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Sooth
2016-12-07, 11:55 PM
Hello,

As part of my quest to make everything Metal, here is a Wizard/Sorcerer PrC about empowering magic with your own entrails. The concept behind it is that the class is able to give themselves rather significant buffs and spellcasting advantages at the expense of suffering (hopefully) significant costs. All feedback, critique and commentary welcome.

Though I realize full-casters are already top-tier, my wish for this PrC is to do no more than echo that existing level of power with this conceptually over-the-top prestige class. I'm sure that there is probably some obscure way to abuse the hell out of every ability on here, but I would like for the class to, if avoidable, not be clearly, egregiously broken or easy to cheese into total madness.

Thanks for your thoughts and time!

****

Brutalmancer
“Blood magic?” The cowled mage shook his head and emitted a rasp, aqueous laugh. “More like ***** magic.”

Forward he leaned, revealing two eyeless sockets and an ashen face so ravaged and misshapen that the bone seemed to protrude through flesh.

“Let me show you some real magic.”

Millennia ago, when a cabal of wizards rediscovered lost texts containing ancient rituals from the Age of Metal, they learned how to harness energies from the Planes of Mayhem and wield greater power than they had ever known before. But these arcanists were not servants of Metal gods. They sought the power for their own ends, and so, wielding that power came at a price.

The price was melted faces, cooked brains, severed limbs, and all the trappings of Metal’s most violent and brutal side. Many of those wizards and their students shunned the lost art, deciding that some forgotten rituals should remain so. But a small handful of them were totally badass, perhaps even masochistic - but most certainly, out of ****s to give.

And so the realm’s first Brutalmancers came to be.

Role: Brutalmancers partake in over-the-top personal injury in exchange for drastically increased power: power which is usually directed toward applications of murder. Thus, a Brutalmancer is very handy to have around when you really need something to die right then-and-there and can afford to worry about the consequences later. However, should a Brutalmancer find themselves paired with a powerful, particularly patient and dedicated healer, true mayhem is sure to follow.

Alignment: Brutalmancy is offensive and torturous in nature; its practitioners must be comfortable with covering the landscape in bloody viscera and subjecting others to particularly violent and painful deaths. Thus, if there are any Good-aligned Brutalmancers out there, they are probably insane.

The Dead & The Bodiless: Invariably, there will be inspiring Brutalmancers who have attained lichdom or otherwise shed their weak and flesh-filled bodies. These creatures may think themselves clever since they have transcended the need for vital organs. The Gods of Metal laugh at them, for creatures incapable of paying he necessary tolls of anguish and viscera to invoke Brutalmancy, likewise, cannot reap its benefits.

Hit Die: d6.

Requirements
To endure the path of mutilation necessary for becoming a Brutalmancer, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.

Alignment: Any non-good, unless your GM decides that alignment restrictions should die in a fire.

Feats: Endurance, Diehard.

Skills: Knowledge (the planes) 5 ranks.

Spells: Ability to cast 3rd-level arcane spells.

Special: At the GM's discretion, the caster may not be a creature incapable of physically paying the tolls demanded by Brutalmancy (such as most undead).

Class Skills

The Brutalmancer’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Craft (Int), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (all) (Int), Linguistics (Int), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), and Use Magic Device (Cha).

Skill Ranks at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.

Table: Brutalmancer
LevelBABFortRefWillSpecial

1
+0
+2
+0
+0
Brutal Ritual, +1 spell caster level
2
+1
+3
+0
+0
No Pain +2, +1 spell caster level
3
+1
+3
+1
+1
Impossible regrowth, +1 spell caster level

4
+2
+4
+1
+1
Brutal Ritual, +1 spell caster level
5
+2
+4
+1
+1
A Better Living Through Metal
6
+3
+5
+2
+2
No Pain +4, +1 spell caster level
7
+3
+5
+2
+2
Brutal Ritual, +1 spell caster level
8
+4
+6
+2
+2
Greater impossible regrowth, +1 spell caster level
9
+4
+6
+3
+3
No Pain +6, +1 spell caster level
10
+5
+7
+3
+3
Brutal Ritual, A Better Living Through Metal

Spellcasting: At the indicated levels (all except 5th and 10th), the Brutalmancer adds one to his arcane spellcasting class level for spell casting purposes, granting him more spells per day, spells known, and increasing his caster level with such spells. This does not grant him new features from a previous class. If a character had more than one arcane spellcasting class before becoming a Brutalmancer, he is a loser, and must decide which class to treat as one level higher for these purposes.

Brutal Ritual (Su): At 1st level and again every three levels thereafter, the Brutalmancer learns one of the signature techniques of that wicked, wild power harnessed from the Planes of Mayhem. He chooses one ability from the list below. When called upon, these abilities each have a Benefit and a Sacrifice. These Sacrifices take effect immediately after activating the ability and after the completion of any spell being cast with the ability (if applicable). If the Brutalmancer is somehow prevented from actually paying the sacrifice or otherwise finds a way to cheat the ritual, then the Brutalmancer either suffers a violent and spectacular mishap such that he regrets his hubris, or some terrifying, dimension-hopping nemesis from the Planes of Mayhem adds the Brutalmancer’s name to its **** list (GM’s discretion). Unless otherwise specified, there is no limit to how often a Brutalmancer may activate a Brutal Ritual.

Brain Boil
Benefit: As a swift action, the Brutalmancer can overclock his brain to achieve immense intellect and arcane potency. This grants the Brutalmancer a +2 profane bonus to his Intelligence score for a number of rounds equal to 1 + his Constitution modifier.
A character with 5 class levels in Brutalmancer can overclock their brain further, choosing whether to gain a +2 bonus or +4 bonus when activating this ability, and a character with 10 class levels can choose between a +2, +4, or +6 bonus.
Sacrifice: The Brutalmaster cooks his brain in the process. At the end of the duration, the Brutalmancer suffers Intelligence drain equal to half the Intelligence bonus he received from this ritual (so 3 points of drain for a +6 boost).

Circle of Entrails
Benefit: As a standard action, the Brutalmancer can use his entrails to create a 10’ radius circle of magical power on the ground at a point within 5 feet of him. The entrails meld with the surface upon which they are created so that the circle cannot easily be broken by physical disturbances; it remains active for 10 minutes per character level the Brutalmancer possesses. Whenever the Brutalmancer casts a spell while standing within his circle of power, he may spend a swift action to apply one of the following metamagic effects to it (as though using the corresponding feat): Burning, Concussive, Extend, Enlarge, Fearsome, Sickening, Traumatic.
The circle of power can be dispelled as a spell cast by the Brutalmancer, but doing so results in a nasty surprise for the dispeller. Any creature that dispels the circle of power suffers 1d6 points of damage per caster level of the Brutalmancer and becomes stunned for 1 round; a successful Fortitude save (DC 10 + ½ the Brutalmancer’s character level + the Brutalmancer’s Intelligence modifier or Charisma modifier, whichever is higher) halves this damage and allows the creature to not be stunned.
Sacrifice: Since the circle of power is created from the Brutalmancer’s own innards, it results in 1d4 points of Constitution drain to him.
Special: The Brutalmancer can choose to create a longer lasting circle that remains active for 24 hours; if he does, creating the circle taxes him by 4 points of Constitution drain (instead of 1d4).

Facemelting
Benefit: When the Brutalmancer casts a spell dealing acid, fire, sonic or lightning damage, he may spend a swift action to maximize the damage dice of those energy types (as though using the Maximize Spell feat), allowing him to achieve maximal face-meltage.
Sacrifice: The Brutalmancer melts his own face as well, suffering damage equal to one-and-a-half times his character level (rounded down). This damage is untyped and therefore not reduced by energy resistance. If this damage is completely absorbed by temporary hit points or otherwise prevented from reducing the Brutalmancer’s actual hit point total, then the Brutalmancer fails to melt his face as per the requirements and is considered to have cheated the ritual (see above).

Sanguine Battery
Benefit: As a swift action, the Brutalmaster can cut himself open and have brutality flow through him. Until he falls unconscious or chooses to end this ability as a free action, he gains a +1 bonus to the caster level of his spells. This improves to a +2 bonus with 5 levels in the Brutalmancer class and a +3 bonus with 10 levels.
Sacrifice: The brutality flows through the Brutalmancer… and from him. When the Brutalmancer uses this ability, he suffers damage equal to 1d6 + 1d6 per 5 Brutalmancer levels he possesses and, on subsequent rounds, suffers the same amount of d6s in bleed damage. If the Brutalmancer stops bleeding, this ability ends prematurely.
Special: If the Brutalmancer suffers bleed damage from any source, he may choose to activate this ability as an immediate action; if he does, he takes control of the bleeding. The bleed damage becomes 1d6 + 1d6 per 5 Brutalmancer levels he possesses (regardless of what it was before) and he may choose to end it simply by ending the Brutal Ritual.

Soul Ablaze
Benefit: As a swift action, the Brutalmancer can set his metaphysical essence on fire to achieve greater interpersonal magnetism and arcane potency. This grants the Brutalmancer a +2 profane bonus to his Charisma score for a number of rounds equal to 1 + his Constitution modifier.
A character with 5 class levels in Brutalmancer can immolate his soul further, choosing whether to gain a +2 bonus or +4 bonus when activating this ability, and a character with 10 class levels can choose between a +2, +4, or +6 bonus.
Sacrifice: The Brutalmaster ravages his aura in the process. At the end of the duration, the Brutalmancer suffers Charisma drain equal to half the Charisma bonus he received from this ritual (so 3 points of drain for a +6 boost).

Ultimate Power
Benefit: Once per day, as a full-round action, the Brutalmancer can call upon neigh-ultimate arcane power. This allows him to do one of the following (his choice when he activates this Brutal Ritual):
Use Limited Wish as a spell-like ability; if the Brutalmancer is capable of casting 9th level sorcerer/wizard spells, he may use Wish as a spell-like ability instead.
Cast a single spell with a casting time of 1 round or less; the spell becomes Intensified (as though with the Intensified Spell feat), Heightened (as per Heighten Spell) to the highest level spell slot available to the Brutalmancer, benefits from a caster level increase of +4, and does not consume one of the Brutalmancer’s spell slots (the Brutalmancer can choose this option even if he has not prepared the spell in question or has ran out of spells for the day).
Sacrifice: This ritual involves the Brutalmancer ripping out his own, still-beating heart. The Brutalmancer must make a Constitution check (DC 20). If he fails the saving throw, he dies violently and for the next 24 hours his spiritual energy is put on display somewhere within the Planes of Mayhem; during this time, any attempts to raise, reincarnate or resurrect the Brutalmancer automatically fail. If he succeeds on the saving throw, he is reduced to -1 hit points but suffers no lasting damage otherwise (his heart melds back into place with the rest of his internal organs).
Special: The Brutalmancer must possess at least two other Brutal Rituals before he can select this one (making this ritual selectable at 7th or 10th level in the class).

Vital Catalyst
Benefit: As a standard action, the Brutalmancer can invest his life force to empower an animated or conjured minion. When he does so, he chooses a spell from the list below and activates it as a spell-like ability. The Brutalmancer does not need to know the spell he chooses, but he must have a sufficiently high caster level (as indicated on the table).

The Brutalmancer can only target creatures under his control which he has summoned or raised, such as through the Summon Monster or Animate Dead spells. If the Brutalmancer chooses a spell which affects more than one ally, only summoned or raised creatures under his control are affected; the Brutalmancer himself does not count as one such creature. Spells with a range of ‘personal’ are treated as having a range of ‘touch’ and a target of ‘creature touched.’

Spell Required Caster Level Hit Point Cost
Blood Armor 6th 5
Blood Blaze 6th 5
Caustic Blood 13th 15
Countless Eyes 9th 10
Cure Light Wounds 6th 5
Cure Serious Wounds 9th 10
Cure Light Wounds, Mass 13th 15
Haste 9th 10
*Inflict Light Wounds 6th 5
*Inflict Serious Wounds 9th 10
*Inflict Light Wounds, Mass 13th 15
Deadly Juggernaut 9th 10
Rage 6th 5
Unliving Rage 6th 5


*For use with undead minions.

Sacrifice: The Brutalmancer pays for the spell ritual with his own blood and viscera, and suffers the indicated amount of hit point loss.
Special: Once per day, the Brutalmancer can use this ability as an immediate action (instead of a standard); if he does, the hit point cost for that spell is doubled.

Vital Catalyst, Reversed
Benefit: Once per hour, the Brutalmancer can spend a swift action and cull the life force of a target animated or conjured minion to bolster his own arcane power. He must choose a creature within 60 feet under his control which he has summoned or raised. This grants the Brutalmancer a bonus to the caster level of the next spell he casts within 1 minute. The amount of increase is based on a comparison of Hit Dice between the creature sacrificed and the Brutalmancer. (For example, using the table below, a 9th level Brutalmancer sacrificing a 7 HD creature would gain a +2 caster level increase.)

Hit Die of Creature Sacrificed Caster Level Increase
Up to Brutalmancer’s hit die -10 None (unworthy sacrifice)
Up to Brutalmancer’s hit die -5 +1
Up to Brutalmancer’s hit die +2
Up to Brutalmancer’s hit die +10 +3
Up to Brutalmancer’s hit die +20 +4
Greater than Brutalmancer’s hit die +20 *

*First, how in the Nine Hells did somebody in your campaign manage to pull this off? Second, assuming that the Brutalmancer was able to achieve this madness through particular circumstance and not by breaking the game, this book recommends that the Brutalmancer be able to pull off some epic **** - at least equivalent to a caster level increase of +5.

Sacrifice: This instantly kills or destroys the target creature and removes its physical remains from the planes of existence.

Impossible Regrowth (Su): Upon reaching 2nd level, the Brutalmancer learns how to gradually replace his cooked and ruptured organs; if he undergoes an 8 hour rest while at full hit points and while he possesses no ability damage, he can recover one point of ability drain from each affected ability score.

At 8th level, the Brutalmancer masters an esoteric ritual that allows him to instantly recover lost bodily functions. Once per day as a spell-like ability, he can duplicate either Restoration or Regenerate, but only on himself.

No Pain (Ex): Self-mutilation is simply a component to what the Brutalmancer does, and pain ceases to trouble him by his 3rd level in the class. Pain effects (such as pain strike or symbol of pain) do not affect him. Furthermore, whenever the Brutalmancer takes damage while casting a spell, he receives a +2 competence bonus to his concentration check to avoid losing the spell.

The Brutalmancer continues to improve upon his composure and discipline while under injury. The aforementioned bonus increases to +4 at 6th level in this class, and to +6 at 9th level.

A Better Living Through Metal: When the Brutalmancer reaches 5th level, he undergoes a transformation which permanently makes him more Metal and capable, granting him one chosen feature from the list below. At 10th level, he gains another such feature.

While some of the below abilities are supernatural, the sacrifices and consequences involved in obtaining them (such as losing his eyes and becoming blind) are quite rooted in physical reality and persist even in an antimagic field. Magical attempts to reverse the price for a listed ability below (such as regrowing a lost arm) generally fail or at the very least result in the loss of the class ability gained through that sacrifice; in extreme situations such as divine intervention or a Wish or Miracle spell, discretion is left to the GM.

Follow the Blind (Su): The Brutalmancer carves out his eyes and gains the ability to truly see. This renders the Brutalmancer permanently blind, but grants him the following benefits:
Blindsense 60 feet.
Constant True Seeing (as the spell), which functions through his Blindsense. In the unlikely event that an illusion or facade is able to fool a blind arcanist in the first place, the Brutalmancer automatically “sees” through it and he can focus his vision to see into the Ethereal Plane.
Constant Arcane Sight (as the spell) out to 60 feet. If the Brutalmancer reaches 10th level in this class, this ability improves and instead becomes Arcane Sight, Greater.
Once per day, the Brutalmancer can conjure a remote magical sensor that allows him to see afar; this functions as Arcane Eye, except with a casting time of 1 standard action. Since the eye “sees” as he would see, it has a sensory range of 60 feet with all of the above effects.
Sacrifice: Aside from the sight granted by this ability, the Brutalmancer is permanently blind; this remains the case even if he enters an anti-

Made of Metal (Ex): The Brutalmancer infuses his skin with metal plating. This prevents the Brutalmancer from donning most manufactured armors (GM’s discretion: they won’t fit), but grants him an armor bonus to AC equal to 3 + ½ the Brutalmancer’s class level, peaking at a +8 bonus when the Brutalmancer reaches 10th level in the class.

Pulse of the Maggots (Ex): The Brutalmancer replaces many of his internal organs with symbiotic maggots and other fine insects. This reduces the effect of magical healing on the Brutalmancer; whenever he would be subject to a spell that instantly restores hit points such as Cure Light Wounds or Heal, he recovers hit points as though the caster level was five less (minimum 1). The Brutalmancer gains the following benefits:
Doubled natural healing rate, allowing him to recover twice as many hit points, points of ability damage, and points of ability drain than he normally would after an 8 hour rest.
Whenever the Brutalmancer would be struck by a critical hit or sneak attack, there is a 25% chance that the critical hit or sneak attack is negated and damage is rolled normally (as per a light fortification armor effect).

Severed Survival (Su): The Brutalmancer hacks off his arm, thereby permanently becoming one-armed. In its place he gains the ability to conjure a floating, spectral arm as a swift action. The spectral arm allows the Brutalmancer to deliver touch spells at a distance, functioning as though he had cast a Spectral Hand spell with significant differences. The spectral arm can deliver touch spells of any level (not just 4th level or lower), and the Brutalmancer does not need to invest his own life force to create the arm; it always manifests with a hit point value of twice the Brutalmancer’s character level. The spectral arm has a duration of 8 hours (instead of 1 minute per caster level), but it ends prematurely when the Brutalmancer sleeps or otherwise falls unconscious. The Brutalmancer can theoretically use the spectral arm to perform simple interactions with objects and environments, but he is limited by its incorporeal nature.

The Brutalmancer can dismiss the spectral arm as a free action. If the spectral arm is destroyed, the Brutalmancer loses the ability to conjure it until he rests and recovers his spells; otherwise, there is no limit to how often he can dismiss or re-summon the arm.

nikkoli
2016-12-08, 11:24 AM
I'm a little unclear, but what happens if you are an undead, like a spell stitched ghoul wizard or a lich?

dragonjek
2016-12-08, 01:15 PM
Regarding Reversed Vital Catalyst, it's entirely possible to, without exploits, have a creature under your control with 10 HD more than you. Remember that a single casting of Animate Dead can animate up to twice your HD worth of undead, and zombies and skeletons gain additional HD based on their size. A titan centipede is a Colossal creature with 10 HD and a CR of 9, and Colossal zombies gain +10 HD; as a 10th level character, you'd be able to animate and control two of them, barring abilities to increase the amount of undead you can control.

Sooth
2016-12-08, 05:47 PM
I'm a little unclear, but what happens if you are an undead, like a spell stitched ghoul wizard or a lich?

Good catch... I somehow missed this obvious connection. I added clarifications in the Requirements and in the introduction of the class; it doesn't work, unless you and the GM work something out where it can.

Sooth
2016-12-08, 05:52 PM
Regarding Reversed Vital Catalyst, it's entirely possible to, without exploits, have a creature under your control with 10 HD more than you. Remember that a single casting of Animate Dead can animate up to twice your HD worth of undead, and zombies and skeletons gain additional HD based on their size. A titan centipede is a Colossal creature with 10 HD and a CR of 9, and Colossal zombies gain +10 HD; as a 10th level character, you'd be able to animate and control two of them, barring abilities to increase the amount of undead you can control.

Thank you! I never considered the added HD element.

With that in mind, I'm going to make one of two revisions to the table. I can either keep it mostly as is and scale it up to HD +20, or I can just rework it to be based off of Hit Die multiplier. Looking at either this:

Hit Die of Creature Sacrificed Caster Level Increase
Up to Brutalmancer’s hit die -10 None (unworthy sacrifice)
Up to Brutalmancer’s hit die -5 +1
Up to Brutalmancer’s hit die +2
Up to Brutalmancer’s hit die +10 +3
Up to Brutalmancer’s hit die +20 +4
Greater than Brutalmancer’s hit die +20 *

Or this:




Less than half Brutalmancer’s hit die +1
Up to Brutalmancer’s hit die +2
Up to twice Brutalmancer’s hit die +3
Up to three times Brutalmancer’s hit die +4
Up to four times Brutalmancer’s hit die +5
Greater than four times Brutalmancer’s hit die *

*... etc.

Which would you go with?

nikkoli
2016-12-08, 06:35 PM
Hit Die of Creature Sacrificed Caster Level Increase
Up to Brutalmancer’s hit die -10 None (unworthy sacrifice)
Up to Brutalmancer’s hit die -5 +1
Up to Brutalmancer’s hit die +2
Up to Brutalmancer’s hit die +10 +3
Up to Brutalmancer’s hit die +20 +4
Greater than Brutalmancer’s hit die +20 *

I'd go with this one because at lvl 20 you are throwing down 40 HD creatures instead of 80HD which makes it feasible, but difficult. Because like, the HECATONCHEIRES only has 52 HD and a 57 CR. Which using the second one at lvl 20 you couldn't sacrifice something that's pretty high up on the don't mess with this list and get the full benefits.

Also thanks for the note on the living critters, but would living constructs like warforged be viable options having a CON score, be metal enough for the gods of metal?

Sooth
2016-12-12, 04:15 AM
I'd go with this one because at lvl 20 you are throwing down 40 HD creatures instead of 80HD which makes it feasible, but difficult. Because like, the HECATONCHEIRES only has 52 HD and a 57 CR. Which using the second one at lvl 20 you couldn't sacrifice something that's pretty high up on the don't mess with this list and get the full benefits.

Also thanks for the note on the living critters, but would living constructs like warforged be viable options having a CON score, be metal enough for the gods of metal?

Right on, thanks for the input :)

If I was the GM, I personally would allow it, provided the player was willing to think of other bits of viscera to tear out of themselves to satisfy the requirements of the abilities. It's less about being attached to a particular interpretation of the class flavor and more about seeking to avoid the whole, "Well, I'm X, so I don't really need to do this thing and take these penalties, right?"
Thinking about it a bit further, I've decided to update the prerequisites to just be more explicitly 'GM's Discretion' and just let that be sorted out at the table.