Vaern
2018-09-04, 09:14 PM
I had a chronomancer class written up at one point several years ago, but lost it after formatting my PC without backing up my shenanigans folder. Here's a brief description of how I went about it. I saw a thread about creating a 5e chronomancer a while back, and it reminded me of my own chronomancer class and I thought I might try to recreate it.
One of my friends was telling me about some crazy stuff that could be done with the White Wolf Mage system, and gave me a brief description of the Paradox and how Bad Stuff™ would happen to a mage who altered reality to too great of a degree. So the 3.5 chronomancer class I wrote up was largely based around a similar paradox theme.
The class used an Unearthed Arcana spell point system. Certain spells which twisted the timeline or allowed the character to reach into the past or future to obtain a physical object would apply paradox points, which acted kind of like non-lethal damage against the caster's spell point pool. If the character's current spell point total fell below their current paradox, they became unable to cast spells. The only way to remove paradox was to somehow correct the anomaly they created. Generally, the spells I had written using this mechanic has effects comparable to existing sorc/wiz spells, but available a spell level lower.
For example, they might have some sort of "future shape" spell that could transmute a lump of wood or metal into the shape of a sword or a bow for a brief time, but in order to remove the paradox created by the spell they would have to carry that material with them after the effect ends until they are able to ultimately have it crafted into the key that they needed back then. This effect might generate a couple of points of paradox, while higher level effects that have much more noticeable impact on the world might generate several dozen points of paradox with its damage to both the chronomancer and the world around him being exceptionally difficult to repair.
Then, finally, if the chronomancer should ever accumulate so much paradox as to exceed his total maximum spell points, he effectively dies. He is shunted to an alternate timeline where the most severe changes he made to his home timeline would have occurred naturally, thus removing him from the game. The only way he can be retrieved is for his party to intervene and undo the damages he caused in his home timeline, and then use a limited wish or miracle spell to pull him back.
The class may not be intended for players, so much as to add a bit of flavor to the world. The world I had in mind at the time had outlawed chronomancy due to how dangerous manipulation of time can be not only to the chronomancers themselves, but to the world around them, with a notable point in history being the banding together of chronomancers to try undoing a major catastrophe and almost destroying the universe in the process. Nevertheless, a few chronomancers still existed, and I wanted the class to be detailed enough that the players could choose to dabble in the craft even after watching a friendly NPC chronomancer slowly destroying himself. And hopefully by the time the chronomancer vanished, the party would be attached enough to him to attempt to save him.
Anyway, the major thing I'm missing in the development is personalized chronomancer class spells. I had a good number before, but they've all been lost. Other than the unique spell list that interacts with the paradox mechanic in a meaningful way, it should just be a fairly simple 1d4 HD, 1/2 BAB, high will save arcane caster.
0
Measure Time
Components: S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Personal
Duration: Instantaneous
This spell has two functions: Timekeeping and time lapse.
If you choose the timekeeping function, you discern the date and time to the minute in relation to any calendar of your choosing.
If you choose the time lapse function, you choose a specific time and immediately discern the span of time between then and now. This may tell you how much time has passed since a certain event, or how much time has yet to pass before the chosen time occurs.
Mismeasure Time
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Short
Target: One crature
Duration: 1 hour
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: Yes
You distort the target's perception of time, causing him to believe that the current time is up to 10 minutes per caster level earlier or later than it actually is. If the subject is informed that he is running early or late, he gains an additional saving throw against the spell. If the subject refers to a definitive way of keeping time such as a timepiece or a spell such as measure time, the effect ends.
1
Accelerate
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: Creature touched
Duration: 1 round/level
Saving Throw: Fortitude negates (harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)
The flow of time around the touched creature is altered, allowing it to move faster. Its movement speed is increased by 10 feet.
This spell does not stack with other effects that increase movement speed. Accelerate counters and dispels decelerate.
Decelerate
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: Creature touched
Duration: 1 round/level
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: Yes
The flow of time around the touched creature is altered, forcing it to move more slowly. Its movement speed is reduced by 10 feet.
Multiple applications of decelerate don't stack. Decelerate counters and dispels accelerate.
Chronal Blast, Lesser
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Short (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target: One creature
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: Yes
You make a ranged touch attack against your target, attempting to blast them with a spasm of space-time flux. An affected creature takes 1d4 points of damage, plus 1d4 per two caster levels above first (to a maximum of 5d4 at 9th level)
2
Aging Ray*
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Effect: Ray
Target: One creature
Duration: 1 hour/level
Saving Throw: Fortitude negates
Spell Resistance: Yes
You fire a ray that forces the subject to age. Most creatures struck by this ray suffers penalties to his strength, dexterity, and constitution ability scores as though he had advanced one age category, to a maximum of venerable. These penalties may not reduce any ability score below 3. A creature which advances by age category, such as a dragon, adjusts its ability scores accordingly, but gains no other bonuses such as increased size, additional hit dice, attack bonus, or base saving throw bonuses.
Aging ray reverses the effects of de-aging ray, and vice versa.
De-Aging Ray*
Components: V, S, F
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Effect: Ray
Target: One creature
Duration: 1 hour/level
Saving Throw: Fortitude negates
Spell Resistance: Yes
You fire a ray that forces to subject to revert to an earlier form of itself. An affected creature's ability scores are adjusted to reflect a creature one category younger, to a minimum of adult. If a creature is already an adult, it suffers a -2 penalty to each of its strength, dexterity, and constitution ability scores, to a minimum of 3. A creature which advances by age category, such as a dragon, adjusts its ability scores accordingly, but suffers no additional penalties such as reduced size or loss of hit dice, attack bonus, or base saving throw bonuses.
De-aging ray reverses the effects of aging ray, and vice versa.
Focus: An hourglass that has been enchanted so that its sand flows backwards, worth at least 100 gp.
Augury
As the spell
Slow Death
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: One dying creature
Duration: 1 round/level (D)
Saving Throw: Fortitude negates (harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)
This spell only benefits a creature who is between -9 and 0 hit points. The subject become suspended in time, preventing him from bleeding out for the duration of the spell. He may still be damaged or healed, which ends the spell, but does not roll to stabilize while the spell persists.
Gentle Repose
As the spell
Last Words
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: Touch
Target: Corpse touched
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
As you touch the corpse you have a vision from the past and witness the creature's last moments of life. This vision is brief and reveals how the subject died, though details may not always be clear. For example, you might know that the subject died in bed from illness, though you may not be able to discern whether the cause was a natural disease or poison.
If the subject died a violent death, the caster may see his killer and any bystanders. After the caster witnesses the subject's death, there is a 2% chance per caster level each round that the vision extends beyond the subject's death, to a maximum of one minute. This may reveal important information such as which direction the killer went, or whether a valuable item was stolen from the scene of a murder.
If this spell is cast on a destroyed undead, instead of a vision of the creature's death, the caster witnesses the moment that the undead creature was created.
One of my friends was telling me about some crazy stuff that could be done with the White Wolf Mage system, and gave me a brief description of the Paradox and how Bad Stuff™ would happen to a mage who altered reality to too great of a degree. So the 3.5 chronomancer class I wrote up was largely based around a similar paradox theme.
The class used an Unearthed Arcana spell point system. Certain spells which twisted the timeline or allowed the character to reach into the past or future to obtain a physical object would apply paradox points, which acted kind of like non-lethal damage against the caster's spell point pool. If the character's current spell point total fell below their current paradox, they became unable to cast spells. The only way to remove paradox was to somehow correct the anomaly they created. Generally, the spells I had written using this mechanic has effects comparable to existing sorc/wiz spells, but available a spell level lower.
For example, they might have some sort of "future shape" spell that could transmute a lump of wood or metal into the shape of a sword or a bow for a brief time, but in order to remove the paradox created by the spell they would have to carry that material with them after the effect ends until they are able to ultimately have it crafted into the key that they needed back then. This effect might generate a couple of points of paradox, while higher level effects that have much more noticeable impact on the world might generate several dozen points of paradox with its damage to both the chronomancer and the world around him being exceptionally difficult to repair.
Then, finally, if the chronomancer should ever accumulate so much paradox as to exceed his total maximum spell points, he effectively dies. He is shunted to an alternate timeline where the most severe changes he made to his home timeline would have occurred naturally, thus removing him from the game. The only way he can be retrieved is for his party to intervene and undo the damages he caused in his home timeline, and then use a limited wish or miracle spell to pull him back.
The class may not be intended for players, so much as to add a bit of flavor to the world. The world I had in mind at the time had outlawed chronomancy due to how dangerous manipulation of time can be not only to the chronomancers themselves, but to the world around them, with a notable point in history being the banding together of chronomancers to try undoing a major catastrophe and almost destroying the universe in the process. Nevertheless, a few chronomancers still existed, and I wanted the class to be detailed enough that the players could choose to dabble in the craft even after watching a friendly NPC chronomancer slowly destroying himself. And hopefully by the time the chronomancer vanished, the party would be attached enough to him to attempt to save him.
Anyway, the major thing I'm missing in the development is personalized chronomancer class spells. I had a good number before, but they've all been lost. Other than the unique spell list that interacts with the paradox mechanic in a meaningful way, it should just be a fairly simple 1d4 HD, 1/2 BAB, high will save arcane caster.
0
Measure Time
Components: S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Personal
Duration: Instantaneous
This spell has two functions: Timekeeping and time lapse.
If you choose the timekeeping function, you discern the date and time to the minute in relation to any calendar of your choosing.
If you choose the time lapse function, you choose a specific time and immediately discern the span of time between then and now. This may tell you how much time has passed since a certain event, or how much time has yet to pass before the chosen time occurs.
Mismeasure Time
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Short
Target: One crature
Duration: 1 hour
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: Yes
You distort the target's perception of time, causing him to believe that the current time is up to 10 minutes per caster level earlier or later than it actually is. If the subject is informed that he is running early or late, he gains an additional saving throw against the spell. If the subject refers to a definitive way of keeping time such as a timepiece or a spell such as measure time, the effect ends.
1
Accelerate
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: Creature touched
Duration: 1 round/level
Saving Throw: Fortitude negates (harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)
The flow of time around the touched creature is altered, allowing it to move faster. Its movement speed is increased by 10 feet.
This spell does not stack with other effects that increase movement speed. Accelerate counters and dispels decelerate.
Decelerate
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: Creature touched
Duration: 1 round/level
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: Yes
The flow of time around the touched creature is altered, forcing it to move more slowly. Its movement speed is reduced by 10 feet.
Multiple applications of decelerate don't stack. Decelerate counters and dispels accelerate.
Chronal Blast, Lesser
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Short (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target: One creature
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: Yes
You make a ranged touch attack against your target, attempting to blast them with a spasm of space-time flux. An affected creature takes 1d4 points of damage, plus 1d4 per two caster levels above first (to a maximum of 5d4 at 9th level)
2
Aging Ray*
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Effect: Ray
Target: One creature
Duration: 1 hour/level
Saving Throw: Fortitude negates
Spell Resistance: Yes
You fire a ray that forces the subject to age. Most creatures struck by this ray suffers penalties to his strength, dexterity, and constitution ability scores as though he had advanced one age category, to a maximum of venerable. These penalties may not reduce any ability score below 3. A creature which advances by age category, such as a dragon, adjusts its ability scores accordingly, but gains no other bonuses such as increased size, additional hit dice, attack bonus, or base saving throw bonuses.
Aging ray reverses the effects of de-aging ray, and vice versa.
De-Aging Ray*
Components: V, S, F
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Effect: Ray
Target: One creature
Duration: 1 hour/level
Saving Throw: Fortitude negates
Spell Resistance: Yes
You fire a ray that forces to subject to revert to an earlier form of itself. An affected creature's ability scores are adjusted to reflect a creature one category younger, to a minimum of adult. If a creature is already an adult, it suffers a -2 penalty to each of its strength, dexterity, and constitution ability scores, to a minimum of 3. A creature which advances by age category, such as a dragon, adjusts its ability scores accordingly, but suffers no additional penalties such as reduced size or loss of hit dice, attack bonus, or base saving throw bonuses.
De-aging ray reverses the effects of aging ray, and vice versa.
Focus: An hourglass that has been enchanted so that its sand flows backwards, worth at least 100 gp.
Augury
As the spell
Slow Death
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: One dying creature
Duration: 1 round/level (D)
Saving Throw: Fortitude negates (harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)
This spell only benefits a creature who is between -9 and 0 hit points. The subject become suspended in time, preventing him from bleeding out for the duration of the spell. He may still be damaged or healed, which ends the spell, but does not roll to stabilize while the spell persists.
Gentle Repose
As the spell
Last Words
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: Touch
Target: Corpse touched
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
As you touch the corpse you have a vision from the past and witness the creature's last moments of life. This vision is brief and reveals how the subject died, though details may not always be clear. For example, you might know that the subject died in bed from illness, though you may not be able to discern whether the cause was a natural disease or poison.
If the subject died a violent death, the caster may see his killer and any bystanders. After the caster witnesses the subject's death, there is a 2% chance per caster level each round that the vision extends beyond the subject's death, to a maximum of one minute. This may reveal important information such as which direction the killer went, or whether a valuable item was stolen from the scene of a murder.
If this spell is cast on a destroyed undead, instead of a vision of the creature's death, the caster witnesses the moment that the undead creature was created.