell level at 5th level, 2 minutes per spell level at 7th level, and 1 minute per spell level at 11th level.
Casting Resilience: At 5th level, reduce the amount to spell capacity exhausted when casting a spell by 1. This reduction improves by 1 every 5 levels.
Daphalan Scholar
Daphalan Scholar are students and collectors of arcane texts. Through a cultivated understanding of those texts they can draw on otherworldly forces and entities linked to those texts. Through a strong and flexible mind, they bind those agents to their psyche for service at a time of their choosing.
Role: The grimorist role is largely determined by the spells they've prepared. Beyond their spells, they often act as scholars and sages.
Alignment: Any
Hit Die: d6
Starting Wealth: 2d6 × 10 gp (average 70 gp.) In addition, each character begins play with an outfit worth 10 gp or less.
Class Skills: The scholar's class skills are Appraise (Int), Craft (Int), Fly (Dex), Knowledge (all) (Int), Linguistics (Int), Profession (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int).
Skill Ranks per Level: 2 + Int modifier.
Level
Base Attack Bonus
Fort Save
Ref Save
Will Save
Extra Capacity
Special
1st
+0
+0
+0
+2
0
Spells (4 slots), Cantrips, Tome Finder
2nd
+1
+0
+0
+3
0
Arcane Discovery, Extra Slot
3rd
+1
+1
+1
+3
0
Spell Affinity
4th
+2
+1
+1
+4
0
Arcane Discovery
5th
+2
+1
+1
+4
0
Spell Affinity
6th
+3
+2
+2
+5
1
Arcane Discovery
7th
+3
+2
+2
+5
1
Spell Affinity
8th
+4
+2
+2
+6
2
Arcane Discovery
9th
+4
+3
+3
+6
2
Spell Affinity
10th
+5
+3
+3
+7
3
Extra Slot, Arcane Discovery
11th
+5
+3
+3
+7
3
Spell Affinity
12th
+6/+1
+4
+4
+8
4
Arcane Discovery
13th
+6/+1
+4
+4
+8
4
Spell Affinity
14th
+7/+2
+4
+4
+9
5
Arcane Discovery
15th
+7/+2
+5
+5
+9
5
Spell Affinity
16th
+8/+3
+5
+5
+10
6
Arcane Discovery
17th
+8/+3
+5
+5
+10
6
Spell Affinity
18th
+9/+4
+6
+6
+11
7
Arcane Discovery
19th
+9/+4
+6
+6
+11
7
Spell Affinity
20th
+10/+5
+6
+6
+12
8
Arcane Discovery
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Scholars are proficient with all simple weapons, but not with any type of armor or shield.
Spells: You gain 4 elastic spell slots at 1st level. Unlike other spell slots, the level of each slot is based on the level of spell prepared in them, with empty slots being level 0. Any effects that change the level of slot used by a spell adjust this level accordingly. For purposes of determining the highest level spells you can prepare, count these slots as having a level equal to half your caster level. Each level taken in this class adds 1 to your caster level.
Despite their flexibility, here is a limit to how much you can safely store in these slots. For each point the total level of all such slots exceeds your caster level plus the lower of your caster level or intelligence modifier, you take a point of mental strain. Treat this strain as wisdom damage for purposes of determining penalties. You are confused while your mental strain + wisdom damage exceeds your wisdom score. Creatures immune to wisdom damage or confusion can not prepare spells that would put them over this limit. You recover from strain as if were wisdom damage, but can not heal strain while over your slot level limit.
You can prepare wizard spells into these slots by studying those spells from arcane magical writings you have deciphered. For every 20 minutes spent doing so, you can prepare up to your caster level in slot levels, with few levels taking proportionally less time. Cantrips count as ½ level for this purpose. At the DM’s discretion, additional time may be required in distracting circumstances. You can only hold a single copy of a given spell among all such spell slots.
Preparing any spell whose level is greater than a quarter your caster level inflicts a type of mental fatigue. While under that effect, you take a -2 penalty to intelligence, wisdom, and caster level checks. This form of mental fatigue can be removed with an hour of complete rest.
Each time you cast a spell from these slots, make a caster level check against a DC equal to twice the slot’s level. On a success, the spell takes effect with a save DC of 10 + spell level + intelligence modifier. On a failure, the spell is lost and you suffer a mishap as if a Scroll Mishap was triggered for the spell. In either case, you take a penalty to such checks equal to the slot’s level for 1 round as the last remnants of the spell interfere with further casting.
You can apply metamagic feats to spells from these slots when you cast them, taking extra time as if the spell was cast spontaneously.
Cantrips: At 1st level, select 1 cantrip from the wizard spell list for every 3 point of your intelligence score. You master that cantrip and can prepare it without a spellbook as per the Spell Mastery feat.
Extra Slot: At 2nd and 10th level, you gain an additional elastic spell slot.
Extra Capacity: At 6th level and every 2 levels after that the total spell slot levels you can safely hold increases by 1.
Arcane Discovery: At every even level, you may select an Arcane Discovery from the wizard’s list. Alternately, you may gain an item creation, metamagic, or spell mastery feat. You may count your class level as wizard levels for the purpose of that selection.
Spell Affinity: At 3rd level and every 2 levels after that, choose one of the following effects and one spell you have deciphered and can prepare. The chosen spell can not have a level higher than half your caster level.
Charge Conservation: When a magic item lets you spend charges to use the chosen spell, you can use the spell without expending those charges. You can do this a number of times per day equal to your caster level divided by the spell’s level. If this would give you 5 or more uses per day, you can use this ability once per round.
Ritual Casting: You can cast the chosen spell without preparing it first. However, doing so increases the casting time to a minimum of 15 minutes. When you chose the spell, the DM will set an additional component that must be used to cast the spell this way. If you require magical writings to prepare the spell, you must read from those writings during the ritual. At the rituals conclusion make a caster level check as if casting from an elastic spell slot.
Spell Retention: When you make a caster level check to cast the selected spell from a elastic spell slot, the spell is not expended if the roll is higher than 5 times the slot’s level.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Grimoirists are proficient with all simple weapons, but not with any type of armor or shield. Note that arcane spells with somatic components risk failure if cast in armor.
Spells: Grimoirists can prepare wizard spells from any spellbook they have deciphered. They can prepare one spell for every 3 points of intelligence they have. To prepare a spell, the grimoirist must have available spell capacity equal to the spell's level. A grimoirist's maximum spell capacity is equal to their class level plus half their caster level. (Grimoirists are considered full casters, with each level in the class adding 1 to their caster level.)
Actually preparing each spell involves reading the spell's text for at least 5 minutes per spell level. (Treat cantrips as ½ level for this purpose.) The caster is fascinated by the text until this process is completed or interrupted. This distracting environments may require additional time or extra steps until the process can begin. Once completed, the spell is prepared, tying up spell capacity equal to it's level. You can not prepare multiple copies of the same spell through this method. Each such prepared spell has a save DC equal to 10 + it's level + the grimoirist's intelligence modifier.
Spells prepared this way are not without their risks. Each time these prepared spells are cast, make a caster level check against a DC equal to twice the spell's level. On a failure, the spell is lost and you suffer a mishap as if a “Scroll Mishap” was triggered for the spell.
Even without mishaps, casting has it's costs. The surge of arcane power is disorienting enough to increase the DC of casting mishap checks for 1 round. It's also draining enough to temporarily exhaust spell capacity equal to the spell's level. Exhausted spell capacity becomes available again after 8 hours of complete rest.
Grimoirists use metamagic on the fly like sorcerers, complete with extended casting times. Doing so exhausts spells capacity equal to the feat's level adjustment and raises the spell's level for the purpose of mishap checks. If enough unused spell capacity is not available, the metamagic feat can not be used.
Any effects that would normally modify spell slots instead apply to the grimoirist's spell capacity. Anything that references the maximum spell level they can cast should use half their caster level, rounded up, as that's the highest level spell they can cast without risking mishaps under normal circumstances.
Cantrips: At 1st level, a grimorist masters a number of wizard cantrips equal to one more than the number of spells they can prepare. As per spell mastery, these spells can be prepared without needing a spellbook.
Tome Finder: Grimoirists have a knack for acquiring arcane texts. At 1st level, they gain a pool of points equal to 4 * (caster level + charisma score). Every level after that adds 3 * caster level * class level + charisma score to that pool. Points can be spent from this pool to reduce the cost of acquiring books and arcane magical writings or copying spells at a rate of 1 gp per point spent. This can be used by to justify lucky breaks where the player just happens to find one of those items. In those cases, the DM and player should work together on the item as the DM decides what's available but the player can skip finding the item if they're not willing to pay for it.
Bonus Feats: Grimoirists gain a bonus feat every even class level. These may be metamagic feats or item creation feats. They also qualify for spell mastery and arcane discoveries as if they were a wizard and can take either of those in place of their bonus feats.
Swift Study: At 3rd level, reduce the time to prepare spells using this class' approach to 4 minutes per spell level. This improves to 3 minutes per spell level at 5th level, 2 minutes per spell level at 7th level, and 1 minute per spell level at 11th level.
Casting Resilience: At 5th level, reduce the amount to spell capacity exhausted when casting a spell by 1. This reduction improves by 1 every 5 levels.