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HidaTsuzua
2007-09-23, 02:45 PM
SRD Revision

My friends and I have been working on this reworking of D&D. These are a collection of changes to the non-Psionic parts of the SRD. This will be divided into parts with parts added as time goes on. Comments are welcome.

These rules are planning on being used for the setting Isoria's Legacy (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58438).

Statement of Purpose

The point of these houserules is to increase the level of balance and options for play in D&D by providing a set of classes and races that are better matched to each other than the default options. For this reason, I primarily stuck to the SRD as the “base” to be referenced, for, among other reasons, the ease of fixing one set of rules only.

The primary problems that were to be fixed were as follows.

In most cases, single-class characters are simply weaker than characters who heavily multiclass into prestige classes, for three reasons. The first is that too many classes, both base and prestige, are heavily frontloaded and encouraged taking a small number of levels, then going elsewhere. The second is that many classes simply didn’t acquire any unique abilities at high levels to make it worth staying, rather than taking a prestige class that advanced the primary aspect of their class (for example, spellcaster progression, BAB, or sneak attack) and provided much better specials.

Examples include Sorcerers, who gain literally nothing by sticking with their base class over a full-progression PrC other than familiar abilities. The solution was to lower the amount of front-loading of certain classes, and give base classes more important abilities at higher levels, and remove or rework all the PrCs that were simply better versions of base classes, such as Archmage or Contemplative. The “baseline” was set at the level of a character who takes full advantage of PrC options and “mixes and matches” various classes.

This means that player power level, overall, increases. This is fine; I simply intend to compensate by adjusting monster CR to reflect this. The important thing is that player characters are better balanced with each other.

On a similar note, some classes (such as Bards) are simply worse than others. Bards were improved to put them more in line with other base classes. Likewise, multiclass spellcasters were generally subpar characters, with a few narrow exceptions. The power of multiclass spellcasters was rebalanced with the ESL system.

Paralleling the class balance revision, there were numerous problems with ECL and the way ECL is calculated (for example, some race choices had crippling massive ECLs that were vastly out of line with the actual power level of such characters). This was also revised; I relied heavily on Solarian’s system to do so, and he deserves credit for it.

The final goal was to fix various examples of poor rules, blatant stupidity, broken spells, and the like. These were simply revised on a case-by-case basis. Examples include the shapechange, polymorph, and divine favor spells, the subparness of half-elves and half-orcs, specialist wizards typically specializing in a school that they will always want one spell per level of, rather than one they actually intend to favor, and so on.

In summary, the overall goal was to make PCs more closely balanced with one another by removing “must-have” PrCs and making single-class and multiclass characters better balanced. The power level of PCs relative to the CR of monsters was not considered – it was easier in many ways to simply up the power level of PCs to the “frontrunners” of the core game, and adjust CR reflexively.

Race

All races are the same of their SRD counterpart except when noted:

Half-elf. Half-elves receive 2 bonus skill points at first level, and 1 bonus skill point at every even-numbered level. Half-elves human ancestry makes them faster learners than their Elven kin.

Half Orc: +2 racial bonus on Intimidate checks. Half-orcs receive 4 bonus skill points at first level, and 1 bonus skill point at every level due to their human heritage.

Note on Size: Instead of +/-4 to Hide per size category, smaller/larger characters get half the modifier but it applies to both Spot and Hide. This modifies the Halfling and Gnome races.

Size
Note on Size: Instead of +/-4 to Hide per size category, smaller/larger characters get half the modifier but it applies to both Spot and Hide. This modifies the Halfling and Gnome races.

Effective Spellcaster Level

Effective spellcaster level (ESL) is by default twice the character’s level in the spellcasting class, or their total hit dice, whichever is less. However, classes that cast at half their class level (for example, rangers) still get this halved at the end. IE, a Wiz2/Ftr3 has a ESL of 4. A Wiz6/Clr10/Drd1 has a Wizard ESL of 12, a Cleric ESL of 17, and a Druid ESL of 2. A Rgr10/Wiz10 has a wizard ESL of 20 and a ranger ESL of 10.

ESL is used in place of class level for spells when checking for spell penetration, dispel magic, range, duration, damage, etc., but NOT for determining spells per day/spells known.

Prestige classes that add to caster level are added to that class’s level for calculating ESL, as the first step.

Classes

Barbarian
Greater Rage provides +8 Strength and Constitution, +4 to Will saves, and -2 AC. Mighty Rage provides +12 Strength and +12 Constitution, +6 to Will saves, and -2 AC. Damage Reduction gained is doubled.

Bard
Bards are proficient with all simple and martial weapons.

Bardic Music: Note that “Bardic Music” does not in fact have to be music – it is possible (and perfectly acceptable) to create a bard who doesn’t even play an instrument. Such a character might call himself an “adventurer” and give heroic and inspiring speeches, or witty quips, and use some other name instead of a “bard.” Bards have 2 options for using “Bardic Music” abilities. They may use “performance” music which requires a standard action to activate and requires concentration for all abilities; however; the bard is treated as having 4 more bard levels (but with no change to ranks in perform). Bards may also use “spontaneous music,” which is faster and requires less focus:

Countersong may be activated as a standard action but is a free action to maintain.

Fascinate is unchanged.

Inspire Courage may be activated as a free action and is a free action to maintain.

Inspire Competence is a free action and is a free action to maintain. Instead of using Inspire Competence as written, a bard may instead choose to Inspire Competence for a specific task, which takes 1 minute and provides the +2 bonus to the chosen task so long as the task is done with 2 minutes of the bard finishing Inspire Competence. Example uses include giving a rogue a “pep-talk” before they try to sneak past the guards to open the door, or playing a rousing heroic song for a gladiator before he enters the arena.

Suggestion is unchanged.

Inspire Greatness may be activated as a free action and is a free action to maintain.

Song of Freedom is unchanged.

Inspire Heroics may be activated as a free action and is a free action to maintain. In addition, regardless of how the bard activates Inspire Heroics, the targets receive a +4 morale bonus to attack and damage rolls.

Mass Suggestion is unchanged.

Trapfinding at 3rd level.

Cleric
Cleric: Ignore the listed alignment paragraph. Each deity has distinct alignment requirements for their clerics, which often (but not always) conform to the one-step rule. Also, the ability of a cleric to channel positive or negative energy is determined by the god, not the alignment – see the information on deities.

Clerics of a cause are not permitted.

At level 1, a cleric may choose two of their god’s Secondary Domains (see the section on gods). At level 6, a cleric may choose a third Secondary Domain. At level 13, the cleric may choose a Primary Domain, and again at level 20 the cleric may choose a second Primary Domain. Note that some domains have requirements to choose them; a cleric may choose to not select a domain immediately if they don’t meet the requirements for the one they want.

Choosing alignments gives the cleric a special code of thought or conduct. Roughly speaking, secondary domains give the cleric a type of action to do, whereas primary domains affect how the cleric thinks and give them a special connection to their deity.

Druid
Druids may be any alignment.

Druids cannot cast spells while wearing any armor with an armor check penalty larger than -3.

Druid animal companions, like all followers, have been overhauled. See the section at the end of this document, “Special Mounts, Followers, and Animal Companions.”

For space Wildshape Changes are under the spoiler tag:


Wildshape: When “druid class level” is referenced in this section, refer to the ESL rules for multiclass characters. For example, a 5th level druid/3rd level fighter has the options of a 5th level druid, but counts as 8th class level for the purposes of caps.

Whenever size is referenced, it assumes a Medium druid. Druids of a race that is not medium sized (temporary effects do not change anything) “recenter” their size options around their new size. For example, if a Medium druid could turn into a Tiny, Small, Medium, or Large creature, then a Large druid of the same level could turn into a Small through Huge creature. If a druid is so large or so small that this would give him the ability to transform into a nonexistent size category, he gains a size category in the opposite direction instead. For example, a Colossal druid of 8th level would normally be able to turn into Colossal, one size larger than Colossal, and one size smaller than Colossal (ie, Gargantuan). Since there is no size category one larger than Colossal, this druid can instead change into Huge, Gargantuan, and Colossal creatures.

Retention of gear is changed. Any gear that could be worn unmodified by the druid’s new form is always retained (for example, a druid wearing a necklace who transforms into a jaguar will still have the necklace). Any gear that could have been made so that it fit the new form may, at the druid’s option, be retained – in particular, creatures capable of wearing barding (most animals) allow the druid to retain armor. When it’s not clear, if the druid can explain how the item could transform to fit the new form to the GM’s satisfaction, the item can be retained.

However, when wildshaped, the druid loses all weapon and shield proficiencies. Assuming the druid has appropriate limbs and digits, the druid may continue to wield them but suffers nonproficiency penalties.

Examples: Armor in Fire Elemental form: no. Weapons in snake form: no. Gauntlets in Dire Bear form: yes (if desired). Belt in snake form: yes (if desired). Ring in chimpanzee form: always.

The Save DCs of special abilities in a druid’s form use the Druid’s hit dice from class levels, not those of the creature.

Racial skill bonuses of forms the druid changes into are acquired, in addition to the druid’s own racial skill bonuses.

Druids gain extraordinary special qualities of the form they change into if they are due to physical form. For example, a druid can acquire a Crocodile’s Hold Breath and Low-light Vision special qualities.

Furthermore, druid forms are limited by the following caps. If a druid turns into a form that exceeds the cap, that ability is reduced to the cap. For example, a druid who cannot have a Natural Armor bonus higher than 8 who shapeshifts into a form with a +12 natural armor bonus receives only a +8. Note that these restrict the base form. For example, a druid who shapeshifts into a creature and is then subjected to a spell such as enlarge person checks restrictions on the base form, not the enlarged form.

Ability Scores: A druid’s physical ability scores may not increase by more than 6 + 1 per 2 class levels (round down). Note that this may reduce the save DC of a creature’s special abilities.

Natural Armor: A druid’s natural armor bonus may not exceed 3+1 per 2 class levels (round down)

Damage: A druid’s natural weapons may not, individually, do more base damage (ie, dice of damage) than a Medium monk of the druid’s class level. However, for each natural weapon the druid has less than the maximum (see below) the druid checks against a monk 3 levels higher.

Number of Attacks: A druid’s form may not have more attacks per round than 2 + 1 per 6 class levels (round down).

For the purposes of forms that cannot use weapons, armor, and shields, a druid counts as four levels higher. For the purposes of forms that cannot use at least half of the remaining (that is, those other than weapon/shield/armor) slots, the druid counts as four levels higher. These bonuses stack.



Fighter
At 12th, 16th, and 20th level, instead of a bonus feat, a fighter may choose a special fighter ability from the following list:

Improved Charge: You may take a full attack action after charging, instead of making a single attack. You still receive all other modifiers for charging. Note that effects that give multipliers to charge damage (for example, Spirited Charge, certain racial abilities, etc.) always only multiply damage on the first charge attack per round.

Feint Mastery: You must have Improved Feint to take this special ability. You may feint once per round as a free action in combat, a number of times per day equal to ¼ your total fighter level, rounded down.

Supreme Toughness: You gain +1 hit point per hit die. This bonus increases as you gain levels (even if they are in another class). In addition, you may take 10 on Fortitude saves regardless of the situation. Once per day per 10 fighter levels, you may change your decision to take 10 or roll after knowing the result.

Lethal Blows: Choose a weapon in which you already have Improved Critical. The critical bonus multiplier is multiplied by 1.25 with that weapon. Critical strikes that result in decimal damage are rounded normally.

Bitter End: If the fighter was conscious on his last action and is unconscious or disabled on his current action, he may make a Fortitude save (DC = 10 minus the fighter’s current HP total) to act normally before collapsing. Note that if the fighter is disabled and part of his action results in further damage to himself, he dies.

Greater Fortitude: After failing a Fortitude saving throw, the fighter may roll another Fortitude saving throw. If he succeeds, he may choose between taking the effect normally or being considered to have made his save, but losing his next action automatically. If a fighter uses this multiple times before his lost action “clear,” the penalty is cumulative. For example, if Sickly Stan gets hit with 3 finger of death attacks in a round, and uses Greater Fortitude on all 3, he may take no actions on his next 3 turns.

Tactical Mastery: Once per round, the fighter may force an opponent he strikes for damage in melee combat to provoke an attack of opportunity from a character within melee range of the opponent chosen by the fighter. A given character cannot, by any means, provoke more than one attack of opportunity per round through both Tactical Mastery and the rogue Opportunist ability, nor can any character gain more than one attack per round through both. (IE, Phil the Fighter and Ricky the Rogue are fighting Billy the Bard. If Phil uses Tactical Mastery on Phil, Ricky cannot use Opportunist in the same round, and vice versa. If Ollie the Ogre is also in the combat, Phil cannot strike both Billy and Ollie to give Ricky one free attack on each – one from Opportunity and one from Tactical Mastery).

Monk

A monk who is not lawful loses the use of Ki strike (lawful).

The AC bonus from Wisdom that a monk receives is limited by the character’s monk level +2.

Monks do not receive Still Mind, Quivering Palm, Empty Body, or Perfect Self.

Monks receive +1 BAB per level (fighter BAB).

Monks have a d6 hit dice.

Flurry of Blows may be used on an Attack action as well as a Full Attack action.

A monk’s unarmed blows are considered magical. A monk’s unarmed strike is considered a magical weapon with a total modifer equal to half their class level, rounded down. A monk is always considered to be “wielding” their unarmed strike (and thus should not have, for example, anarchic unarmed strike if lawful). A monk’s unarmed must increase directly – a monk can only add enhancement bonus and abilities to it, not trade them out. For example, a monk cannot go from having a +5 unarmed strike to a +4 holy unarmed strike when they reach 12th level. A monk may “turn off” their unarmed strike at any time (for example, if they have brilliant energy unarmed strike, and need to fight a construct). A monk’s magical unarmed strike is considered a supernatural ability. Ki strike overlaps with this ability (for example, a monk with Ki strike (adamantium, lawful) and +5 holy flaming shocking frost unarmed strike is considered to be using a magical adamantium holy lawful weapon.

Monks fighting with melee weapons have two choices: they may fight normally (they are treated the same as any other character, but cannot use monk special abilities such as Flurry of Blows, Stunning Fist, etc through their weapon), or they may use the monk special combat style. If they fight with the monk combat style, they are treated exactly as if they are unarmed (including factors such as reach, damage, critical range, etc) except that they use the weapon’s magical properties, not those of their unarmed strike, and they check feats such as Weapon Focus for their weapon. Likewise, if they aren’t proficient with the weapon they take a nonproficiency penalty.

3rd: +3 Armor Bonus to AC.

4th: +1 Enhancement bonus to the 3rd-level Armor bonus to AC. This increased at every 4th level by 1, to a maximum of +5 at 20th level.

15th: Pounce special attack.

19th: Defensive Roll special ability (see Rogue).

Paladin
A paladin’s Smite Evil ability may not add more to attack rolls than the character’s paladin level +2.
A paladin’s Divine Grace ability may not add more to saving throws than the character’s paladin level +2.

A paladin’s code of conduct and associates restrictions are different from those listed in the Player’s Handbook. A paladin must be lawful good and as soon as a paladin ceases to be lawful good, they become an Ex-Paladin. Paladins are permitted to associate with anyone they choose; however, their code of conduct limits how they may interact with some characters and what they can do while associated. For example, a paladin might fight alongside an evil-aligned prisoner to prevent him from being murdered before he can present evidence at a trial. Under some circumstances, depending on the specifics of a paladin’s code of conduct, he might even be permitted to bargain with an evil character. A paladin might also adventure with an evil-aligned character who he seeks to redeem – but he will have to keep their actions in check.

A paladin’s code of conduct is defined by the deity the paladin serves. The paladin is considered to have the code of conduct mandated by all of the deity’s domains (exactly as if he was a cleric with all domains). In addition, some deities and paladin orders have further restrictions. Not all deities accept paladins – see the deity for specifics. In cases where the right action is unclear, or where the paladin’s code cannot be perfectly fulfilled due to the situation (but not due to poor judgment on the paladin’s part), the paladin is not considered to have violated his code based on his choice.

Paladin mounts, like all followers, have been overhauled. See the section at the end of this document, “Special Mounts, Followers, and Animal Companions.”

At 10th level, a paladin’s aura of courage expands in radius by +10 ft. At 20th level, it expands by +10 ft. again.

Paladins do not receive the Remove Disease ability.

At 7th, 13th, and 20th level, a paladin may take a sacred oath. Oaths add to the restrictions of the paladin’s honor code, but also grant the paladin special abilities. A paladin may choose to wait to take an oath. A paladin’s first oath advances in degree at 13th level and again at 20th level, and a paladin’s second oath advances in degree at 20th level – thus, at level 20, a paladin will have a degree 3 oath, a degree 2 oath, and a degree 1 oath. If a paladin’s oaths conflict, the highest degree generally take precedence – although a certain amount of personal discretion is needed depending on the severity of the situation.

Not all deities permit all oaths. See the deity listing for the available oaths for each deity.

List of Oaths under Spoiler:


Oath of Guarding
The paladin takes an oath to protect a specific person, place, or object. The person, place, or object must be approved by the GM, and it must be relevant to the paladin’s god, as well as something that will in fact be threatened throughout the campaign. If the object is corrupted or otherwise ceases to be worthy of protection the paladin must immediately set out to redeem the object. If the paladin completely fails in his duty, he forever loses the abilities of this oath. At the GM’s option, a paladin may be permitted to accept a different Oath of Guarding from his deity, depending on the reason for his failure.

1: Once per round, the paladin may force any single-targeted attack to change targets from an adjacent character to himself. He must declare he is using this ability before any attack rolls are made.

2: The paladin gains an additional +2 armor bonus from any shield he uses (he treats the shield as having +2 more armor).

3: The paladin’s aura of courage now provides an additional +2 bonus to all saving throws, in addition to the +4 to saving throws against fear.


Oath of Courage:
The paladin takes an oath against cowardice. The paladin must face down any threat or opponent, no matter how dire, with the sole exception of completely hopeless contests. The GM decides what situations a paladin is permitted to back down from, but should only count fights that the paladin truly cannot win – for example, a lone paladin is not required to face down an entire orcish horde on his own, nor is 10th level paladin expected to stand and fight against a Great Wyrm Red Dragon. However, if something can be gained by fighting and losing – for example, giving innocents a chance to flee – the paladin still has to stand his ground.

1: Whenever the paladin is hit with a fear effect, in addition to being immune they gain a +2 sacred bonus to hit and damage versus the originator of the fear effect for the remainder of the encounter. The paladin always gains this bonus against opponents with fear auras, even if they do not use the fear aura (such as dragons or liches). A paladin who attempts to exploit this ability by having himself or his allies grant fear auras to enemies or the like receives no benefit.

2: The paladin’s aura of courage now provides immunity to fear, except for effects with a ESL over twice the paladin’s class level (or for those with no ESL, generated by a creature with hit dice more than twice the paladin’s class level).

3: Once per day when the paladin would be reduced to 0 or fewer hit points, he may roll a Fortitude saving throw, DC = 10 minus the hit point total the paladin would have after applying the attack. If successful, he may negate an amount of incoming damage sufficient to leave him at, at most, 1 hit point. He subtracts negated damage from his remaining Lay On Hands points. He cannot negate more damage than he could heal with Lay On Hands.


Oath of Redemption:
The paladin vows to go beyond punishing the guilty, and do everything in his power to redeem them. The paladin cannot refuse a request to spare the life of a fallen mortal opponent (he need not spare undead, constructs, demons, and the like) made in good faith, and may not kill defeated opponents except in the most dire of circumstances. The paladin also must take seriously any evil being or creature desiring to repent – if he cannot immediately help them, he must get them to someone who can. A paladin with an Oath of Redemption must always maintain faith that any mortal, no matter how vile or fallen, is capable of redemption, and at any opportunity must try to lead them to it.

1: The paladin may heal twice as much damage per day through his Lay on Hands ability, but is still capped in his maximum amount per use by the normal limit per day. He also may not use this extra Lay on Hands to inflict damage to undead.

2: The paladin may at will stabilize dying targets with a touch. If he wishes, he may also cause unconscious targets to remain so for 1 minute per paladin level after stabilizing them, even if they are magically healed. This is a free action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity – the paladin may use this ability once per round. The paladin may also now heal three times as much damage per day through his Lay on Hands ability, under the same restrictions as above, and may cast atonement once per month without using any material component or paying any XP cost.

3: Once per day per four paladin levels, the paladin may by touch remove any mind-affecting ability that would compel a creature to perform evil acts. The dispelling effect works so long as the paladin succeeds at a touch attack, and so long as the ESL of the effect is not more than twice the paladin’s class level. Effects that have no ESL are considered to have ESL equal to the hit dice of the originator for this purpose. In addition, the target is considered to have atoned (as per atonement) for any actions they took while under the effect. The paladin may also now heal four times as much damage per day through his Lay on Hands ability, under the same restrictions as above.


Oath of Judgment:
The paladin vows to seek out and destroy all of a certain type of creature wherever he can. Suitable targets for this oath include: evil and mindless undead, evil giants, worshippers of a specific evil god, or any other suitably large and powerful group of evil beings. The paladin must take any opportunity to kill his chosen targets, and while he may go on other adventures (for just causes) a significant number of his adventures should involve destroying his foes.

1: Whenever the paladin uses his detect evil ability, he also detects any nonevil members of his chosen enemy group. In addition, he can tell immediately whether what he detects is evil only, chosen enemies only, or a combination of both. After concentration, he detects this information for each target. In addition, the paladin receives a +4 bonus on Spot and Listen checks made against his chosen enemy.

2. The paladin may use his smite evil ability on nonevil chosen enemies. If he uses it on an evil chosen enemy, the hit and damage bonuses are doubled. In addition, the paladin may use his smite ability twice as often per day.

3. Any weapon the paladin carries is treated as if it has the bane property with respect to his chosen enemy. In addition, he may use his lay on hands ability to damage his chosen enemy (just like he can use it to damage undead).


Oath of Mercy
For a paladin who takes upon himself the Oath of Mercy, protection of the innocent is always foremost, beyond punishing the wicked or championing the faith. He must do everything he can to help the weak, the innocent, and the suffering.

1: The paladin may expend one use of his smite evil ability to instead use merciful strike, which provides the same benefit as smite evil, except that it may be used against any creature, and the entire attack (not just the bonus damage) is subdual damage. Note that misusing this ability against nonevil creatures can still constitute a code of conduct violation.

2: The paladin may cast remove disease (use the base paladin number of casts per week), and he may substitute castings of remove blindness/deafness, remove curse, neutralize poison, and remove paralysis.

3: Once per day, the paladin may cause his lay on hands ability to “jump” to further targets. He may designate a target within 20 feet of his first target to receive half (rounded down) the amount of healing (this further healing does not decrease the total available amount of lay on hands), then a third target within 20 feet of his second to receive half that much healing (rounded down), and so on until the amount reaches 0; for example, 11-5-2-1-0. In order to use this ability, all targets must be friendly characters selected for healing.


Oath of Justice:
A paladin who takes this oath swears to punish the guilty. He must hunt down and destroy evil and corruption, and will focus on these goals over other concerns – although not to their complete exclusion. A paladin with this oath has even less mercy for evil characters than other paladins.

1: The paladin uses smite evil as if he were a paladin four levels higher, including number of uses per day and damage bonus. In addition, once per day, he may cause his smite evil attack to ignore any damage reduction possessed by the target, as well as strike incorporeal targets without suffering miss chance.

2: The paladin may cast discern lies the same number of times per week as a default paladin could cast remove disease. In addition, the paladin’s detect evil ability requires only a single round of concentration, and in addition to revealing whether the creatures in the area are evil, provides somewhat more detailed information about the nature of their evil – greed, egomania, hate, etc.

3: The ESL of your paladin spells is not halved (ie, a 20th-level paladin has ESL 20, not 10).



Ranger
Replace Summon Nature’s Ally I/II/III/IV with Summon Nature’s Ally I/III/V/VII

At level 7, choose a path.

Toughness: Gain DR 2/-. This increases to 4/- at 13th level and 6/- at 20th level.
Skill: You may ignore up to 2 points of DR when attacking. For example, against your attacks, an opponent with DR 10/adamantite is considered to have DR 8/adamantite. This increases to 4 at 13th level and 6 at 20th level.
Brutality: You gain sneak attack +1d6 at 7th level, +2d6 at 13th level, and +3d6 at 20th level.

Ranger animal companions, like all followers, have been overhauled. See the section at the end of this document, “Special Mounts, Followers, and Animal Companions.”

Trapfinding at 3rd level.

Rogue
New ability: Precision. Gain precision +1 at 1st level, Precision +2 at 5th level, and +1 more every 4 levels thereafter up to Precision +5 at 17th level.

When you are able to make a sneak attack, you may use Precision. Precision permits you to reduce your sneak attack bonus dice by an amount up to your precision modifier, and add that amount to your attack roll. For example, a 17th level rogue can do a +9d6 sneak attack, a +6d6 sneak attack with +3 to hit, a +4d6 sneak attack with +5 to hit, etc.

Precision works against enemies with no discernable anatomy or weak spots, and against enemies that are immune to critical hits and sneak attacks, but you must still meet all other requirements for sneak attack in order to use Precision.

Sorcerer
At 1st, 4th, 6th, and so on up through 18th level the sorcerer may choose a favored spell of level 1, 2, 3, up through 9th (at 18th level). He may use metamagic feats normally without having to take a full-round action with favored spells provided that the spells modified level is not higher than half his levels (round down) in sorcerer, minus one (so, for example, a 17th level sorcerer may use 7th level or lower slots, and an 8th level sorcerer may use 3rd level or lower slots). A sorcerer may not change his favored spells – if he unlearns a favored spell he may not select a new one. A sorcerer may, however, choose to not pick any favored spell at a given level and wait until later in his career to pick his favored spell for that level.

At 3rd and 13th level a sorcerer may acquire a single metamagic feat for free.

Wizard
At 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, and so on up through 19th level the wizard may choose a favored spell of level 1, 2, 3, up through 9th (at 19th level). He may memorize this spell even without his spellbook available. It still takes normal time to prepare.

At 2nd and 12th level, a wizard gains a bonus item creation feat. A wizard who does not want to take an item creation feat immediately can wait as long as he wants to assign the feat, even though this is normally not allowed. (This is because a 2nd-level wizard can only qualify for Craft Potion).

Whenever a single-class wizard with no ECL modifier gains experience points, the wizard acquires an “Item Pool” equal to 5% of his XP gain (track this over time, do not round at each XP gain). This “Item Pool” may be used only to make magical items – it substitutes for the wizard’s own experience points. In addition, any wizard may destroy magical items to add the amount of XP needed to make them to his “Item Pool.” This takes 10 minutes, and no other value may be derived from destroyed items.

Wizards who are not single-classed or have an ECL modifier use a different system. Whenever such a character gains a level of wizard, they gain (50 * [new wizard level-1]) item pool XP. They can cannibalize magic items as usual. Note that this comes out to the same total amount of Item Pool XP while a wizard is single-class as the first method; the advantage to the first method is that wizards don’t have to wait to level in order to make magic items.

Whenever a wizard uses a spell trigger or spell completion item that he could create himself, he may substitute his own Intelligence score for the default of the minimum needed to cast the spell to determine saving throw DC.

Specialist Wizard
A specialist wizard, instead of the listed modifiers, works in one of the following two ways, chosen when a character learns his first level of specialist wizard.

School Enhancement: The specialist wizard casts spells of his chosen specialty school at +1 ESL. However, he casts spells from all other schools at -1 ESL.

School Memory: The specialist wizard may memorize one extra spell per spell level. However, at least half (rounded up) plus one of his highest level spell slots must be from his chosen school, and he must always have at least one spell of his chosen school memorized at each spell level. Metamagic enhanced spells count as their modified spell level, and the wizard may choose to occupy a higher level slot with a lower level spell to meet this requirement.

Familiar
If a familiar dies or is dismissed, the wizard/sorceror does not lose XP. Moreover, a new familiar may be summoned one week after the death or dismissal of the old familiar by the same means, but the new familiar must be of the same type as the old one. In order to get a new type of familiar, a wizard must pay 1000g in components instead of 100g.

HidaTsuzua
2007-09-23, 02:47 PM
Alignment Systems

Alignment has always been an issue in D&D and a source of much debate. It is our belief that part of this issue is different opinions on how alignment works in the game world. Since each way alignment works has a impact on roleplaying in a game world, we have created different alignment systems that example how alignment can be determined and judged.

Different campaigns may use different alignment systems. The GM should decide exactly which alignment system to used based on the requirements of his game.

Black-and-white World This system is appropriate for campaigns without deep levels of moral complexity. Characters tend to fit cleanly into their alignment and do not face difficult moral quandaries with the potential of changing their alignment. Characters who believe in and act in their own interest are evil, characters who believe in and act in the best interest of others are good, and those who fall inbetween or do not care are neutral. Similarly, characters who recognize and obey authority are lawful and those who reject it are chaotic.

This type of alignment system relies on the world and NPCs as much as the PCs. It only works so long as NPCs fit neatly into alignments and the world does not present characters with problems that do not have a correct answer.

Impersonal Morality In this system, actions (considered objectively) are good, evil, lawful, and chaotic. In particular, breaking the laws of a legitimate authority is chaotic and upholding them is lawful. Deception and cheating are chaotic, truth is lawful. Harming or killing evil creatures is good, doing the same to good creatures, or unnecessarily to neutral creatures, is evil.

In this type of system, the standards are not dependant on circumstance but only on the action considered in a neutral context. There is no consideration for a character’s motivation in performing an action, only what they do. Note that this sort of alignment system leaves open the possibility for characters to be put in situations where all of their actions are of the same alignment.

Relative Action Based Morality This system works the same as Impersonal Morality, except that the effect on the alignment of a character is determined by the severity of the alignment of the action he takes relative to his other choices. Thus, a character who must choose between murdering a good aligned character and injuring a good character, and does not believe himself to have other options, is considered to do a good act by injuring the good character and an evil act by murdering the good character.

Karmic Alignment Like Impersonal Morality, but instead of actions being good or evil, outcomes are. A character is judged by the past results of their actions, not their possible future consequences. Furthermore, characters may perform actions for any reason and still receive the same alignment modification. For example, a selfish and ambitious character might perform only actions with good results (saving innocents, etc.) solely to become good, in order to gain the trust of a paladin and then murder him. He does not return to an evil alignment until after he murders the paladin, and furthermore he may not even become evil as a result depending on the magnitude of his good deeds.

Subjective Morality In this system, a character’s alignment is not determined on an absolute scale, but is relative to the values of their own society. A character is good if they conform to their society/culture’s standard for good, and evil if they conform to their society/culture’s standard for evil. Law and chaos are defined by whether a character values order, planning, and organization or not – but note that in Subjective Morality it is possible for some societies to make it impossible to be a certain alignment because lawful/chaotic are subsumed in their standards of morality. For example, in a society where the highest value is faith in authority, a character belonging to that society could not be chaotic good.

Note that this system has huge repercussions for the rest of the world. In particular:

Since paladins must only remain Lawful Good based on the values of their society, they need not recognize paladins from other societies as their allies.

Creatures with predetermined alignment other than “Neutral” should, in general, not exist.

Outsiders representing alignment concepts would need to be drastically reworked, either to an authority distinct from mortal society (which could mean that good characters might have to fight celestials) or be tied to mortal societies, or simply not exist.

Abilities that refer to alignment always work based on the caster’s society’s morality system – thus, it is possible for two paladins to be able to smite evil each other, for example.

No Defined Morality Characters simply do not have alignments, and are defined by other personality traits.

Paladins exist without the alignment restriction, but still need to conform to the tenets of their deity.

Arcane spells and abilities referring to alignment have that part of their effect fail to work entirely.

Divine spells and abilities referring to alignment work for adherents of the tenets of the divine being granting the power, and against beings opposed to those tenets. Thus, a cleric of the God of Justice cannot cast Protection from Evil, but they may cast instead Protection from Injustice, which instead of providing bonuses against evil characters gives its bonuses against unjust characters. In general, the GM should be lenient about what characters are and are not affected by such abilities, but without written alignments judgment calls will be required.

Intent-based Morality Characters have the good/evil/law/chaos aspect of their choices determined only by the intent with which they make them, not the actual action they take or the outcome. A character is good if their actions are done with the intent of helping others, and evil if they are done with the intent of harming others for his own benefit, regardless of what he does or what results. Similarly, law/chaos is determined by whether the character intends to uphold or subvert authority.

Rigorous Morality An action is good only if it is a good act as defined by both Intent-based Morality and Relative Action-based Morality, and evil if it is evil by either standard. Lawful actions must conform to both standards, but chaotic actions only conform to one or the other. Note that in this system, it is hard to be lawful or good, and the majority of NPCs are likely to be neutral or evil. The GM may wish to be more lenient with alignment change than in other systems, or he may not (but he should make it clear in advance to the players).

Skills
If you have one skill that got combined on your class list, you have the combined skill.

Appraise: Treasure can be appraised with Knowledge: Dungeoneering. Anything you can make with Craft can be appraised with a Craft check for that item.

Climb/Balance/Jump/Swim: one skill, Acrobatics.

Crafting Anything you can make with Craft can be appraised with a Craft check for that item.

Diplomacy is modified down by the target’s hit dice and wisdom modifier, and in addition receives a modifier based on how beneficial to the target what you propose is, from -20 or more (outrageous requests) to +20 (something that the target would have done anyways, if they had thought of it).

Disable Device: Does not open locks, use Open Lock.

Handle Animal: Make a note about stuff like using Leadership to get good followers.

Intimidate: in combat is Swift, but if you fail you become shaken for a round, and also needs the same nerf as Diplomacy. Checks are made using Intimidate vs. 10+HD+Wisdom Modifier of target, and receive additional modifiers if it’s obvious that the threat presented is either overwhelming or underwhelming for the situation. For example, a fighter would receive a very large penalty for trying to Intimidate a general with an army ready to back him up. On the other hand, a barbarian with an entire adventuring party backing him up would receive a bonus when trying to Intimidate a lone character of equivalent ECL.

Ride: It takes a move-equivalent action to recover from Use Mount As Cover. While using mount as cover, you may not use spell-like abilities or any abilities that would require a concentration check if distracted.

Use Rope/Escape Artist: one skill, Escape Artist.

The following are class skills for the class:
Bard: Forgery, Search
Cleric: Decipher Script, Sense Motive
Druid: Knowledge (religion), Move Silently, Hide
Fighter: Bluff, Profession, Sense Motive
Monk: Heal
Ranger: Intimidate, Knowledge(religion), Sleight of Hand

Equipment
Armor
You cannot put an enhancement bonus on any item that does not have at least a 5% spell failure chance, and any magic armor always has a minimum of a 5% spell failure chance. These restriction only apply to permanent magic armor. Spells like magic vestments work normally.

Magic items Items that grant skill bonuses use the cost calculator x 500g. Existing items are set at the closest possible to their current GP cost by scaling the bonus down.

[b]Attack An attack action may include either a single attack with any weapon (or natural weapon) or one attack with a mainhand weapon wielded in one hand and one attack with an offhand weapon wielded in one hand (or natural attacks that get x1 and x.5 STR to damage, respectively). These attacks must come from different weapons. A double weapon counts as a mainhand and an offhand for this purpose. Monks may not use this rule when fighting with their special combat style; they should instead use Flurry of Blows, and if they don’t, they may only make one attack, even if armed with a weapon in their offhand or the like.

For example, a two-weapon fighter may make one mainhand and one offhand attack, but not two offhand attacks (even if the second offhand attack gets ½ strength modifier). A centaur could make one attack with a one-handed weapon held in his mainhand, and one hoof attack at ½ strength modifier and the secondary natural attack penalty, or could make one hoof attack at x1 strength modifier, and a second one as a secondary natural attack. The centaur could not attack with a two-handed weapon and then make any hoof attacks, however. A marilith could make one attack with a mainhand weapon and one with an offhand weapon, or one attack with a “mainhand” weapon held in two hands and no other attacks. She could also make a primary tail slam attack and an offhand weapon attack, or a one-handed mainhand weapon attack and a secondary tail slam.

Grapple Grapplers provide each other with Soft Cover as per the usual rules for hiding behind other characters.

Instead of “Hold,” a grappling attempter may choose to “Hold On,” and ignore all size category modifiers for grappling, including the inability to grapple monsters more than 2 size categories larger. On a success, they are considered grappled, but their target is not. They move with the target and add to their target’s encumbrance. The target may attempt to remove them from the grapple as normal. The grappler cannot take any action against his target that he can only take against a target he is grappling, but he may make normal attacks.

In effect, a grappler who is “Holding On” treats his target as “not in the grapple” for the purpose of what actions he can take against him.

Feats
Skilled
You are skilled.
Benefits: Pick 2 skills. You gain a +2 bonus with both of those skills. These skills are also always consider class-skills.
Special: You may give this feat a funny name like “Combat Cook” or “Rope Caster” if you like.

Improved Shield[Fighter]
Though use of a shield, you protect yourself from various threats.
Prerequisites: BAB +8 or higher, Proficiency in Shields
Benefits: When using a shield and not flat-footed, you receive a +2 bonus to Reflex saving throws. When using a magic shield of at least +1 bonus and not flat-footed, you receive a +2 bonus to Will saving throws.
Normal: Shields do not give a bonus to saves.

Craft Permanent [Craft]
You can weave long-lasting spells that function like magic items.
Prerequisites:Able to cast 5th level arcane spells or 6th level divine spells.
Benefits: You may enchant an individual or a location with a spell. Follow the pricing guides for magic items that do not take up item slots.

Permanent spells enchanted on an individual are treated precisely as if the individual was carrying a magic item that granted this ability. Any type of magic item that the GM permits may be changed into a permanent item this way. Note that you cannot enchant a person with continuous effect enchantments that do not apply to people (for example, you cannot cast a permanent magic vestments on a person, since it must target clothing or armor); however, you can create a use-activated enchantment that lets the individual use the enchantment on items.

Note that while existing magic items serve as guidelines for what can be created, in some cases the GM might rule that an item is simply too powerful if it is permanently attached to a person. As with all magic items, use common and dramatic sense. For example, do not permit an Apparatus of Kwalish permanent enchantment on a person.

Improved Precision
You are deadly with your precision.
Prerequisites: Precision +2
Benefits: When you use precision, you inflict +1 damage per +1 to hit you get from Precision. This bonus damage is not multiplied by critical hits or other damage multipliers.
Normal: You do not get bonus damage from using Precision.

Superior Precision
Your skill in using precision allows you to deal extra damage even to those normally immune to sneak attack.
Prerequisites: Precision +3, Improved Precision
Benefits: Instead of Improved Precision’s bonus, every +2 to hit you get gives +1d6 damage. If you use an odd amount of precision, you get half (round down) the amount of precision in dice of damage, and an extra +1.


Elemental Substitution [Metamagic]
You can imbue spells with your chosen element.
Benefits: Pick an arcane element (acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic). Spells that inflict acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic damage are the only ones to which this feat can apply. They instead deal damage of your chosen element. Other spell effects work normally, regardless of how illogical this is. However, the descriptor changes.

For example, a Fireball can become an Acid fireball, and work normally underwater or on an elemental plane (doing damage in a radius, without creating steam, having reduced area, etc). However, Chain Lightning still “jumps” normally even if it is Sonic Chain Lightning.


The following feats have been changed:

Cleave You are limited to 2 free attacks from Cleave per round, instead of 1.

Cleave and Great Cleave You may direct no more than 1 free attack generated by these feats to the same target per round.

Combat Casting Combat Casting also provides a +2 bonus to Concentration checks other than the types specified in the normal feat.

Dodge Dodge allows a character to declare any number of opponents to receive his dodge bonus against each round (in effect, he just has to have seen his opponent on his last action to get the bonus).

Endurance/Diehard Endurance/Diehard is just one feat. Features that grant one or the other grant the combined feat.

Eschew Materials In addition to the normal effect, Eschew Materials grants you the ability to prepare your own material components that cost over 1g. Doing so costs you the full GP price of the materials and takes 1 hour per component. The player and GM should generally work out a “theme” for the replacement component (voodoo fetishes, diagrams, etc).

Improved Counterspell You only need to use spells of the same level or higher as the spell you wish to counter, not at least one level higher.

Improved Unarmed Strike In addition, you may grapple with anything, regardless of its size category relative to yours.

Leadership Modifiers have changed. Only these are used.

Leadership: Famous reputatioin appropriate to the type of cohort and followers +2

Has a reputation appropriate to the type of cohort and followers +1

Has a reputation inappropriate to the type of cohort and followers -1

Famous reputation inappropriate to the type of cohort and followers -2

Cohort: Has another cohort acquired through a class feature, and is not using combined cohort rules -2

Differing alignment -1

Followers Has a good base of operations or stronghold +2

Has no “home ground” at all -1

The reputation modifiers do not stack.

Causing the death of followers and cohorts may get you a penalty, but only if your new cohorts/followers would care. For example, and evil overlord who executes a cohort for actual legitimate incompetence shouldn’t get the penalty, nor should a paladin whose cohort dies in a heroic battle. A knight who runs away and leaves his cohort to die, or an evil overlord who kills his cohort on a whim would be penalized.

Martial Weapon Proficiency Gives you proficiency in all Martial weapons, not just one.

Mobility Mobility also provides a +2 bonus to Tumble checks made to avoid attacks of opportunity.

Natural Spell This is a metamagic feat that adds +1 level to spells. Natural spells may be cast while affected by Wildshape or Greater Wildshape. They may also be cast normally. The default use of Natural Spell is removed.

Power Attack Offhand weapons get +1 damage per -2 on attack. Mainhands used in one hand get +1 per -1. Two-handed weapons (note that double weapons count as a mainhand and an offhand) get +3 per -2. All round down.

Skill Focus In addition, any time this skill would be cross-class for you, it counts as a class skill.

Spell Mastery
Prerequisites: Favored Spells
Benefits: Choose a number of spells you already know equal to your primary spellcasting attribute for the class that grants you those spells (they all must be from the same class). These are now favored spells for you. Count your primary spellcasting attribute for this purpose in the same way that you check your Intelligence bonus for gaining skills when your level increases (that is, count items like a cloak of charisma +6 but not temporary effects like eagle’s splendor or bestow curse). Every time you acquire a new level of spell, you may acquire new favored spells based on the difference between the number of bonus favored spells you have and the number you would be entitled to based on your new primary spellcasting attribute. If you want, you may “save” bonus favored spells for later in your spellcasting career (including the ones you get when you first take this feat).

Example: Hennet is a sorcerer with 17 charisma. At level 1, he takes Spell Mastery and gets 3 new favored spells. At level 4, he increases his charisma to 18 and acquires 2nd level spells. He may now take 1 new favored spell of 0th, 1st, or 2nd level, or he may save it for later. At level 5, he acquires a cloak of charisma +2 – nothing happens. At level 6, he acquires 3rd level spells. He should now have a total of 5 bonus favored spells, so since he has either 3 or 4 (depending on whether he picked one at 4th level or not) he gains 1 or 2 more, or may save them. Suppose Hennet is now at his quota of 5 bonus favored spells. At 7th level, Hennet’s cloak of charisma +2 is destroyed. Nothing happens. At 8th level, Hennet acquires 4th level spells, but since he has 5 bonus spells and is only entitled to 4, nothing occurs.

Spirited Charge You cannot get the damage bonus on more than 1 attack per round by any means.

Toughness You gain +3 hp OR +1 hp per HD, whichever is better. This bonus “scales” as you gain levels.

Two Weapon Defense Bonus increased to +2 AC, +4 while Full Defending.

HidaTsuzua
2007-09-23, 02:48 PM
Here are PrC. Some of them won't make sense until I'm done formatting (such as Zealot). Most PrC are from the SRD. If a SRD PrC is not mentioned, it has been removed (such as Archmage). If I think they haven't been changed much, I'll just list the changes. If greatly changed, I'll add a formatted progression.

Prestige Classes
Note: When not otherwise specified, bonuses listed at different levels overlap rather than stack. For example:

1st: +1 to hit
4th: +2 to hit
7th: +3 to hit
10th: +4 to hit

means that a 10th level character gets +4 to hit, not +10 (1+2+3+4).

Arcane Archer Seeker Arrow affects one arrow per round (maximum) that the archer could otherwise fire, chosen before firing.

Enhance Arrow may be used with Touch and Ranged Touch spells.

Arrow of Death has save DC of 20+ the primary spellcasting statistic of the class the Arcane Archer used to qualify for the Arcane Archer prestige class requirement.

Any race may be an Arcane Archer (although humans and elves are more common).

Arcane Trickster
Used as is.

Blackguard
Blackguard is a base class, not a prestige class, and has significantly changed. A blackguard is someone who heard the call to be a Paladin but instead chose to oppose everything a Paladin stands for. A blackguard need not actually have levels in Paladin (they may have rejected the call entirely, rather than later in their career), but most do. A Blackguard must be Chaotic Evil, and if they fail to remain chaotic evil they lose Blackguard status. A blackguard has no further code of conduct.

A Blackguard, unlike most divine spellcasters, does not need to worship his Patron, although he may. A Blackguard must hate the deity who offered him Paladin status – that is enough to retain the powers he receives from his new Patron. Typically, a Blackguard’s Patron will be especially opposed to the deity who offered him Paladinhood – for example, the God of Darkness would seek to be the patron of a Paladin who rejected the God of Light. This is not a requirement, however.

It is important to note that Blackguards are not simply evil warriors who could have been Paladins – their purpose is to actively destroy everything that they could have protected. A Blackguard always seeks to destroy and corrupt Paladins, bring down the faith and goals of their former Patron, and break his oaths in as many ways as possible.

Blackguards may travel with others, but their only real companion is their steed. Blackguards seldom work together, and prefer to travel alone or with lackeys, not with equals.

Blackguards are rarely redeemed, since by definition they are those who voluntarily turned away from good. However, a redeemed blackguard should generally be permitted to trade out all of his blackguard levels for paladin levels. Generally, a character should not be vacillating between good and evil too much, and the GM should watch this.

Blackguards are identical to paladins in their statistics, except as follows.

Class Skills: Blackguard’s have all the class skills of a paladin, and also have Intimidate as a class skill.

A Blackguard determines spells and special abilities (in essence, all class features but saving throws and base attack bonus) by adding Paladin + Blackguard levels. A prestige class or other trait that adds to Paladin level for the purpose of some Paladin ability, or adds to Paladin spellcasting level, adds to Paladin + Blackguard levels for the purpose of that ability.

However, the actual abilities that a Blackguard gets are different, as follows:

Aura of Good becomes Aura of Evil, Detect Evil becomes Detect Good, Smite Evil becomes Smite Good.

A Blackguard’s Lay on Hands heals himself and his mount but harms all other creatures, undead or not.

A Blackguard’s Aura of Courage gives himself and his mount fear immunity, but gives all other characters (ally or not) a -4 penalty to saving throws against fear.

A Blackguard’s Divine Health becomes Profane Health. They cannot suffer ill effects from diseases, but may still “carry” the disease for the purpose of infecting others.

Turn Undead becomes Rebuke/Command Undead.

A Blackguard’s Special Mount has the same properties as a Paladin’s. If the Blackguard had a Paladin special mount, at the GM’s option he may bring his mount with him (it falls at the same time as he does) or acquire a new one at no penalty. Blackguards almost always think of their mount as an extension of themselves and thus in many cases their only friend. As a result, even terribly depraved Blackguards tend to treat it well – or at least as well as they treat themselves.

Paladin mounts (ergo, Blackguard special mounts), like all followers, have been overhauled. See the section at the end of this document, “Special Mounts, Followers, and Animal Companions.”

Blackguard Spells:

A Blackguard’s Cure/Inflict spells always cure him and his mount and always inflict on others. They are technically new spells, but each version works the same as either cure or inflict.
1: Curse, Curse Water, Corrupt Weapon (as Bless Weapon, reversed), Cure/Inflict Light Wounds, Detect Poison, Detect Undead, Divine Favor, Doom, Endure Elements (self and mount only), Magic Weapon, Protection from Good/Law (self and mount only), Read Magic, Resistance, Restoration (Lesser, self and mount only), Virtue (self and mount only).

2: Bull’s Strength (self and mount only), Cure/Inflict Moderate Wounds, Darkness, Death Knell, Delay Poison (self and mount only), Eagle’s Splendor (self and mount only), Owl’s Wisdom (self and mount only), Remove Paralysis (self and mount only), Resist Energy (self and mount only), Shatter, Undetectable Alignment

3: Blindness/Deafness, Bestow Curse, Contagion, Cure/Inflict Serious Wounds, Deeper Darkness, Dispel Magic, Heal Mount, Magic Circle Against Law/Good, Magic Weapon (Greater), Prayer (except only mount and self count as “allies”), Protection from Energy (self and mount only)

4: Break Enchantment (self and mount only), Cure/Inflict Critical Wounds, Death Ward (self and mount only), Dispel Law, Dispel Good, Freedom of Movement (self and mount only), Poison, Unholy Sword (reverse Holy Sword), Mark of Justice, Neutralize Poison (self and mount only), Restoration (self and mount only)


Oaths: If a Blackguard had an Oath as a Paladin, they gain it as a Broken Oath in the same power level automatically. A Blackguard who qualifies for new oaths must take Broken Oaths (although he will probably just call them Oaths) from his old Patron’s list.


Broken Oath of Guarding (Oath of Destruction): The paladin takes an oath to destroy and/or defile a specific person, place, or object. The person, place, or object must be approved by the GM, and it must be relevant to the Blackguard’s FORMER patron, as well as something that will in fact be sufficiently defended. If the object is permanently corrupted or destroyed, the Blackguard may take any new oath of his choice in place. He may choose to “insert” his new oath at any point later than it was originally, and move his other oaths down to compensate. For example, a Blackguard who has Destruction 3, Terror 2, Corruption 1, and destroys his chosen person, place, or object, may take a new oath at 3 and have Terror 2, Corruption 1, take a new oath at 2 and have Terror 3, Corruption 1, or take a new oath at 1 and have Terror 3, Corruption 2. If the blackguard was largely responsible for the destruction of his target, he may (at the GM’s option) be granted a boon by his new patron, such as a magic item, XP, etc.

1: The Blackguard’s attacks ignore the armor bonus of any shield used by anyone he is attacking. In addition, the Shield spell provides no bonus against the Blackguard’s attack. A shield with a magical bonus still provides its enhancement bonus, and shields with special abilities still work against him.

2: Once per round, the Blackguard may force any single-targeted beneficial effect that he is aware of that is being activated or used on a target adjacent to himself to target him instead. He must declare he is using this ability before any relevant rolls are made, but the originator of the ability does not know that the ability is being used until all effects are resolved.

3: The blackguard’s aura of courage now provides an additional +2 bonus to all saving throws for himself and his mount, and a -2 penalty on all saving throws to all others in range.

Broken Oath of Courage (Oath of Terror):The Blackguard takes an oath to inspire cowardice in others. In particular, they seek to terrorize paladins. Blackguards with this oath seek out weak and helpless opponents, but they are always prepared to act more powerful than they are in order to frighten even strong enemies. Blackguards with this oath are strongly encouraged to have high ranks in the Intimidate skill.

1: The Blackguard may make Intimidate checks at a +4 bonus so long as the target is within his Aura of Courage. In addition, once per day per 4 levels, the blackguard may, instead of causing his target to be Shaken, cause them to run in terror for 1d3 rounds per 5 blackguard levels, to a maximum of 4d3 at 20th level. The blackguard must declare the use of this ability before he makes the Intimidate check.

In addition, the blackguard’s aura of courage partially or completely negates a paladin’s aura of courage, based on comparison between the paladin’s class level and the blackguard’s blackguard class level plus paladin class level. A paladin of lower level than the blackguard who is within the blackguard’s aura of courage has his aura completely negated. A paladin who is of the same level as the blackguard has his immunity to fear negated, but still provides allies (including himself) other bonuses. A paladin of higher level than the blackguard is not affected.

A paladin with Oath of Courage provides fear immunity to others only if he remains immune to fear. If he negates a fear effect with a successful saving throw, he gains benefits as if he was still immune.

2: The blackguard gains a +2 profane bonus to attack rolls against any creature that is not immune to fear effects, and receives a +2 profane bonus on saving throws generated by creatures that are not immune to fear effects.

3: Once per day when the blackguard would be reduced to 0 or fewer hit points, he may roll a Fortitude saving throw, DC = 10 minus the hit point total the paladin would have after applying the attack. If successful, he may negate an amount of incoming damage sufficient to leave him at, at most, 1 hit point. He subtracts negated damage from his remaining Lay On Hands points. He cannot negate more damage than he could heal with Lay On Hands. After doing this, the blackguard and his mount disappear in a puff of black smoke, and reappears at a location of his patron’s choosing (by default, a blackguard should go to a temple of his patron) that is at least 10 miles from his current location. The blackguard MUST vanish in this manner when this ability is activated – he cannot choose to use this ability and not disappear.


Broken Oath of Redemption (Oath of Corruption): The blackguard vows to not simply kill the innocent and destroy the pure, but corrupt and twist it. He believes that any being, no matter how pure, can become as evil as he is.

1: Once per day per 6 levels, the blackguard may overwhelm a single target person with his corruption. They must make a Will saving throw, DC 10 + ½ the blackguard’s class level + the blackguard’s Charisma modifier. They may continue making the saving throw each turn the Blackguard gets to negate the effect. Until they succeed, they are considered Chaotic Evil for magical purposes, and for the purposes of what class abilities they can use. Note that their alignment and personality do not actually change, and they may still act normally. In addition, they regain all such abilities after the ability fades (even if changing alignment would normally cause them to permanently lose those abilities).

At any point, the target may choose to give up their saving throw and become permanently Chaotic Evil. They may only do this of their own free will, not while under a mind-affecting spell, drug, or the like.

This is a supernatural ability that takes a standard action to use.

2: Any time the blackguard uses his Lay On Hands ability to harm a target, the effect persists for an additional four rounds, doing half the original damage (round down) each round. In addition, the blackguard may use his Lay on Hands ability to cure/inflict twice as much per day, but is limited by his base total in determining how much he can cure or inflict in a single use. He may not use more than his base ability of his total Lay on Hands healing.

3: Once per month, the blackguard may cast atonement as a spell-like ability with no XP cost. In addition, once per day, the paladin may corrupt others (as his rank 1 ability) in an area of effect 100 feet centered on himself. Any items, spells, sacred/profane ground, etc, that are not Evil and Nonlawful aligned are affected as follows: the Blackguard makes a 1d20 + (blackguard + paladin) class level check against the ESL of the effect or item (the GM should assign a reasonable ESL to effects that do not specify one). If the Blackguard succeeds, the spells/effect/item loses all properties that are aligned and are not Neutral Evil or Chaotic Evil (typically, all magical effects). If a Dispel Magic would permanently remove the effect, it is permanently removed. If not, it is suppressed until it is resanctified, which requires a Knowledge: Religion check at a DC equal to the blackguard’s Corruption check + 10. The blackguard may also now heal/inflict four times as much damage per day through his Lay on Hands ability, under the same restrictions as above.


Broken Oath of Judgment:Exactly the same as the paladin’s oath of judgment, except the target group is worshippers of his former patron and good/evil are reversed.


Broken Oath of Mercy (Oath of Slaughter): A blackguard with this oath delights in killing the weak and helpless. Against more powerful opponents, the focuses on first attacking those they care about or seek to protect, and then going after them himself.

1: If the blackguard’s Smite Good ability kills its target, the blackguard gains an additional use of Smite Good that day and gains a +2 profane bonus to attack and damage on his next attack.

2: The blackguard may cast a weakened form of Circle of Death as many times per day as a standard paladin can cast Cure Disease. This ability counts as a 3rd level spell (when spell level is relevant), and cannot affect creatures over 3 Hit Dice. It otherwise functions as a normal Circle of Death.

3: Once per day, the paladin may use his Lay on Hands in an area of effect equal to his Aura of Courage. He targets himself for any amount of healing up to his limit, and he heals that much on himself and half that much on his mount (if it is in range). He also deals half that much damage to all creatures within his aura of courage other than himself and his mount.


Broken Oath of Justice (Oath of Injustice):All blackguards hate paladins, but a blackguard with this oath specifically seeks to hunt down and destroy powerful paladins and other champions of good such as good-aligned dragons, clerics, outsiders, and so on.

1: The blackguard uses smite good as if he a blackguard four levels higher, including number of uses per day and damage bonus. In addition, once per day, he may cause his smite good attack to ignore any damage reduction possessed by the target, as well as strike incorporeal targets without suffering miss chance.

2 The blackguard acquires the ability to track by using his Detect Good ability exactly as the Scent special ability, and he acquires the Track feat for free. In addition, the blackguard’s detect evil ability requires only a single round of concentration, and as well as revealing whether the creatures in the area are good, provides somewhat more detailed information about the nature of their good – charity, mercy, justness, etc.

3: The ESL of your blackguard spells is not halved (ie, a 20th-level blackguard has ESL 20, not 10).

The Duelist
HD: d10
Skills: 6+int
Skill List: As standard Duelist
Prereqs: Weapon Specialization (Rapier), Weapon Finesse, Sneak Attack +2d6, Combat Expertise, Bluff 6 ranks

{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special

1st|
+1|
+2|
+2|
+0|Canny Defense

2nd|
+2|
+3|
+3|
+0|Improved Feint, Lucky Dodge

3rd|
+3|
+3|
+3|
+1|Grace

4th|
+4|
+4|
+4|
+1|Precise Strikes

5th|
+5|
+4|
+4|
+1|Power Attack, Master Duelist[/table]

Note that being unarmed qualifies as having a light weapon in your mainhand.
Canny Defense: Add Int to AC when using a light weapon, whip, or rapier in your mainhand, nothing in your offhand, and light or no armor.

Improved Feint: If you already have it, pick any fighter bonus feat.

Lucky Dodge:Once per day, if you would otherwise be reduced to 0 or fewer HP, you may make a Reflex saving throw (DC = 10 – your HP total if this ability does not activate) to add your Charisma bonus times your Duelist level to your hit point total, up to a maximum of 1 net HP.

Grace: Add Cha to all saving throws when using a light weapon, rapier, or whip in your mainhand, nothing in your offhand, and light or no armor.

Precise Strikes: Add Int to the damage you deal with light weapons, rapiers, and whips when using a light weapon, rapier, or whip in your mainhand, nothing in your offhand, and light or no armor.

Power Attack: The duelist gains power attack without having to meet prereq. If the duelist already has Power Attack, he gains +1d6 Sneak Attack instead.

Master Duelist: if you make your Bluff check to feint in combat by 10 or more, you feinted as a free action instead of a move-equivalent action.

Devoted Defender
HD: d12
Skills: 2+int
Skill List: Acrobatics, Bluff, Listen, Profession, Sense Motive, Search, Spot.
Prereqs: BAB +5, Weapon Focus (any melee weapon), Alertness, 4 ranks of Spot, Sense Motive, and Search.

{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special

1st|
+1|
+2|
+2|
+0|Harm's Way, AC Bonus

2nd|
+2|
+3|
+3|
+0|Defensive Strike

3rd|
+3|
+3|
+3|
+1|Deflect Attack

4th|
+4|
+4|
+4|
+1|

5th|
+5|
+4|
+4|
+1|Mobile defense

6th|
+6|
+5|
+5|
+2|

7th|
+7|
+5|
+5|
+2|

8th|
+8|
+6|
+6|
+2|

9th|
+9|
+6|
+6|
+3|

10th|
+10|
+7|
+7|
+3|Reactive Defense[/table]

AC Bonus: Dodge bonus equal to ½ (round up) of class level.

Harm’s Way: Select your charge when you first roll initiative. Whenever you are within 5 feet of your charge and they are attacked, you may switch places with your charge and receive the attack in their place. You declare this before the attack roll is made, and then the attack is resolved normally. This ability only applies to attacks that require an attack roll on your target and that you are aware of. This is a free action.

You may not change your charge while in combat.

Defensive Strike: Anyone who attacks your charge in melee provokes an attack of opportunity from you. This follows all the normal rules for attacks of opportunity. You get a +1 bonus on this attack for every 2 levels after 2nd.

Deflect Attack: You may make a DC 20 Reflex save once per round to deflect an attack made at your target. You must be adjacent to your target. You may only deflect melee attacks in this way. You must be aware of the attack and not flat-footed. You receive a +1 bonus on this save for every 2 levels after 3rd.

Mobile defense: You may take a full-round action to change your charge in combat.

Reactive defense: You may take a move-equivalent action to change your charge in combat.

Disciple of the Void (Emomancer):
A disciple of the void studies the nature of absence and the power of the void. They learn about forms of magic that destroy matter and energy, and study the emptiness within the world and themselves. Disciples of the Void do not have a formal school or history, and their discipline is not one that needs to be taught, although it can be.

The path of Disciple of the Void tends to attract characters whose alignment is Neutral or close to it, but this is not a requirement. Those who become fascinated with emptiness tend to have a reason for it, and often have unique causes for choosing this branch of magic to specialize in.

This path is open to any type of spellcaster. Arcane spellcasters are more common, but some divine casters also take levels in Disciple of the Void. They give up more of their abilities (getting a small hit dice, lower BAB, and lower saves), but the ability of a Disciple of the Void to transform spell energy into direct damage is more useful to characters who normally have less powerful offensive magic.

HD: d4
Skills: 2+int
Skills: Bluff, Concentration, Craft, Disguise, Handle Animal, Hide, Knowledge, Move Silently, Profession, Speak Language, Spellcraft
Prerequisites: Able to cast spells of 3rd level or higher. Iron Will, Great Fortitude.

{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Spells

1st|
+0|
+0|
+0|
+2|Void Bolt|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

2nd|
+1|
+0|
+0|
+3||+1 level of existing spellcasting class

3rd|
+1|
+1|
+1|
+3|Masterful Counterspell|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

4th|
+2|
+1|
+1|
+4|Improved Void Bolt|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

5th|
+2|
+1|
+1|
+4|Resistance Cold/Sonic/Fire/Electric/Acid 5|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

6th|
+3|
+2|
+2|
+5||+1 level of existing spellcasting class

7th|
+3|
+2|
+2|
+5|Metamagic Void Bolt|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

8th|
+4|
+2|
+2|
+6||+1 level of existing spellcasting class

9th|
+4|
+3|
+3|
+6|Spell Resistance|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

10th|
+5|
+3|
+3|
+7|Supreme Void Bolt|+1 level of existing spellcasting class [/table]

Void Bolt: Disciples of the Void gain the ability to transmute spell energy into pure void energy. They may sacrifice any spell memorized (if they memorize spells) or one daily use of a spell level (if they do not memorize spells) to generate a supernatural attack. It does 2d6 damage per spell level, but cannot do more dice of damage than 6 + class level. This ability allows a Reflex save (DC = 10 + primary spellcasting stat + level of spell sacrificed) for half damage. This damage is non-typed. This ability has a range of Long (400 feet + 40 feet per ESL).

When sacrificing a spell with a Metamagic effect, it counts as a normal spell of its effective spell level (and thus the metamagic has no effect, ie, a 6th level empowered spell and an 8th level spell count the same).

Masterful Counterspell: If the Disciple of the Void does not have Improved Counterspell, he acquires it as a bonus feat. If he does have Improved Counterspell (or later acquires Improved Counterspell by another means), he may partially ignore the requirement to use spells of the same school. If he uses a spell of the wrong school to counterspell, he must make an opposed ESL check against the caster of the spell, but the Disciple of the Void receives a bonus equal to half his class level on this check.

Improved Void Bolt The Disciple of the Void may use their Void Bolt as a melee or ranged touch attack instead of its normal form. This form does not allow a saving throw, and inflicts 1d10 damage level of the spell sacrificed, up to a maximum of 3 + ½ class level (round up). At 10th level, a Disciple of the Void does not have a maximum number of dice.

Metamagic Void Bolt: The Disciple of the Void may use metamagic in conjunction with Void Bolt. They may choose to, instead of the normal rules, count a metamagic spell as its unmodified level for the purpose of its damage with Void Bolt (and eligibility for use in an Area of Effect spell) and apply the metamagic effect to the Void Bolt. Obviously, this only works with metamagic that would actually affect Void Bolt. Spontaneous casters follow their normal rules for applying metamagic to spells (ie, a sorcerer with Empower Spell may take a full round action and use a 7th level slot to cast void bolt as though a 5th level spell had been sacrificed, but with the Empower Spell effect on the void bolt). Favored spells do not affect this.

Spell Resistance: The Disciple of the Void gains Spell Resistance of 5 + ECL. If he already has spell resistance that is higher than this, he gains a +2 bonus to his spell resistance. If the Disciple of the Void gains higher SR, he switches over to this class feature gaining +2 as long as he retains that SR.

Supreme Void Bolt: The Disciple of the Void may use their Void Bolt in an area of effect, their choice (upon using the ability) of a 40-foot cone, 80-foot line, 20-foot radius sphere, or 10-foot radius 40-foot height cylinder. Only spells of at least 5th level may be sacrificed in this manner.

Also there is no cap on the dice of damage of any type of Void Bolt.

Eldritch Knight (Spellsword)

HD: d8
Skills: 2+int
Skill List: As normal Eldritch Knight, plus Profession
Prereqs: Ability to cast 2nd level Arcane spells, BAB +4, Proficiency in all martial weapons and all armor.

{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Spells

1st|
+1|
+2|
+0|
+2|-5% Arcane Spell Failure, Channel Spell I|

2nd|
+2|
+3|
+0|
+3||+1 level of existing spellcasting class

3rd|
+3|
+3|
+1|
+3|-10% Arcane Spell Failure|

4th|
+4|
+4|
+1|
+4|Channel Spell II|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

5th|
+5|
+4|
+1|
+4|-15% Arcane Spell Failure|

6th|
+6|
+5|
+2|
+5||+1 level of existing spellcasting class

7th|
+7|
+5|
+2|
+5|-20% Arcane Spell Failure, Channel Spell III|

8th|
+8|
+6|
+2|
+6||+1 level of existing spellcasting class

9th|
+9|
+6|
+3|
+6|-25% Arcane Spell Failure|

10th|
+10|
+7|
+3|
+7|Channel Spell IV|+1 level of existing spellcasting class [/table]

Channel Spell I/II/III/IV The Eldritch Knight may cast a spell using their weapon (melee only) while attacking with it. This is a free action and is considered a supernatural ability. The channeled spell counts against the Eldritch Knight’s spells per day. The spell must specify a target, and targets the creature hit by the Eldritch Knight’s weapon. Even if the spell can hit more than one creature, channeling limits it to one. If the attack misses, the “charge” is stored and works on the next hit, just like a touch spell.

The Eldritch Knight may cast spells up to 1+(level of Channel Spell), so for example, a 10th level Eldritch Knight may channel up to 5th level spells. The total number of spell levels available for this ability is twice the level of Channel Spell. For this purpose, 0-level spells count as ½ a spell level. Thus, a 10th level Eldritch Knight may channel a 5th level spell and a 3rd level spell, or 2 4th level spells, or 16 0-level spells.

Elementalist

Note: the Elementalist is more aimed at arcane casters than at clerics, because the arcane elements (fire, cold, sonic, electricity, acid) are different from the elemental domains (air, water, earth, fire). However, clerics may still take this class if they meet the requirements. A cleric who wants to specialize in an elemental domain should consider the Zealot prestige class instead.

HD: d4
Skills: 2+int
Skill List: Concentration, Craft, Handle Animal, Knowledge, Profession, Spellcraft
Prereqs: Energy Substitution, Knowledge (arcana) 8 ranks, Knowledge (the planes) 4. Must be able to cast at least 5 spells of any level, at least one of which must be 3rd level or higher, all with one descriptor for which the caster has Energy Substitution (acid, cold, electricity, fire, sonic). For example a Sonic Elementalist must have Energy Substitution (sonic) and have 5 spells with the sonic descriptor. Remember that having a spell of another element that can be Energy Substituted qualifies for this. Must not have levels in Master Specialist.

{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Spells

1st|
+0|
+0|
+0|
+2|Elemental Nature|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

2nd|
+1|
+0|
+0|
+3|+1 Penetration with Element|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

3rd|
+1|
+1|
+1|
+3|Resistance 10 to element|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

4th|
+2|
+1|
+1|
+4|+1 to DCs from spells of chosen element|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

5th|
+2|
+1|
+1|
+4|Element Piecing, Elemental Favor|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

6th|
+3|
+2|
+2|
+5|Chosen Immunity|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

7th|
+3|
+2|
+2|
+5|Immunity|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

8th|
+4|
+2|
+2|
+6|Elemental Immunities|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

9th|
+4|
+3|
+3|
+6|Elemental Body|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

10th|
+5|
+3|
+3|
+7|Elemental Purity, Elemental Power|+1 level of existing spellcasting class [/table]

Elemental Nature Upon gaining a level in Elementalist, the elementalist must choose a favored element. Once chosen, it cannot be changed. The elements chosen can be fire, sonic, acid, cold, and electricity.

An Elementalist who has levels in Specialist Wizard immediately loses their Specialization and becomes a non-specialist wizard.

Elementalists keep gaining favored spells, but their favored spells must have an elemental descriptor as their base class for spellcasting.

An elementalist cast spells of his element at +1 ESL and spells with a different elemental descriptor at -2 ESL.

Sonic and Electric elementalists learn Auran, Fire elementalists learn Ignan, Acid elementalists learn Terran, and Cold elementalists learn Aquan.

Over time, Elementalists become more like their element. The exact nature of the transition is generally up to the player, but these are some general guidelines.

Sonic elementalists rarely change in physical appearance, but their voices change. They can shout far louder than normal people but also whisper more softly while still being audible, and they may control their pitch and tone better than normal people.

Electricity elementalists almost always carry a static electric charge and some even crackle with electricity. Many have their hair become more metallic in appearance and sometimes in nature as well. Some have eyes that glow in the dark or crackle.

Fire elementalists often have ruddy skin and frequently have their hair color change in the direction of red, or become brighter if it already was. Their bodies are unusually warm to the touch, but the majority do not sweat except at extreme temperatures. Some give off a faint steam in humid climates.

Cold elementalists are commonly cold to the touch and frequently have white or transparent hair. Many will have faint coatings of frost on their skin and clothing, and will have visible, cold breath even in warm climates.

Acid elementalists tend to have slightly acidic body fluids – for example, their spittle is typically stinging and painful. They are often followed by a slight acrid smell. Many find mundane clothing and personal items show signs of damage faster than normal.

Elemental Piecing Spells of chosen element do 5 more damage to opponents who have Resistance to chosen element. This only applies to the first damaging spell per opponent per round.

Elemental Favor
Fire: May start fires as a free action in any adjacent square. The level of fire is equivalent to what could be done with flint and tinder in a full round (ie, the elementalist may not set things on fire if it couldn’t be done with flint and tinder).

Electricity: The elementalist is completely immune to natural lightning, thunder, and electricity damage. In addition, whenever a lightning bolt from a natural storm that is not directed in any way by magic is about to strike within a mile of the elementalist, they may choose to redirect it to themselves (and thus negate the direct hit damage).

Cold: May lower the temperature in a one-mile radius by 10 degrees Fahrenheit. This ability does not move with the elementalist and may be used once per day, lasting one hour. It is considered a supernatural ability.

Sonic: Anyone making a listen check to hear or understand the elementalist gets a +5 circumstance bonus.

Acid: May write in any surface that is affected by acid as if the elementalist had an etcher. This ability lets the elementalist write on stone walls, metal armor, etc. If used to try and bore through a surface, it inflicts 1d8 points of acid damage per 10 minutes of work.

Chosen Immunity The elementalist becomes immune to effects of their chosen elemental.

Immunity Immune to poison, disease, and sleep (natural and magical). Note that creatures who do not sleep still need to rest 8 hours to regain spells.

Elemental Immunities Immune to paralysis, stunning, and flanking.

Elemental Body The elementalist becomes an elemental creature. Type changes to Elemental. Fire elementalists have subtype fire, Cold elementalists have subtype Cold, Acid elementalists have subtype Earth, and both Sonic and Electric elementalists have subtype Air. However, fire and cold elementalists do not take double damage from opposed elements.

Note that Elementals are immune to spells such as charm person that specifically target humanoids, poison, sleep, paralysis, stunning, critical hits, and flanking. Elementals have Darkvision 60 feet.

An Elementalist gains a +2 bonus to Charisma based skill and ability checks with anyone sharing their subtype. They are also considered to have 4 more points of Charisma for the purposes of the Leadership feat provided all of their followers and cohort share their subtype.

Elemental PurityAn elementalist may choose to cast spells of their element infused with the pure energy of the elemental planes. This causes ¼ of their damage to be non-typed damage (and thus not subject to resistance and immunity effects, but also not triggering vulnerability effects).

An elementalist gains the ability to inflict a minor touch attack based on his element: it does 3d6 damage and requires a melee touch attack. This is a melee touch attack (and works like Touch Attack spells, so an elementalist with Weapon Focus in such attacks gets the benefit). It is not subject to spell resistance, and is considered a supernatural ability.

Elemental Power
Fire: The fire elementalist may use their minor touch attack ability (detailed above) at long range, at will.

Sonic: The sonic elementalist gains a +5 racial bonus on skill checks when their voice can be heard by people he is trying to influence, and this would be helpful. (For example, this applies to Diplomacy almost always, Perform only if the type of perform involves speaking, etc).

Electricity: Once per day as a free action, the electric elementalist may surround themselves with the power of electricity. This causes anyone who touches the electric elementalist or strikes them with a metal object to be hit by the electric elementalist’s touch attack automatically, but no more than once per round per being. This is a supernatural ability, and lasts for 3 rounds.

Acid: The acid elementalist’s touch attack does triple damage to objects.

Cold: The cold elementalist may change precipitation one step as follows:
Rain -> Sleet -> Snow -> Hail

This ability lasts as long as the precipitation, even if it moves away from the cold elementalist. In addition, the cold elementalist suffers no ill effects from any of the above types of precipitation (even ill effects not caused by cold, such as damage from being hit by hail or reduced visibility). These abilities (the ability to modify precipitation and immunity to it) apply to magically caused precipitation, but not damage from spells – ie, the elementalist can see and move normally in a snowstorm caused by control weather, but is not immune to damage caused by spells such as hailstorm or storm of vengeance.

Loremaster

Secrets are changed as follows:

Instant Mastery: This skill also becomes a Loremaster class skill for the character. In addition, whenever you take this skill, you gain class level - 1 skill points immediately (so a 6th level loremaster gets 4 ranks in a skill, plus 5 more skill points), and gains one more skill point per new Loremaster level. These are considered Loremaster skill points. This secret may be chosen more than once.

Secret Health gives +1 hp per HD (this scales with increasing HD after it is taken).

Weapon trick gives a +1 insight bonus to all attack rolls and an additional +2 insight bonus (so +3 total) to attack rolls with Touch or Ranged Touch spells.

Newfound Arcana and More Newfound Arcana are removed.

Loremaster Secret 9: Secrets of the Weave Once per day, the Loremaster may cast any arcane spell she has knowledge of (has seen with Read Magic, seen cast, or makes a Spellcraft DC 15+Spell Level to know about) in return for losing its spell level in memorized spells or spells per day (0-level spells count as ½ a level). A Loremaster may not use this ability to cast a spell of a level for which they have no spells per day. A Loremaster may apply ANY metamagic they want to this spell, even if they don’t have the appropriate feat, but this causes the spell to count as the appropriate higher level for the purposes of this ability.

For example, a Wiz7/Lor8 with this ability can cast a spell up to 8th level with this ability. If they cast a 7th level spell with it, they may sacrifice a 5th level spell and a 2nd level spell, or one 7th level spell, or 7 1st-level spells. They could also cast a 5th level spell with Maximize spell, or a 2nd level spell with Empower Spell and Quicken Spell, but not a 7th-level Empowered spell.

Note that this spell may be used to counterspell, if desired.

Loremaster Secret 10: Secret of Chance Once per day, the Loremaster may add or subtract their class level to/from any one d20 roll they make. This must be declared before rolling the d20.

Mental Mastery At 10th level, a Loremaster gains EITHER 1 extra spell per day at each spell level they can cast OR 1 extra spell known at each spell level they can cast, chosen when they reach 10th level. This bonus applies to new levels of spells the Loremaster gains after acquiring this ability.

HidaTsuzua
2007-09-23, 02:49 PM
Prestige Classes Continued

Magician Officer

With the advent of magic as an understandable science, one of the first moves most civilized nations made was to start training wizards and sorcerers to work as part of their armies. In order to attract those with the talent, the benefits are quite impressive: most offer free training, room, board, and a generous stipend, along with placement as an officer upon successful graduation. However, most also require several years of service in the army at a minimum.

The Magician Officer is an attractive choice to both wizards and sorcerers, and both are recruited by armies. Sorcerers have more duration – being able to cast more spells over a pitched battle – but less ability to prepare for a specific battle, and have limited mobility due to needing full-round actions to use the metamagic abilities of the Magician Officer class. Wizards are encouraged to have a wide variety of spells in their spellbook, and are usually given assignments where the terrain and opponents will be well-known in advance. Sorcerers are used in longer battles and assigned to units who might not know what they will be fighting next.

HD: d6
Skills: 2+int
Skill list: Bluff, Concentration, Craft, Diplomacy, Disguise, Intimidate, Knowledge, Profession, Sense Motive, Spellcraft, Spot
Prereqs: Must be able to cast at least 3 offensive spells with an Area of Effect, at least one of which must be 3rd level or higher. Widen Spell. Spellcraft 5 ranks, Knowledge (arcane) 5 ranks. Must be either formally trained at a military magic school, or trained by a Magician Officer.

Alignment: Note that the training requirements only apply to reaching first level – Magician Officers can rise in level on their own after 1st level. Also, note that military magic schools are unlikely to train nonlawful candidates, but this is not a formal requirement.

{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Spells

1st|
+0|
+0|
+0|
+2|Favored Spells, Battlefield Focus I|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

2nd|
+1|
+0|
+0|
+3|Scuplt Spell|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

3rd|
+1|
+1|
+1|
+3|Battlefield Magic 1/day|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

4th|
+2|
+1|
+1|
+4|Enlarge Spell|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

5th|
+2|
+1|
+1|
+4|Battlefield Focus II|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

6th|
+3|
+2|
+2|
+5|Battlefield Fear|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

7th|
+3|
+2|
+2|
+5|Battlefield Magic 2/day|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

8th|
+4|
+2|
+2|
+6|Extend Spell|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

9th|
+4|
+3|
+3|
+6|Battlefield Focus III|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

10th|
+5|
+3|
+3|
+7|Battlefield Thesis|+1 level of existing spellcasting class [/table]

Favored Spells Wizard Magician Officers add their levels of Magician Officer to their levels of Wizard for the purpose of favored spells.

Sorcerer Magician Officers add their levels of Magician Officer to their levels of Sorcerer for the purpose of determining favored spells, but if their sorcerer levels alone are not sufficient to let them use their favored spell ability on spell slots of a given effective spell level, they may only use their favored spell ability with Widen Spell, Enlarge Spell, and Extend Spell.

For example, an 8th level sorcerer/ 9th level magician officer will have favored spells of level 1 through 8. He may apply metamagic to any of his favored spells and not use a full round action if the spell’s modified level is 3 or less. He may apply Widen Spell, Enlarge Spell, or Extend Spell to any of his favored spells and not use a full round action if the spell’s modified level is 7 or less.

Battlefield Focus The Magician Officer gets a bonus to ESL for the purpose of determining the area of effect and duration of spells. This bonus is equal to the level of Battlefield Focus the Magician Officer has.

Sculpt Spell The Magician Officer can alter area and effect spells that use one of the following shapes: burst, cone, cylinder, emanation, or spread. The alteration consists of creating spaces within the spell’s area or effect that are not subject to the spell. The minimum dimension for these spaces is a 5-foot cube. Furthermore, any shapeable spells have a minimum dimension of 5 feet instead of 10 feet.

Battlefield Magic You may cast one spell per day on yourself that normally has duration of at least 2 rounds. This spell has duration until you next prepare spells instead, and you cast this spell at +4 ESL. You may not use this ability in conjunction with Time Stop.

Enlarge Spell Gain Enlarge Spell for free, or any metamagic feat if you already have Enlarge Spell.

Battlefield Fear Once per day, after using an Area of Effect spell that kills at least 3 enemies, you may cause all enemies within three times the area of effect of the spell to make a Will save (DC = 8 + class level + primary spellcasting statistic) or become Shaken for 1 minute per class level.

Extend Spell Gain Extend Spell for free, or any metamagic feat if you already have Extend Spell.

Battlefield Thesis Extend Spell, Enlarge Spell, and Widen Spell all increase the level of your spells by one less than normal (in effect, Extend and Enlarge are free).

Master of Many Weapons (MoMW)

Unlike most warriors who have a single preferred weapon, the Master of Many Weapons focuses on developing their skills with a broad variety of different weapons, using them both to fight under varying circumstances and to confuse their opponents by switching their weapons mid-combat. Masters of Many Weapons do not need formal training in their class, although they do often need to seek out trainers for their different weapons. Still, many Masters of Many Weapons are largely or totally self-taught.

HD: d10
Skills: 2+int
Skill list: As Fighter, plus Sleight of Hand.
Prerequisites: BAB +5, Proficiency with all simple and martial weapons, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (any melee weapon), Weapon Focus (any exotic weapon), Quick Draw.

{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special

1st|
+1|
+2|
+0|
+0|Exotic Master

2nd|
+2|
+3|
+0|
+0|Weapon Master

3rd|
+3|
+3|
+1|
+1|Universal Specialization

4th|
+4|
+4|
+1|
+1|Enhance Weapon Magic +1

5th|
+5|
+4|
+1|
+1|Weapon Trick

6th|
+6|
+5|
+2|
+2|Improved Quick Draw

7th|
+7|
+5|
+2|
+2|Improved Weapon Master

8th|
+8|
+6|
+2|
+2|Enhanced Weapon Magic +2

9th|
+9|
+6|
+3|
+3|Improved Universal Specialization

10th|
+10|
+7|
+3|
+3|Quick Strike[/table]

Exotic Master The MoMW gets proficiency in all Exotic weapons. If the character has taken the Exotic Weapon Proficiency feat more than once, they may “refund” all but one selection for fighter bonus feats.

Weapon Master The MoMW gets Weapon Focus in all weapons. If the character has taken the Weapon Focus feat more than once, they may “refund” all but one selection for fighter bonus feats.

Universal Specialization The MoMW gets Weapon Specialization in all weapons (even if prerequisites are not met). Refund all Weapon Specialization feats for fighter bonus feats.

Enhanced Weapon Magic +1 Any magic weapon (at least +1) the Master of Many Weapons actively uses gets a +1 bonus to its enhancement bonus, to a maximum of +5, as long as the Master of Many Weapons is fighting with it. For example a MoMW with a longsword +1 treats it as a longsword +2.

Weapon Trick The first round you fight with a new weapon that you have not attacked with yet this combat, you may choose from the following for the rest of the round, so long as you are using this weapon. You may switch weapons later in the round and so long as these weapons are entirely new to the combat, you keep the bonus.

-Total of attack and damage bonus equal to 5 (for example, +4 to hit, +1 to damage, or +5 to damage)

-Feint in combat as a free action, using Sleight of Hand instead of Bluff

-The first person you hit this round takes an attack and damage penalty totaling 5 (for example, -2 to hit, -3 to damage).

-You have 5 feet more reach or 5 feet less reach with this weapon than normal.

-You ignore all attacks of opportunity this round so long as you are taking an attack action.

-You gain a dodge bonus to AC and an attack roll penalty that totals 3, neither of which exceeds 5. For example, you may have +5 to AC, -2 to attack, or +3 to AC with no penalty, but not +6 to AC, -3 to attack, and not +4 to AC with no attack penalty.

Improved Quick Draw May draw even hidden weapons as a free action. May return weapons to “undrawn” position as a free action (but may not re-hide hidden weapons this way). You may do this in the middle of full attacks.

Improved Weapon Master The MoMW gains Improved Weapon Focus in all weapons. All selections of Improved Weapon Focus refunded for fighter bonus feats.

Enhanced Weapon Magic +2 Any magic weapon (at least +1) the Master of Many Weapons actively uses gets a +2 bonus to its enhancement bonus, to a maximum of +5, as long as the Master of Many Weapons is fighting with it.

Improved Universal Specializationp The MoMW gets Improved Weapon Specialization in all weapons. All selections of Improved Weapon Specialization refunded for fighter bonus feats.

Quick Strike If your last attack in a combat round is with a different weapon than all other attacks you have made during that entire combat, you make the attack at your full base attack bonus.

Master Specialist

The Master Specialist is extremely specialized in one school of magic to the exclusion of others. They gain great ability within their school, but have much more limited abilities outside their school than a typical wizard.

HD: d4
Skills: 2+int
Skill list: as Wizard
Prerequisites: Able to cast 3rd level spells as a specialist wizard, School Focus. Must not have levels in Elementalist.

{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Spells

1st|
+0|
+0|
+0|
+2|School Focus, Favored Spells|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

2nd|
+1|
+0|
+0|
+3|Specialist Feat|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

3rd|
+1|
+1|
+1|
+3|School Bonus I|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

4th|
+2|
+1|
+1|
+4|Dual Focus, Specialist Feat|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

5th|
+2|
+1|
+1|
+4|School Bonus II|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

6th|
+3|
+2|
+2|
+5|Specialist Feat|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

7th|
+3|
+2|
+2|
+5|Counterspell Avoidence, School Bonus III|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

8th|
+4|
+2|
+2|
+6|Specialist Feat|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

9th|
+4|
+3|
+3|
+6|School Bonus IV|+1 level of existing spellcasting class

10th|
+5|
+3|
+3|
+7|School Master, Specialist Feat|+1 level of existing spellcasting class [/table]

Favored Spells Then master specialist gains spellcasting levels in wizard at each level, and adds his class level to his wizard level to acquire new favored spells. However, all favored spells gained in this way must be from the Master Specialist’s specialized school.

School Focus A specialist wizard who chose School Enhancement gets double the bonus and penalty: +2 ESL with specialized spells, -2 with others. A specialist wizard who chose School Memory gets 2 extra spells of each level, and all but 1 of their highest level spells and at least 2 of each level must be from their specialized school.

Specialist Feat Specialist Feats mean the Master Specialist may take any item creation or metamagic feat, but it ONLY applies to his specialty school. Specialist Metamagic can only be used on specialized spells, and Specialist Item Creation only makes items whose highest level spell (or one of the highest level spells) required is from the specialized school.

School Bonus A master specialist gets a bonus to spell penetration with chosen school and a bonus to all saving throws made against spells (and spell like abilities) from chosen school. This bonus is equal to the highest rank of School Bonus the specialist has.

Double Focus A specialist wizard who chose School Enhancement gets School Memory as well, and vice versa. The first level ability does not apply to the new specialization bonus.

Counterspell Avoidance The master specialist’s specialized spells are harder to counterspell than normal. If a counterspelling attempt would normally succeed, make opposed ESL checks. If the master specialist wins, his spell is not counterspelled and the counterspelling spell is wasted.

School Master The Master Specialist can recall spells he has already cast exactly as if he had a Pearl of Power, but he may use this ability only on specialized spells. He may recall one spell of each spell level he can cast per day.

Multicaster

Multicaster is the hack that makes having more than primary spellcaster class not awful. It is 10 levels long.

HD: d6
Skills: 2+int
BAB: Wizard
Saves: Will
Skill List: See Below
Prerequisites: Ability to cast/channel/manifest/etc 1st level powers/spells/ninjas/etc at 2nd caster level of any 2 different types. For example, 2nd level druid / 2nd level sorcerer.

At each level, you get +1 caster/manifester/monkey/effect level with any two different types in which you can cast at least 2nd level spells/powers/zombies/etc.

Your skill list is the combined skill list of both classes.

If you want you may refer to this prestige class by a silly name like “Cerebrodruid,” “Magepirate,” or “Shadowpriest.”

Rider

A Rider is a master of mounted combat. Riders already have a personal special mount through some means, and seek to develop and strengthen the bond between mount and rider.

HD: d10
Skills: 2+int
Skill List: Acrobatics, Craft, Handle Animal, Heal, Profession, Ride
Prereqs: Ride 8 ranks, Mounted Combat, special mount such as a Paladin or Blackguard’s steed, a Druid or Ranger’s animal companion, or a cohort mount acquired through Leadership.

{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special

1st|
+1|
+2|
+0|
+0|Mount's Protection 1/day

2nd|
+2|
+3|
+0|
+0|Rider's Protection 1/day

3rd|
+3|
+3|
+1|
+1|Close Bond

4th|
+4|
+4|
+1|
+1|Mount's Protection 2/day

5th|
+5|
+4|
+1|
+1|Rider's Protection 2/day

6th|
+6|
+5|
+2|
+2|Spur Mount

7th|
+7|
+5|
+2|
+2|Mount's Protection 3/day

8th|
+8|
+6|
+2|
+2|Rider's Protection 3/day

9th|
+9|
+6|
+3|
+3|Improve Mount

10th|
+10|
+7|
+3|
+3|Special Bond
[/table]
Paladins may freely multiclass with Rider.

If a Rider’s mount dies or is dismissed, he may reacquire his mount based on the way he originally acquired it – a paladin or blackguard resummons, a Druid or Ranger must perform their ritual, etc. There is no strict requirement to care about the mount’s life or prohibition against callously sacrificing the mount, but a Rider who consistently mistreats his mount may, at the GM’s option, suffer some repercussions.

Rider mounts acquired through a class feature: A rider’s class levels stack with levels of the class that gave him his chosen mount for the purpose of the chosen mount’s special abilities and ECL.

Rider mounts acquired through Leadership: Advance normally.

Mount's Protection Once per day, the mount may take a single-target attack requiring an attack roll meant for the rider. This must be declared before attack and damage rolls are made. This ability may be used one more time per day for every three class levels after 1st. You must be riding your mount to use this ability.

Rider's Protection Once per day, the rider may take a single-target attack requiring an attack roll meant for the mount. This must be declared before attack and damage rolls are made. This ability may be used one more time per day for every three class levels after 2nd. You must be riding your mount to use this ability.

Close Bond The rider adds his class level to his Ride checks while riding his special mount.

Spur Mount Add 10 feet to each of the mount’s movement modes.

Improve Mount If the mount was not generated with character ability scores (ie, was assumed to have 10 or 11 for all base ability scores), replace those base scores with 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 10, distributed at the rider’s choice. If the campaign has significantly better-than-normal ability generation for PCs, the GM may consider allowing a better array.

If the mount was generated with base ability scores, you may replace them with 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 10, distributed in any way you choose, or add 6 points, distributed any way you choose, to the mount’s ability scores. However, their base score (before racial abilities, magic, and increases gained by leveling) may not exceed 18 in any ability.

Special Bond If the character takes levels in another class, the Rider, at each level, chooses one of these options:
-His mount advances as per normal rules based on the class he just took a level in.
-His mount advances one character level.
-His mount advances in hit dice until its ECL increased by 1.
-(Leadership cohorts only) Mount “resets” ECL to the level of a cohort the Rider could acquire, and from this point on advances as per the Cohort rules. Doing this causes the Rider to forever give up this ability.

The rider’s mount gains +1 ECL, and may have ECL up to one less than the Rider’s ECL.

Shadowdancer

Shadowdancer: Only 8 ranks of Hide are required to become a shadowdancer, and Combat Reflexes and Mobility are not required feats. However, Evasion is now a prerequisite.

At 1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th level a shadowdancer gets +1d6 sneak attack.

Shadowdancers at 1st level who use Hide in Plain Sight get a -10 to their Hide check. At 2nd level this penalty is removed.

The “Darkvision” ability doubles the range of existing Darkvision. If the shadowdancer uses a spell or effect to gain darkvision, its range is doubled.

Summon Shadow: The summoned creature is constructed using different rules.

The Shadowdancer consults the Cohort table under Leadership to determine the ECL of his companion. He counts as having a leadership score of twice his Shadowdancer level (but follows the normal rule that the companion may not exceed the master’s level - 2). The shadowdancer may have any incorporeal undead as his companion, and as per the normal shadowdancer rules, the shadow companion’s alignment matches the Shadowdancer’s. The companion is immune to turning/rebuking attempts by any third party as per the usual Shadowdancer rules.

The GM should oversee the construction of the shadowdancer’s companion very carefully, and while in general the only rule is that the companion should be an incorporeal undead, he may want to disallow some selections. In general, class levels on the companion are acceptable, but exercise judgment and common sense as well as thematic appropriateness.

Destroyed companions may be resummoned at no cost 1 week after their destruction, and they may be dismissed permanently just like a familiar. No XP loss is involved. Calling a new companion costs 1000g and requires an 8-hour ritual (and still requires 1 week after the destruction/dismissal of the old companion).

Shifter

A shifter seeks to master shapeshifting abilities in an effort to eventually lose their own fixed form and become a being without a single physical identity. Shifters seek to enhance their existing ability to change shape in order to master this skill. Most shifters are druids, but sorcerers and wizards can also follow this path.

HD: d8
Skills: 4+int
Skill List: Acrobatics, Concentration, Craft, Diplomacy, Disguise, Handle Animal, Hide, Knowledge (nature), Listen, Spot, Survival.
Prereqs: Alertness, Endurance, able to cast 3rd-level spells, must either know polymorph self, or have a natural alternate form, alter self, polymorph self, shapechange, or wild shape ability.

{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special

1st|
+0|
+2|
+2|
+0|Greater Wildshape, Humanoid Shape, Small-Medium Size

2nd|
+1|
+3|
+3|
+0|Animal Shape, Monsterous Humanoid Shape

3rd|
+2|
+3|
+3|
+1|Plant Shape, Tiny-Large Size

4th|
+3|
+4|
+4|
+1|Giant Shape, Vermin Shape

5th|
+3|
+4|
+4|
+1|Diminutive Size-Large Size, Magical Beast Shape

6th|
+4|
+5|
+5|
+2|Aberration Shape, Ooze Shape, Supernatural Wild Shape

7th|
+5|
+5|
+5|
+2|Diminutive-Huge Size, Dragon Shape

8th|
+6|
+6|
+6|
+2|Undead Shape, Construct Shape

9th|
+6|
+6|
+6|
+3|Fine-Huge Size, Elemental Shape, Outsider Shape

10th|
+7|
+7|
+7|
+3|Fine-Gargantaun Size, Supreme Shapechanger[/table]

Whenever size is referenced, it assumes a Medium shifter. Shifters who are not medium “recenter” their size options around their new size. For example, if a Medium shifter could turn into a Tiny, Small, Medium, or Large creature, then a Large shifter of the same level could turn into a Small through Huge creature. If a shifter is so large or so small that this would give him the ability to transform into a nonexistent size category, he gains a size category in the opposite direction instead (as per the druid size category rollover rules).

Greater Wild Shape Greater Wild Shape is a supernatural ability that works like wild shape, except as follows:

Greater wild shape and wild shape uses per day add together (so a character who can greater wild shape 3 times a day and wild shape 6 times a day may use both abilities a total number of times per day equal to 9.

Greater wild shape and wild shape, if both are possessed, may be mixed and matched to determine type and size of creature that may be assumed. For example, if a shifter can wild shape into a Large animal and greater wild shape into a medium or small humanoid they can also greater wild shape or wild shape into a large humanoid.

Each level of shifter adds 2 levels to the character’s effective druid level for the purpose of determining maximum abilities, attacks, etc. in greater wild shaped or wild shaped form. Note that an effective druid level over 20 is fine. For this purpose, a 20-23rd level medium monk does 2d10 damage, a 24th-26th level monk does 4d6 damage, a 27th-29th level monk does 4d8 damage, and a 30th level monk does 4d10 damage (see the wild shape rules under Druid).

Size The size range is the range in size that a shifter can take.

Shape The shifter can shift into the shape of creatures of this type.

Supernatural Wild Shape Greater Wild Shape and Wild Share are now supernatural abilities that never provokes attacks of opportunity and never requires a concentration check.

Supreme Shapeshifter The shifter gains greater wild shape at will as a move equivalent action, type changes to Shapechanger for the purpose of determining what effects and abilities work on the shifter (but not for any other purposes).

Thaumaturgist Use as is.

Weapon Master

The Weapon Master pursues the study of awesome by mastering a single melee weapon. Monks who follow this path normally choose unarmed attacks as their weapon. This path is mostly pursued by fighters, but a monk ranger, ex-paladin, blackguard, barbarian, or cleric might also elect to become a Weapon Master, provided they can manage to meet the requirements. Occasionally, a monster might become a Weapon Master with a natural weapon, although such characters often have fighter levels as well. Some weapon masters are taught by another master of the same weapon, others teach themselves.

HD: d10
Skills: 2+int
Skill List: Craft, Intimidate, Knowledge (weaponry), Listen, Profession, Sense Motive, Spot.
Prereqs: BAB +5, Intimidate 4 ranks, Proficiency with weapon of choice, Masterwork version of weapon of choice (unless unarmed or a natural weapon is weapon of choice), Weapon Focus, Dodge, Mobility, Expertise, Combat Reflexes

{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special

1st|
+1|
+0|
+2|
+0|Awesome Damage

2nd|
+2|
+0|
+3|
+0|Increased Multiple 1/day

3rd|
+3|
+1|
+3|
+1|Focused Weapon, Spring Attack

4th|
+4|
+1|
+4|
+1|Deadly Weapon, Increased Multiple 2/day

5th|
+5|
+1|
+4|
+1|Whirlwind Attack, Cool Blow

6th|
+6|
+2|
+5|
+2|Increased Multiple 3/day

7th|
+7|
+2|
+5|
+2|Improved Critical

8th|
+8|
+2|
+6|
+2|Increased Multiple 4/day, Deadly Weapon

9th|
+9|
+3|
+6|
+3|Awesome Whirlwind Attack

10th|
+10|
+3|
+7|
+3|Increased Multiple 5/day, Evasion[/table]

Awesome Damage Inflict maximum weapon damage on a hit once per day per level, declared after hitting but before rolling damage. Only affects the rolled weapon damage, not other effects like sneak attack, etc. Effects that multiply damage (spirited charge, critical strikes, etc) do not multiply maximum damage, only the base damage is maximized. Example: A longsword that does 1d8+7 instead does 15. On a critical, instead of 2d8+14 it does 1d8+22.

Increased Multiplier Inflict one extra damage multiple on a critical strike. Use this ability after confirming a critical hit (and that the target can indeed be affected by critical strikes) but before rolling damage. This may be combined with Awesome Damage if desired.

Focused Weapon +1 to hit with weapon of choice

Spring Attack Gain Spring Attack feat for free. If you already have Spring Attack, gain a bonus fighter feat.

Deadly Weapon +1 damage with weapon of choice, this stacks with itself

Whirlwind Attack Gain Whirlwind Attack for free. If you already have Whirlwind Attack, gain a bonus fighter feat.

Cool Blow You may add your Wisdom bonus to the damage of your attacks of opportunity.

Improved Critical Gain Improved Critical for free. If you already have Improved Critical, get +2 to your weapon’s threat range. This does not get multiplied by Improved Critical (ie, it occurs last).

Awesome Whirlwind Attack You may make a Whirlwind Attack as a standard action instead of a full attack action.

Evasion Gain Evasion – if you already have Evasion, gain Improved Evasion. If you have both, you may take any feat of your choice.

Note: Monk characters do not lose the ability to take more monk levels by taking levels in Weapon Master.

Zealot

A Zealot is a “specialist cleric” who focuses on one domain much more strongly than others. Because there are a wide variety of codes of conduct and deities, there is no overall rule for conduct of a Zealot, but generally they should take their specialized domain more seriously than others, and its code of conduct should take precedence over other domains.

HD: d8
Skills: 2+int
Skill List: As Cleric. If the Zealot’s chosen domain adds an extra skill list to the Cleric skill list, it is also considered to be on the Zealot skill list for that Zealot.
Prerequisites: Access to a 3rd-level domain spell, having a domain

{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Spells

1st|
+0|
+2|
+0|
+2|Domain Focus|+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class

2nd|
+1|
+3|
+0|
+3||+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class

3rd|
+2|
+3|
+1|
+3|Zealot Special Ability|+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class

4th|
+3|
+4|
+1|
+4|Domain Power|+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class

5th|
+3|
+4|
+1|
+4||+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class

6th|
+4|
+5|
+2|
+5|Zealot Special Ability|+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class

7th|
+5|
+5|
+2|
+5|Spell-Like Domain|+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class

8th|
+6|
+6|
+2|
+6||+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class

9th|
+6|
+6|
+3|
+6|Zealot Special Ability|+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class

10th|
+7|
+7|
+3|
+7|Spontaneous Domain|+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class [/table]

Domain Focus The Zealot chooses a domain of their god. The Zealot casts their chosen domain spells at +1 ESL, and casts other domain spells at -1 ESL.

A Zealot’s class level stacks with their Cleric level for the purposes of their chosen domain only – other domains do not advance with Zealot levels.

If a Zealot’s divine spellcaster levels without Zealot included would not permit the Zealot to access a domain spell of a given level, the Zealot may not prepare that spell. For example, a Clr5/Zeal6 who has the Fire and Good domains and specialized in Fire can prepare either the Fire or Good domain spell at levels 1, 2, and 3, but only the Fire domain spell at levels 4, 5, and 6.

Zealot Special Abilitiy Zealot special abilities are chosen from the following list. They may be chosen more than once, if desired, unless specifically prohibited.

+1 saving throw DC with spells from chosen domain.

Double normal uses per time period of domain special ability. If selected more than once, becomes triple/quadruple. Obviously, can only be selected for applicable domains.

Domain spells get +2 spell penetration.

+3 ESL for the purposes of attempts to dispel your domain spells. This stacks with other Zealot abilities that increase your ESL.

Ability to use chosen domain spells and the chosen domain special abilities that normally have Touch range as Ranged Touch abilities with range = 5 feet per Zealot class level. You do not need to make attack rolls to hit willing targets. Selecting this ability more than once adds 5 feet per Zealot class level to the range.

Domain spells that have a maximum benefit from ESL gain +1 level to that maximum. For example, cure light wounds normally heals 1d8+1 per ESL, to a maximum of 1d8+5 at 5th level. This makes it heal to a maximum of 1d8+6 at 6th level.

Domain Power The Zealot has an extra use every day of their chosen domain spells. This is in addition to the normal one domain spell per level they acquire.

Spell-Like Domain The Zealot’s replaces his ability to have an extra use per day of their chosen domain spells with the ability to use each of his chosen domain spells as a spell-like ability once per day.

Spontaneous Domain The Zealot may spontaneously cast their chosen domain spells exactly as a normal cleric can spontaneously cast cure or inflict spells. In addition, the Zealot may prepare their domain spells as normal cleric spells of their level in the domain, even if they are not cleric spells otherwise. Note that this permits the Zealot to use metamagic with prepared domain spells (but not with the bonus domain spells, or their regular domain spells).

HidaTsuzua
2007-09-23, 02:50 PM
Monsters and Monstrous PCs

ECL as listed is not used. Instead, different values (which will be similar to http://csserver.evansville.edu/~jc84/DD3/Monster_ECL.htm, although I intend to review these values on a PC-by-PC basis) are in place. Also, ignore the rule that the minimum ECL is a creature’s HD. The minimum ECL is 0. For “Monster Classes” (as per Savage Species), the classes are “compacted” to fit into the new ECL proportionately; for example, a monster listed in Savage Species as +8 but changed to +4 will at first level have the abilities of the 1st and 2nd level of the listed monster class. Fractions, where they appear, are always rounded down in this case.

In addition, ECL for non-scaling abilities is dependant on the character’s total ECL. Nonscaling abilities are those that become less useful as a character’s level increases. For example, Incorporeality is useful at any level, because it benefits a higher level character as much as a lower level character (almost all opponents will take a 50% miss chance against it, even powerful ones like dragons). On the other hand, while Fire Immunity is helpful on a lower level character, a 20th-level character can easily mimic Fire Immunity with spells or relatively inexpensive magic items, so it’s not worth as much. Likewise, a DC 20 poison that does 1d6 STR damage is impressive on a low-ECL character, but practically worthless at higher levels.

Generally speaking, abilities that don’t scale should go down in rank periodically, ie, major abilities become Medium, then Minor, then no adjustment.

The general rule is that if an ability can be either 1) Duplicated over an extended period by a spell that a spellcaster of half the character’s ECL can cast, 2) Resisted at least half the time by a character with a saving throw bonus of ¾ (round up) the character’s ECL, or 3) Duplicated over an extended period by a magic item of value less than or equal to 10% of a character of that ECL’s total starting wealth, it should go down one step. Every further halving should drop this by another step. Abilities that do not have steps should be halved in price each time instead.

Finally, if in the GM’s estimation an ability is totally worthless against any opponent or challenge of a CR equal to the character’s ECL, it should never be worth level adjustment.

For example, a half-dragon’s breath weapon is pretty much useless on a character of about ECL 16 – any character with an ECL that high should be able to easily do more damage with any number of abilities, and in addition most monsters will be able to make the saving throw (since only racial hit dice apply to the save DC modifier, not HD from character levels). Thus, an ECL 16 half dragon should not have an ECL adjustment for his breath weapon.

Another example is energy resistance. Energy Resistance 10 is rated as a minor power. A wondrous item continually granting this ability would cost 2000x3x2=12,000 gp. So, when a character has a starting wealth of at least 120,000 (14th level) this ability should change to not costing any ECL (since it is already minor).

When a character reaches a high enough ECL that his racial ECL modifier has decreased by a full point, he immediately gains a level. For example, Tigule begins play as a 5th level fighter with a racial ECL adjustment of +2 (total ECL 7). When he reaches 12th level as a fighter (total ECL 14) his racial ECL abilities have “decayed” down low enough that he now only has a racial ECL adjustment of +1. Thus, he immediately gains another level, and is now a 13th level fighter with a racial ECL adjustment of +1.

Monster Manual: CR (especially for monsters with templates, class levels, or both) is not going to follow exactly. Because there are many widely varying problems with the listed CRs, especially if templates/class levels are added, ad hoc adjustments will be used.

Natural armor vs. Armor:

Creatures that have Natural Armor bonuses and are “not supposed to” wear manufactured armor, but could and would in fact receive a large benefit, will have their Natural Armor bonus changed to armor.

Examples:
Horse: Unchanged.
Lizardman: Unchanged.
Dragon: Natural Armor changed to Armor
Balor: Natural Armor changed to Armor

ECL will be heavily adjusted to account for this change on monsters that are used as PC races, followers, cohorts, mounts, etc.

Spells and Domains

General: XP costs:
Spell like abilities DO cost XP, and spell-like abilities that normally have GP components over 100g cost 1/5 that in XP. Assume that monsters have enough XP to use their powers in a reasonably free manner, but not to excess.
The ability to spend XP on spells, items, and such is not subject to normal control. For example, one cannot Gate an Efreet in and make it use Wish by using the Gate effect. One can make it do anything else, but it has to freely agree to use Wish. The standard price for XP is 5 gp per XP. Of course, “freely agree” can include under threats, bargaining, coercion, and so on.

Of course, because this inflicts permanent XP loss, creatures that are conjured and threatened into using such abilities are likely to be VERY angry.

Spells

Lesser Divine Power As Divine Power. Lesser Divine Power is a full-round action to cast. In addition, ALL divine spells you cast with Lesser Divine Power active become full-round actions unless they were already at least full-round actions.

The BAB bonus granted by Divine Power is capped at +2.

Any places in the base rules where Divine Power is referenced, substitute Lesser Divine Power. Any place in this document where Divine Power is referenced, it means the new spell Divine Power (this sentence excluded, obviously).

Alter Self The reference to granting bonus feats refers only to bonus feats that are physical features (for example, a Troglodyte’s Multiattack bonus feat) and not ones that are mental features (for example, the human bonus feat). The GM is the final arbiter of what constitutes a “mental feature” versus a “physical feauture,” but as a general guideline only feats that grant physical combat abilities related to the creature’s form are likely to qualify.

Atonement When used for Redemption/Temptation, atonement works differently in different alignment systems.

For Intent-based Morality, only individuals who actually desire to change alignment permanently can accept atonement. If used on an individual who agrees only in order to fool someone, fulfill an agreement, temporarily change alignment for the purposes of convenience, etc, atonement fails, the caster knows that the target did not really intend to accept the spell, and no XP cost is incurred.

The alignment change from atonement does not need to be to your alignment. You may change the target’s alignment in any direction on both axes that moves it closer to both you and your patron. For example, a LG cleric of a NG deity may atone in these directions:
Starting alignment Possible final alignments
LG Cannot be used
NG Cannot be used
CG NG
LN LG
N NG
CN N, NG, CG
LE LN, LG
NE N, NG
CE NE, CN, N, CG, NG

A N cleric of a N deity may atone in these directions

LG NG, LN, N
NG N
CG CN, NG, N
LN N
N Cannot be used
CN N
LE LN, NE, N
NE N
CE CN, NE, N

A LG cleric of a CN deity may atone in these directions

LG Cannot be used
NG Cannot be used
CG Cannot be used
LN Cannot be used
N Cannot be used
CN Cannot be used
LE LN
NE N
CE CN

Mastery 4th-level Wizard/Sorcerer, 3rd-level Bard. You gain any one feat that you currently qualify for. This feat cannot be used to qualify for other feats. You cannot use this spell if you currently have any feat temporarily acquired as a result of another spell or magic item, and if you acquire one this spell ends. Lasts 10 minutes/level. Divination school.

Summon Undead 4th-level Cleric, 4th-level Wizard/Sorcerer. As Animate Dead, but 1 hour per caster level, and no material component. The cap on undead commanded is shared. Note that if a character wants high-quality undead servants, he should take Leadership.

March Undead 0th-level Cleric, 0th-level Wizard/Sorcerer. As Animate Dead, but 1 day duration, no material component. The undead created can take no action (either at your command, or on their own initiative) other than movement. They cannot use abilities, take attacks of opportunity, or anything else other than movement. The cap on undead commanded is shared.

Divine Power 5th level Cleric, as Lesser Divine Power but capped at +3.

Greater Divine Power 7th level Cleric, capped at +4.

Awesome Divine Power 9th level spell, capped at +5.

Death Watch Ignore the section “foul powers of undeath.” This spell is not inherently evil.

Eyebite Does not have the [Evil] descriptor.

Permanency Clerics and Druids can both access permanency as 6th level class spells. Permanency does not have an XP cost. It has a duration of one day per ESL. Permanency still works on the same set of spells at the same minimum caster levels (note: the level restrictions on the use of permanency with these spells refer to caster level, not ESL). After casting permanency, the spellcaster cannot use the spell slot that permanency occupied or the spell slot of the spell he made permanent until permanency either ends or is dismissed.

Permanency cannot be imbued into scrolls, wands, or similar limited-use magic items. A magic item that casts Permanency is priced at one use per day, and when used it cannot be reused until permanency ends or is dismissed.

Limited-use magic items cannot have the spells they cast affected by permanency. A magic item that casts a spell that can be affected by permanency is priced at one use per day, and can be used normally once a day, or affected by permanency. If it is affected by permanency, the magic item cannot be used until permanency ends or is dismissed.

Polymorph Changed to Alter Other, as Alter Self but castable on willing targets by touch, last 1 hr/lvl.

Polymorph Self As (default) Polymorph, but must follow the level-based cap restrictions as per Wildshape on natural armor, # of attacks, etc. Substitute ESL for druid level.

In addition, whenever polymorph self is active, a character may not, by any means, cast any spells of the class that gave him the ability to cast polymorph self. This applies to other spells that are based on polymorph mechanics (such as shapechange) as well.

Shapechange Must follow the level-based cap restrictions as per Wildshape on natural armor, # of attacks, etc. Substitute ESL for druid level. Body parts that are separated remain, but are always valueless and useless (ie, this ability cannot be used to generate money or items).

Disjunction If used normally, this does NOT destroy magic items. It makes them inactive for 1 hour per ESL. It may be used on a single touched item, instead, and if successful it permanently destroys the item.

Domains

Domains have been split into Secondary and Primary Domains. Clerics get 2 secondary domains of their god at 1st level. They get an additional secondary domain at level 6. Clerics get a Primary Domain at 13th and 20th level.

Each domain has a requirement, power, and spells.

Secondary Domains:

Air:
Requirement: Stay in places where you can feel the wind, don’t live underground, pay attention to flying creatures (either as allies, friends, or servitors), keep yourself free spiritually.

Power: As Air Domain

Spells: As Air Domain

Animal
Requirement: Pay attention to animals (as allies, friends, or servitors), don’t spend too much time outside of settings where animals live, don’t destroy animal habitats.

Power: Speak with animals at will. Knowledge (nature) at (cleric level +3)/2 if cleric was your first level, (cleric level)/2 otherwise, and if this gives you more skill levels in Knowledge (nature) than you are permitted, they are refunded.

Spells: Shapechange only into animals at 8th, Summon Monster IX at 9th.

Chaos:
Requirements: Be chaotic alignment. Champion the chaotic alignment. Oppose lawful alignment.

Power: Smite Law 1/day +cha to hit, +level to dmg

Spells: As Choas

Death:
Requirement: Pay attention to the undead (either as allies, friends, or servitors).

Power: Death Touch does 1d8 damage per level, and if this does not kill the target, the user takes the same amount of damage as well.

Spells: As Death Domain

Destruction:
Requirements: Break things. Kill people. Destroy in the name of your patron.

Power: As Desturction

Spells: As Destruction Domain unless noted otherwise

1st: True Strike
4th: Shout
5th: Sympathetic Vibration
8th: Greater Shout

Earth:
Requirements: Don’t make sudden changes to your personality or nature. If you decide to do something, go all the way and put everything into it – don’t do things halfway. Pay attention to burrowing creatures (either as allies, friends, or servitors).

Power: As Earth Domain

Spells: As Earth Domain

Evil:
Requirements: Be Evil. Oppose Good. Champion the Evil alignment.

Power: Smite good 1/day +cha to hit, +level to dmg

Spells: As Evil Domain

Fire:
Requirements: Burn things whenever appropriate.

Power: As Fire Domain

Spells: As Fire Domain

Good:
Requirements: Be Good, oppose Evil, champion the Good alignment.

Power: Smite good 1/day +cha to hit, +level to dmg

Healing:
Requirements: Heal people frequently, as appropriate to your patron. Be sure to offer healing to worshippers of your patron.

Power: Once per day, plus once per 4 levels, cast a Healing spell with Range: Touch as if it had Short range (25 + 5/2 levels)

Spells: As Healing

Knowledge:
Requirements: Seek new knowledge.

Power: All knowledge are class skills, you get cleric level + 3 skill points if you took cleric as your first level, or cleric level skill points otherwise. These skill points must be spent on Knowledge skills.

Spells: As Knowledge unless noted otherwise
1st: Identify

Law:
Requirements: Be Lawful. Oppose Chaos. Champion the Lawful alignment.

Power: Smite chaos 1/day +cha to hit, +level to dmg

Spells: As Law Domain

Luck:
Requirements: Take risks. Gamble. Trust in your patron to protect you.

Power: Once per day, you may add your cleric level to a d20 roll after learning if it succeeds or fails. You do not get to know if this will cause a success or not.

Spells: As Luck Domain

Magic:
Requirements: Use your spells whenever appropriate. Preserve rare spells and magic items. Appreciate and enjoy your magical powers. Spend as much of your money as you can on magical items.

Power: As Magic

Spells: As Magic unless noted otherwise
1st: Identify
2nd: Owl’s Wisdom

Plant:
Requirements: Pay attention to plant creatures (as allies, friends, or servitors), don’t spend too much time outside of settings where plants grow, don’t destroy plant habitats.

Power: Knowledge (nature) at (cleric level +3)/2 if cleric was your first level, (cleric level)/2 otherwise, and if this gives you more skill levels in Knowledge (nature) than you are permitted, they are refunded.

Spells: As Plant Domain

Protection:
Requirements: Protect things and people your god values.

Power: Once per day, you may add your cleric level to any saving throw made by you or anyone in your line of sight. You may do this after you know if the saving throw failed or not, but you do not get to know if this will make it succeed.

Spells: As Protection

Strength:
Requirements: Be strong, physically and magically. Show everyone the strength of your god and your faith whenever possible.

Power: As Strength Domain

Spells: As Strength Domain

Sun:
Requirements: Watch the sunrise and sunset whenever possible. Don’t stay out of sight of the sun for long periods of time.

Power: If your Greater Turning destroys no undead, all undead that would have been destroyed if they had half as many hit dice (calculate the halving last, after any modifiers) are blinded for one round, even if they are normally immune to blindness.

Spells: As Sun Domain

Travel:
Requirements: Travel to exotic locations! Explore, see new things, find new lands.

Power: As Travel Domain

Spells: As Travel unless noted otherwise
8th: Word of Recall.
9th: Etherealness

Trickery:
Requirements: Be a trickster.

Power: Gain (cleric level +3) skill points if first level was cleric, or (cleric level) skill points otherwise. These must be spent on Bluff, Disguise, and Hide.

Spells: As Trickery Domain

War:
Requirements: Violence is ALWAYS a good solution.

Power: Gain two feats from this list: Weapon Focus, Martial Weapon Proficiency, Exotic Weapon Proficiency, Tower Shield Proficiency.

Spells: As War Domain

Water:
Requirements: Take sea trips. Drink lots of fresh water. Swim regularly.

Power: As Water Domain

Spells: As Water Domain

Primary Domains:

Apocalypse:
Requirements: You prepare yourself for the end of the world, when you will return from the realm of your patron god (if you are dead at the time – some individuals with this domain believe that the end of the world will come within their lifetime) to battle their enemies in a final contest.

Domain Power: You gain a +2 divine bonus on saving throws against divine magic, domain powers, and the spell-like and supernatural abilities of extraplanar beings.

1st: Burning Hands
2nd: Flaming Sphere
3rd: Sleet Storm
4th: Flamestrike
5th: Cloudkill
6th: Heroes’ Feast
7th: Creeping Doom
8th: Incendiary Cloud
9th: Storm of Vengeance

Bloodlust:
Requirements: You must have killed a living being. You feel unmatched joy when you kill living, sentient beings in the name of your patron.

Power: Any time you kill an animate (not necessarily living) being that is your enemy and gives you XP, you are cured of 1d8+5 hit points, and you gain +2 damage on your next attack roll. Every time you kill an animate being that is your enemy and has a CR rating but does not give you XP, you are cured of 1 hit point, to a max of 5 per round.

If you killed an opponent who gave you a 1d8+5 cure on your last round of combat, your first attack in the current round does +1 damage per 4 cleric levels.

Spells:
1st: True Strike
2nd: Death Knell
3rd: Haste
4th: Enlarge Person, Mass
5th: Inflict Light Wounds, Mass
6th: Blade Barrier
7th: Circle of Death
8th: Iron Body
9th: Clenched Fist

Fate:
Requirements: You have absolute faith that your patron deity has a plan for everything that has happened and will happen, yourself included. Whatever occurs, no matter how bad it seems, it must be part of your patron’s plan. This does not absolve you of responsibility for your actions – indeed, you know that you have an important role to fulfill in this plan.

Power: Once per day per nine class levels, you may, as a free action, remove one of your memorized cleric spells and replace it with any other spell that you could have memorized in its place. This means you may replace one domain spell with another domain spell of that level, and that you may include metamagic on the new spell provided that you know the metamagic and you can apply it to that spell and slot. Essentially, this makes it as if you had simply chosen differently when you prayed for spells at the start of the day.

Spells:
1st: True Strike
2nd: Augury
3rd: Locate Object
4th: Divination
5th: Dream
6th: Find the Path
7th: Legend Lore
8th: Moment of Prescience
9th: Foresight

Freedom:
Requirements: You recognize the power and authority of your patron as the only true authority. Mortal authority and tradition are meaningless to you, and if you follow them, it’s only out of convenience. Note that for the dwarven clans with Freedom, this means that you respect your family’s laws and traditions (since your patron is your clan’s ancestors) but not the traditions of dwarven society.

Power: Slippery Mind (as per the rogue ability).

Spells:
1st: Expeditious Retreat
2nd: Invisibility
3rd: Gaseous Form
4th: Freedom of Movement
5th: Break Enchantment
6th: Repulsion
7th: Veil
8th: Phase Door
9th: Freedom

Glory:
Requirements: You have seen or heard a manifestation of your deity, and your awe at the experience has never faded.

Power: Once per day, you may channel the glory of your deity for all to see. This uses one of your turning attempts, and affects anyone who is hostile to the aims of your deity (who exactly falls under this is up to the GM, but generally speaking this should always include your enemies, and not include your allies, with the possible exception of “allies of convenience”) who can either clearly see or clearly hear you, up to a maximum of your level times 20 HD of creatures (targets who can see and hear you are affected first, followed by those who can only see, followed by those who can only hear. Among these groups, closer targets are affected first, and among equally close creatures the lowest HD ones are affected first). Creatures incapable of having a patron deity are immune to this power.

First, anyone affected takes 1d6 damage per class level, Will save (DC 10 + ½ class level + Wisdom modifier) for half. If they can only hear you, but not see you, they take half damage on a failure and no damage on a success.

Second, anyone affected who has less HD than half your class level (round up) must make a Will save (DC 10 + ½ class level + Wisdom modifier) or be unable to do anything other than try to hear and see you. They may only take move actions, and only for the purpose of trying to see and hear you. This ability lasts as long as you desire (but only affects people who continue to see or hear you from the beginning of the ability’s use). These targets are considered flat-footed for the duration of this ability. Check whether this ability “breaks” at the start of your action each turn.

Third, anyone affected with more HD than half your class level (round up) must make a Will save (DC 10 + ½ class level + Wisdom modifier) or be affected as above, except they retain full defenses while affected. This ability lasts a maximum number of rounds equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum one round), and they get a new saving throw at the start of your action each turn. This ability also breaks if they cannot see and cannot hear you at the beginning of your action.

Spells:
1st: Command
2nd: Enthrall
3rd: Suggestion
4th: Rainbow Pattern
5th: Command, Greater
6th: Eyebite [note: not evil]
7th: Repulsion
8th: Scintillating Pattern
9th: Implosion

Loa:
Requirements: Your loa god rides on your shoulders and may choose to speak through you. (Note: the way that loa gods communicate is through their clerics. If a loa god wishes to make something known to mortals, they will choose one of their clerics with the Loa domain and say it through them. While possessed, the cleric is considered to have his Loa domain power activated , and the loa god is completely in control for the duration. Obviously, this can be either beneficial or harmful to the cleric).

Power: Once per day you may call upon your patron loa to possess you. This is a free action, and it lasts for one round per class level. While you are possessed, you may spells from your domains that are at least 4 levels lower than the highest level domain spell you can cast (so as a 15th level cleric, this is 4th level or lower domain powers) at will and as a quickened action once per round (a Zealot with the Loa domain checks the highest level domain spell he can cast, not the highest level domain spell he can cast from the domain he is trying to cast from).

While you are possessed, your god “rides” on your shoulders. Your alignment becomes the same as your deity’s, and you must obey the restrictions of all your god’s domains. In addition, you have the following:

Ghede loa: you become reckless and don’t worry about your safety or well-being.
Petro loa: you are violent and destructive.
Rada loa: you are reserved and aloof.

Spells:
1st: Unseen Servant
2nd: Owl’s Wisdom
3rd: Rage
4th: Lesser Divine Power
5th: Divine Power
6th: Eyebite*
7th: Greater Divine Power
8th: Greater Spell Immunity
9th: Awesome Divine Power

*Eyebite is not considered evil.

Love:
Requirements: Your relationship with your deity is characterized by love. The direction and nature of this love varies based on your diety.

Power: Because of your close relationship with your deity, they actively look out for you. Once per day, you may automatically succeed at any saving throw after failing, but only if a failed saving throw would directly result in your death (ie, either kill you directly or inflict more hit point damage than your remaining hp + 10). You may not use this to avoid indirect death (for example, being affected by hold person and then stabbed).

Spells:
1st: Summon Monster I
2nd: Charm Person
3rd: Summon Monster III
4th: Charm Monster
5th: Summon Monster V
6th: Symbol of Persuasion
7th: Charm Monster VII
8th: Sympathy
9th: Charm Monster, Mass

Madness:
Requirements: Your faith gives you a “unique” perspective, to the point where normal people would consider you insane. You immediately lose 2 points of Wisdom. The loss to Wisdom is permanent, and applies even if you somehow lose this domain. It cannot be magically cured except by Miracle or Wish, and even then only if you are willing to be cured. Doing so causes you to no longer be insane, and to gain no benefit from this domain.

If you are cured of your insanity, and retain the same patron, you may at the GM’s option select a new primary domain, or even reselect Madness. If you acquire a new patron, you select domains normally. The GM should NEVER allow a cleric to abuse this to turn Madness on and off for convenience.

Power: You gain +3 on the save DCs of all your cleric spells and all of your domain powers. You ignore the requirement that your Wisdom score must be 10 + spell level to cast a spell (even if your original Wisdom would not have let you cast it).

Spell:
1st: Hideous Laughter
2nd: Daze Monster
3rd: Tongues
4th: Confusion
5th: True Seeing
6th: Mass Suggestion
7th: Insanity
8th: Symbol of Insanity
9th: Irresistible Dance

Mysticism:
Requirements: You have a special connection to your deity that cannot be explained. You occasionally experience visions (hallucinatory, in dreams, or by some other GM-approved method) that you believe come from your deity. (Dreams/visions that occur in game are entirely up to the GM – this is a side effect, not a class feature).

Power: You have one Mysticism Point per class level per day which you may spend as follows: when casting a cleric spell (prepared, converted, or domain), you may expend Mysticism Points to apply metamagic features to it at the rate of one point per level for metamagic feats you have, and two points per level for metamagic feats you do not have. However, the final level of the spell must be a level you can cast. For example, a 15th level cleric has 15 mysticism points, and he may spend 8 mysticism points to cast a 4th-level spell quickened, or 4 points if he has the Quicken Spell feat. He may not quicken a 5th-level spell.

Spells:
1st: Comprehend Languages
2nd: Augury
3rd: Clairaudience/Clairvoyance
4th: Tongues
5th: True Seeing
6th: Find the Path
7th: Arcane Sight, Greater
8th: Discern Location
9th: Miracle

Negative Energy:
Requirements: You may only take this domain if you channel negative energy. You focus on undeath, and should animate undead frequently.

Power: Once per day per six class levels, you may Command/Rebuke Undead as a free action. This still uses a command/rebuke attempt. In addition, you may apply Metamagic to spells you convert into inflicting magic via your negative energy channeling class feature. You must sacrifice a legal spell of the modified level. For example, you may sacrifice a 5th level spell to cast Quickened Inflict Light Wounds if you have Quickened Spell.

Spells:
1st: Chill Touch
2nd: Ghoul Touch
3rd: Vampiric Touch
4th: Enervation
5th: Waves of Fatigue
6th: Harm
7th: Waves of Exhaustion
8th: Finger of Death
9th: Energy Drain

Peace
Requirements: Avoid combat as much possible, and when you have to fight, use nonlethal force as much as you can. Encourage others to resolve their differences peacefully.

Power: Anytime you use a Healing spell to cure an injury, disease, or other condition that was caused in a manner that in no way involved violence against a sentient being on the part of the injured character, you cast the spell and still retain it in your memory. This power functions up to once per day per class level.

Examples:
Injured by nonsentient animal while hunting it: Works
Injured by nonsentient undead while fighting it: Works
Injured by sentient undead while fighting it: Doesn’t Work
Injured in a natural disaster: Works
Attacked by sentient being, but did not defend self: Works
Attacked by sentient being, and then tried to defend self: Doesn’t Work
Injured while fighting in a large-scale battle, even by natural causes: Doesn’t Work
Injured as part of an accident in sparring practice: Works

Exactly whether or not this power works is always up to the GM’s judgment, but the most important thing is always the intent of the injured character in the events that led to their injury.

If the spell would heal both a valid injury and an invalid one (for example, if a character was hit by an orc for 10 points of damage in a battle, and then took 5 points of falling damage later in the day as part of an accident unrelated to combat, and is being healed by a heal spell), the cleric may choose to use the domain power and heal only the valid portion, or not use the domain power and heal normally.

Spells:
1st: Sanctuary
2nd: Restoration, Lesser
3rd: Remove Disease
4th: Neutralize Poison
5th: Mark of Justice
6th: Heal
7th: Restoration, Greater
8th: Sequester
9th: Imprisonment

Perfection:
Requirements: You seek to emulate your patron and remake yourself in their image. You may only take this domain if you are the same alignment as your patron.

Power: You gain +1 ability point per 6 class levels (this works the same way as the +1 per four levels that all characters get). This applies retroactively, and continues to apply as you level.

Spells:
1st: True Strike
2nd: Owl’s Wisdom
3rd: Greater Magic Weapon
4th: Divine Power, Lesser
5th: Atonement
6th: Owl’s Wisdom, Mass
7th: Pick One After Selecting This Domain: Bull’s Strength/Cat’s Grace/Bear’s Endurance/Fox’s Cunning/Eagle’s Splendor, Mass
8th: Statue
9th: Iron Body

Positive Energy:
Requirements: You may only take this domain if you channel positive energy. Destroy the undead as much as possible.

Power: Once per day per six class levels, you may Turn/Destroy Undead as a free action. This still uses a turning attempt. In addition, you may apply Metamagic to spells you convert into healing magic via your positive energy channeling class feature. You must sacrifice a legal spell of the modified level. For example, you may sacrifice a 5th level spell to cast Quickened Cure Light Wounds if you have Quickened Spell.

Spells:
1st: Animate Rope
2nd: Consecrate
3rd: Prayer
4th: Restoration
5th: Disrupting Weapon
6th: Animate Objects
7th: Regenerate
8th: Prismatic Wall
9th: Prismatic Sphere

Sacrifice:
Requirements: You have agreed to give up something of yours as part of your devotion to your deity. This varies by deity.

Example Sacrifices:

St. Salva: Vow of Chastity. This vow is also required to lead a congregation, but priests who do not either lead a congregation or have the Sacrifice domain are not required to take a vow of Chastity. Breaking the Vow of Chastity removes all Sacrifice domain powers until an atonement is complete.

St. Menaz: Priests of St. Menaz with the Sacrifice domain must practice self-flagellation on a daily basis to purge themselves of offenses against Vaals, including evil thoughts as well as evil actions, even relatively minor ones. Self-flagellation by default inflicts no damage, but is painful.

Cerin (Dzerin): Cerin requires human sacrifice for various rituals, including for a cleric to acquire the Sacrifice domain. However, the sacrifice for this ritual must be willing.

Clan Tavege: Clerics of Clan Tavege with the Sacrifice domain place the well-being of their clan (and secondarily of all dwarves) before their own lives, and must be willing to die for their cause.

Ezili Dantor: Clerics of Ezili Dantor must offer their own blood to their goddess. This is a one-time sacrifice but it does inflict damage – the cleric is reduced to 1 hp, and must wait to heal naturally.

Power: There are two domain powers, and a cleric may use either one or the other once each day. The cleric may use one of them on one day and a different one the next (a cleric who can use the domain power multiple times may alternate between powers in a single day as well).

Sacrifice of Self: The cleric picks a positive number that is less than his current hit point total. He immediately takes that much damage, and this damage cannot be reduced or mitigated by any means and is always lethal damage, even if the cleric is normally immune to lethal damage, has regeneration, or any similar ability. All allies of the cleric within 50 feet are healed for that number of hit points.

Sacrifice to [Deity]: The cleric must make a touch attack on a living or undead target. That target must make a saving throw, DC 10 + ½ class level + Wisdom modifier. On a failed saving throw, the target is instantly killed and the cleric may divide a total amount of healing equal to (10 + target’s current hit point total) among himself and any allies within 50 feet. On a successful saving throw, the target takes 1d6 damage per two class levels and the cleric may divide up that much healing, but no more than (10 + target’s current hit point total). Note that as soon as the cleric hits a target that is not immune (either through some form of magic immunity or being neither living nor undead), the spell ends, regardless of whether they save or not.

Spells:
1st: Inflict Light Wounds
2nd: Shield Other
3rd: Vampiric Touch
4th: Imbue with Spell Ability
5th: Permanency
6th: Mage’s Lucubration*
7th: Regenerate
8th: Finger of Death
9th: Cure Critical Wounds, Mass
*Referred to as [Deity’s] Lucubration, and works on Cleric spells only.

Weather:
Requirements: You see the power of your god in winds and storms. Before you take this domain, you must spend 24 hours alone in some form of extreme weather (heavy snowstorm, sandstorm, heavy thunderstorm, etc) depending on the region you are in.

Power: You are completely immune to all weather effects (those listed under the “Weather” section). You may still be affected secondarily by weather – for example, a fire set by a lightning strike still burns you, but the lightning itself does nothing. Likewise, you do not take movement penalties for entering squares with snow, but if snow completely blocks your way you cannot pass. You are considered to have a permanent endure elements active. This domain power is a supernatural ability. Note that this ability does not protect you from magical spells that mimic weather effects (such as storm of vengeance), although it does protect you from those that create weather effects (such as control weather)

You cast control weather using the druid version rather than the cleric version.

Spells:
1st: Obscuring Mist
2nd: Fog Cloud
3rd: Call Lightning
4th: Ice Storm
5th: Call Lightning Storm
6th: Overland Flight
7th: Control Weather
8th: Whirlwind
9th: Storm of Vengeance

[b]Special Mounts, Cohorts, Followers, and Animal Companions

This section covers the selection and creation of Special Mounts (Paladin and Blackguard), Cohorts (from Leadership), Followers (from Leadership), and Animal Companions (from Druid and Ranger), and is referenced by a few prestige classes (revised Shadowdancer and Rider). This replaces the original rules.

The GM should always look over companions just as carefully as PCs, and since they are an important part of a character, just as much work on the player’s part should go into a character’s companion design as the main character design. Note that companions are permitted to have class levels just like PCs. Companions granted by class abilities do not have equipment, but it can of course be bought for them. Companions granted by Leadership have equipment chosen by the player, based on the NPC gear value chart for their ECL.

Remember that cohorts and followers cannot spend XP.

In general, the rule is as follows. Paladins, Blackguards, and Druids get a special companion of an ECL equal to the level of a cohort a character of their total character level could recruit with a leadership score equal to their class level (unmodified by stats/reputations). Rangers count as druids 3 levels lower for this purpose.

Paladin and Blackguard companions must be capable of serving the character as a mount, unless the paladin or blackguard is completely incapable of having a mount (for example, a centaur) in which case they may have any companion the GM approves of.

Druid companions must be “animals.” Anything with the Animal type counts as an animal, and at the GMs discretion some things that do not have the animal type might count. For example, the GM has the option of permitting a ranger/shadowdancer to have a ghost animal as their companion, or permitting a druid to have an “animal-based” magical creature such as a winter wolf as a companion. The GM is always the final arbiter of what is or is not an “animal.”

Shadowdancers use double their class level instead of their class level (see Shadowdancer for guidelines).

Riders do not acquire a new cohort – they must already have a cohort, and the Rider class improves it as described.

Druids do not give their followers extra HD, natural armor, or Str/Dex adjustment. They do give bonus tricks. They do grant Link, Share Spells, and Devotion, but not Evasion, Improved Evasion, or Multiattack.

Rangers follow the same rules as druids.

Paladins do not grant bonus HD, Natural Armor adjustment, or Str adjustment, but they do grant increased Int. This overlaps with base Int on intelligent mounts. They do grant Empathic Link, Share Spells, Improved Speed, Command Creatures of its Kind, and Spell Resistance, but not Improved Evasion or Share Saving Throws.

Blackguards follow the same rules as paladins, but a Blackguard who uses the combined cohort rules (see below) is not penalized for bad reputation if he also has leadership for the purposes of his mount. He still gets the penalty when calculating followers.

Shadowdancers are detailed under their class.

Leadership works significantly differently. Followers work normally, but Cohorts now level automatically as the character’s Leadership score changes, and do not take a share of XP. Cohorts and followers cannot spend XP on abilities, and cannot have their own followers or cohorts. Cohorts who are permanently level drained by some means remain level drained, but “recover” one lost level for every two levels they gain normally.

Combined Cohorts: A character who, by the rules, would have more than one cohort may (with the GM’s permission) combine his cohort selections into one choice, but his choice must meet all requirements for both classes. For example, a ranger/shadowdancer would have to have an incorporeal undead animal as his cohort, and a paladin/druid would have to have an animal that can serve as a mount. The ECL of his combined cohort determined as follows: Take the highest leadership score for Cohort selection any one feature grants, and add to the ECL of the cohort granted by that score 1/5th (round down) of the combined effective leadership scores of all other features.

For example, a 13th level paladin with Leadership, a +4 charisma modifier, and known for Fairness and Generosity has a 13 Paladin leadership and a 18 feat leadership. 18 leadership gives a 12th-level follower, and we add 13/5 = 2 (rounded down) to this for a 14th level follower. However, a 13th level character can’t have a follower over 11th level, so the mount is ECL 11.

If the Paladin were 17th level, but only had +1 charisma modifier and no Fairness and Generosity modifier, then he would have a 18 feat leadership and a 17 paladin leadership. 18 feat leadership gives a 12th level mount, and we add 17/5 = 3 (rounded down) for a 15th level mount, which the paladin is high enough level to have.

Special abilities granted to special companions and cohorts by class features or other abilities all apply to the combined cohort, so both paladins above give their mount increased intelligence score based on their Paladin class level. A druid/paladin would have his class abilities apply to his mount, so it would gain both bonus tricks and increased intelligence. This includes the “ability” of a Leadership cohort to have normal stat generation, instead of all 10s and 11s.

KBF
2007-09-23, 09:52 PM
I'm gonna assume you're done.

You know 4.0 is coming out next year right? You don't have to switch, and this will be helpful for people playing 3.5 though.

Kurald Galain
2007-09-24, 05:56 AM
I've seen many good ideas in your posts. Here's some random thoughts and reactions...

Half-orcs are still definitely subpar, even with the intimidate bonus (which is more flavor than anything else). I'd replace their charisma penalty with a negative modifier when dealing with certain races. This makes a half-orc shaman (classed as sorcerer) a viable approach.

Size: flavor-wise, why would smaller races get better spot checks?

I don't understand the point of ESL.

Barbarian: perhaps their will save bonus (when raging) should be increased, because this is their chief vulnerability, and because frankly using Fear or Charm on a rampaging barbarian doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Bard: perhaps the bonuses for Inspire Courage should increase a bit faster (+1 at level 4, 8, 12, 16 and 20, for a total of +6 instead of +4?). See also this thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3240096#post3240096).

Druid: ban Natural Spell.

Fighter: there are a variety of suggested fighter fixes on these boards. I would suggest that he needs some help even before level 12.

Monk: if the monk is to be viable, he needs more tweaks than this. For instance, rather than three good saves, give him two good saves and full BAB. And allow some kind of flurrying as a standard action rather than a full-round.

Sorcerer: I'd suggest giving him more skill points. He has more free time than the wizard, after all.

Skills:
Diplomacy: a simple fix is to increase the amount of time it requires. Let's face it, talking to people takes more than a six-second combat round.

Feats:
Skilled: I'd suggest that, rather than giving a +2 bonus, these feats add +2 ranks to that skill, irrespective of its present maximum. This makes them useful in qualifying for prestige classes.

Dodge: should simply give +1 to armor class period, it's not really unbalancing and having to pick targets is just annoying.

Two-weapon fighting: this needs some tweaking to make it actually a viable strategy for fighters.

Sword-and-board: a new feat that gives you, say, +2 to hit and +2 to armor class while wielding a one-handed weapon plus a shield.

Pyroconstruct
2007-09-24, 04:23 PM
I can answer some of these (I'm one of HT's friends).



Half-orcs are still definitely subpar, even with the intimidate bonus (which is more flavor than anything else). I'd replace their charisma penalty with a negative modifier when dealing with certain races. This makes a half-orc shaman (classed as sorcerer) a viable approach.



I think you're right that halforcs still suck. However, my instinct is that giving them the same Skill-points bonus as Half-elves is a better fix.





Size: flavor-wise, why would smaller races get better spot checks?



There's a major problem with the way that you get bonuses only to hide from being smaller. Ex: Two DEX 10 titans play hide-and-go seek in a Titan-sized village (ie, there are things big enough for them to logically hide in so they are permitted to use the skill at all). They have huge hide penalties, and they're always going to be spotting each other. The "LOL, Zeus, you're just hiding behind that mountain range effect."

Meanwhile, a pair of DEX 10, um, very small things (doesn't really matter, assume they are Diminutive humanoids that are the same shape as humans) play hide and go seek in a Diminutive scaled village. They have almost no chance of finding each other.

This makes no sense. None. The "explanation" here is that the difficulty in spotting things should be based on relative size - the smaller you are, the smaller the scale on which you percieve. I think the two examples above point to the necessity of this fix.




I don't understand the point of ESL.



It makes multiclass spellcasters less sucky. For example, a 10th-level cleric/10th level fighter in core D&D is pretty poopy, because their cleric spells have such a low caster level that they're kinda worthless (in particular, they are really badly vulnerable to a 20th level dispel, and can't get anything through a 20th level monster's SR). Having the spells/day of a 10th level cleric but ESL 20 means that the spells are more useful relative to a 20th level character.




Barbarian: perhaps their will save bonus (when raging) should be increased, because this is their chief vulnerability, and because frankly using Fear or Charm on a rampaging barbarian doesn't make a whole lot of sense.



Possibly, but remember it also includes stuff like the ability to see through illusions and the like. A bonus against Fear alone might make some sense, although right now Barbarians are pretty tough as-is.




Bard: perhaps the bonuses for Inspire Courage should increase a bit faster (+1 at level 4, 8, 12, 16 and 20, for a total of +6 instead of +4?). See also this thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3240096#post3240096).



I'll check out the link. That will be a good idea to take under advisement if Bards are still too weak; they've been pretty heavily revised so far, so it's hard to tell.




Druid: ban Natural Spell.



See the Feats section. Natural Spell got changed to be metamagic that increases spell level by +1, which should make it way more balanced.




Fighter: there are a variety of suggested fighter fixes on these boards. I would suggest that he needs some help even before level 12.



That hasn't been my experience; I've seen it more as an issue with the scaling-down of the benefit of feats alone at high levels as you start running out of feats. Also, remember that with buffed Toughness, fighters now have a "dumping ground" for extra feats that isn't a waste. If mid-range fighters seem to have issues, still, I'd probably think about moving the special abilities to something like 8/14/20.




Monk: if the monk is to be viable, he needs more tweaks than this. For instance, rather than three good saves, give him two good saves and full BAB. And allow some kind of flurrying as a standard action rather than a full-round.



Monks are a tricky one. Part of the issue monks had was that they were never a frontloaded class to begin with, and that meant they always benefitted less from PrC abuse than others. I'm actually thinking that putting in a mid-level Pounce ability would be a good idea for them, but they need more playtesting.




Sorcerer: I'd suggest giving him more skill points. He has more free time than the wizard, after all.


That'll be something to keep in mind if straight sorcerer starts to look too weak. However, all of the pure casters (clr/wiz/sor) have 2+int, so one should think carefully before giving sorcerers more.




Skills:
Diplomacy: a simple fix is to increase the amount of time it requires. Let's face it, talking to people takes more than a six-second combat round.



I'm still not happy with how Diplomacy works right now; the diplomancer trick still seems a bit too strong.




Feats:
Skilled: I'd suggest that, rather than giving a +2 bonus, these feats add +2 ranks to that skill, irrespective of its present maximum. This makes them useful in qualifying for prestige classes.



This is pretty dangerous - some of the worst PrC abuses come from ways to jumpstart into PrCs early (see Precocious Apprentice). I'm wondering if making all the "skilled" feats turn both skills into class skills for all your classes would be smarter (and the same for skill focus).




Dodge: should simply give +1 to armor class period, it's not really unbalancing and having to pick targets is just annoying.



That's pretty much what it does now, the practical application of it is +1 if you could have declared them on your last action.



Two-weapon fighting: this needs some tweaking to make it actually a viable strategy for fighters.

Sword-and-board: a new feat that gives you, say, +2 to hit and +2 to armor class while wielding a one-handed weapon plus a shield.

The Two-Weapon Defense and Improved Shield feats are something towards these two styles. The main advantages of these styles are that TWF lets you get double benefit from stuff like flaming/shocking/etc effects, in return for paying more for weapons, feats, and a small to-hit penalty that's balanced with the +2 AC. Shield lets you get a second enhancement bonus to your AC. Again, they still need a bit more testing as styles, I'll keep these ideas in mind.


Thanks for your feedback, and stay posted (there's more to come).

Pyroconstruct
2007-09-24, 04:24 PM
This is at least 10 characters

Kurald Galain
2007-09-25, 04:07 AM
I think you're right that halforcs still suck. However, my instinct is that giving them the same Skill-points bonus as Half-elves is a better fix.
That would work. Or, for a different approach, give them the human feat (perhaps at level 2), rather than the skills; that fits their martial mentality.



There's a major problem with the way that you get bonuses only to hide from being smaller.
Good point. WOTC apparently hadn't thought of that :smalltongue: but this approach has consequences for uses of Spot that do not relate to finding hidden characters. For instance, by your ruling, a pixie would be better at spotting a boat on the horizon, than a titan would be...



A bonus against Fear alone might make some sense, although right now Barbarians are pretty tough as-is.
They are? I thought they were considered second tier from the bottom (the bottom one being the NPC classes, plus samurai and monk).



See the Feats section. Natural Spell got changed to be metamagic that increases spell level by +1, which should make it way more balanced.

Ok, that also works, although I'd make it +2 myself. A 9th-level druid with 7th-level spellcaster ability is still extremely powerful.


If mid-range fighters seem to have issues, still, I'd probably think about moving the special abilities to something like 8/14/20.
It depends on e.g. how quickly flying enemies start to appear. But ninth level is traditionally where the cleric starts to upstage the fighter. Note that despite their many feats, fighters are pretty much expected to spend four (!) of those on weapon focus/spec/imp focus/imp spec.



Monks are a tricky one. Part of the issue monks had was that they were never a frontloaded class to begin with,
I'd say the issue is that they're not loaded period. But that's been discussed to death, so let's not go there again.


However, all of the pure casters (clr/wiz/sor) have 2+int, so one should think carefully before giving sorcerers more.
Arguably the sorcerer deserves some kind of bonus, because the wizard is simply a much stronger class, hands down. Even having more spells per day becomes trivial as (1) the wizard can specialize, and (2) from level 4 or so you're not going to run out of spells per day period.


This is pretty dangerous - some of the worst PrC abuses come from ways to jumpstart into PrCs early (see Precocious Apprentice).
That's true. My intent was to make it easier when a class is not your class skill (which makes some presclasses ludicrously hard to qualify for), not to make it easier when it was already easy. I think that your suggestion if making them class skills is a good approach, although you may want to make an exception for UMD.

Some other things that came to mind...
*I'd simply fold "combat caster" with "skill focus concentration". The two are essentially the same no matter how you turn it.
*In a recent thread, the "+2 bonus to saving throws" feats were considered generally weak and undesirable. Perhaps upping them to +3 is an idea?
*I've been wondering if the bard's Armored Caster ability would make a good feat, for gish builds.
*Wrt sword-and-board, I saw a class ability somewhere on the forums that makes your square block line of effect for every hostile effect, as long as you're wielding a shield. Perhaps nice for a feat.
*Two-weapon fighting should probably allow for an off-hand attack even when doing a simple attack, rather than a full round attack. That way, TWF isn't as worthless as it's now.
*I'd consider folding Dodge and Mobility, or perhaps Mobility and Spring Attack, or perhaps dropping the prereqs for Spring Attack, because SA is a nice feat but not worth the prereqs. Same for Shot on the Run. Note how Flyby Attack does not have prereqs.
*I've always found Spell Mastery a dubious feat - it is essential if your DM will steal your spellbook at some point, and utterly worthless otherwise, and you can't tell in advance which one it is. I'd suggest letting wizards Master one spell per spell level, for free.
*Leadership feat is probably a can of worms...


Good luck with the rewrite!

HidaTsuzua
2007-09-27, 08:46 PM
Some Prestige Classes are up. Wish I included more posts.

Pyroconstruct
2007-09-30, 10:03 AM
Good point. WOTC apparently hadn't thought of that :smalltongue: but this approach has consequences for uses of Spot that do not relate to finding hidden characters. For instance, by your ruling, a pixie would be better at spotting a boat on the horizon, than a titan would be...



That's true. The "perfect" fix would be scale range modifiers for spot based on size, but leave the spot penalty in place, so that larger creatures see farther, but in less detail. I kinda hesitate to do that, though, since it would be a real issue for gnome and halfling PCs, and in any case the most common and important use of spot tends to be noticing hidden characters.




They are? I thought they were considered second tier from the bottom (the bottom one being the NPC classes, plus samurai and monk).



I meant that they already got a pretty decent-sized improvement in the revision.




I'd say the issue is that they're not loaded period. But that's been discussed to death, so let's not go there again.



Monks have now been significantly reworked, hopefully HT will edit in the "new" monk shortly.



*Wrt sword-and-board, I saw a class ability somewhere on the forums that makes your square block line of effect for every hostile effect, as long as you're wielding a shield. Perhaps nice for a feat.
*Two-weapon fighting should probably allow for an off-hand attack even when doing a simple attack, rather than a full round attack. That way, TWF isn't as worthless as it's now.
*I've always found Spell Mastery a dubious feat - it is essential if your DM will steal your spellbook at some point, and utterly worthless otherwise, and you can't tell in advance which one it is. I'd suggest letting wizards Master one spell per spell level, for free.



*For fighters, Sword & Board sucks is more that defense in general sucks, since if you're a fighter people typically aren't attacking you anyways, they're attacking the squishy spellcasters or rogues. The intent is for S&B fighters to take Devoted Defender so that their defensive ability means something.
*This got changed as well, "attack" action now permits a mainhand + offhand, or a two-hand, or a mainhand + secondary natural, or a primary natural + offhand, or a primary natural + secondary natural, etc. The basic idea is you can take some combination of attacks that adds up to you getting a x1.5 STR modifier.
*Spell Mastery is actually more for sorcerers, who have a much better/more important Favored Spells mechanic; see Sorcerer.




Good luck with the rewrite!

Thanks. Keep reading, there's more coming, and your criticism is helpful.

HidaTsuzua
2007-09-30, 01:34 PM
More added and changes made. The biggest changes were to Monks, how attack actions work, leadership mods, and skill item costs. Also, skilled and skill focus make the skills affected class-skills for your character.

HidaTsuzua
2007-09-30, 02:58 PM
More PrC up. Please comment!

Daracaex
2007-09-30, 03:41 PM
I haven't gotten around to reading the entirety of this, but I just wanted to make the suggestion to use medium saves to add more variety. Medium saves let you start at +1 and end at +9, leaving you at a nice middle ground throughout the progression and making some classes work a bit better. For example, a druid is basically supposed to be a priest to the forest. It doesn't usually wear heavy armor, so why does it have the same fort saves as a heavily-armored and conditioned paladin or fighter? Also, shouldn't living in the wild make you a bit quicker in reaction times and agility? You could remedy this by dropping fort down to a medium save and bringing reflex up to the medium save.

Okay, that may not be the best example since I'm not all that great at crunch stuff, but you get the point.

Pyroconstruct
2007-09-30, 08:13 PM
The setting info paired with this project is up:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3273263#post3273263

HidaTsuzua
2007-09-30, 08:35 PM
I have finished putting up all the rules. Recommended areas to look at are the Prestige Classes, Paladin revision, changes to Power Attack and Attack Actions, and Domains.

Pyroconstruct
2007-10-04, 10:21 AM
Bump......

purplearcanist
2007-10-04, 02:20 PM
I like some of the fixes and things in this revision.
Just one question, does the new version of Mordieniken's Disjunction affect artifacts (too powerful if it can disable or distroy them with no consequence)?
And why exactly do half-orcs get skill point bonuses like humans? (could make a half-orc a more favorable choice than a human for someone who doesn't favor Int or Cha)
Looking through this, I didn't know which classes get acrobatics as a class skill, you may need to revise that.

HidaTsuzua
2007-10-04, 07:55 PM
I'm not sure what we'll do with artifacts. They're kind of rare and we can deal with them on a case-by-case basis as they come up.

Half-Orcs get the bonus skill points because they need something else still. It does balance out the -2 Int for skill points. However if you want a decent int, it's still not a great choice. Sure it means Half-Orcs will get used more, but that's not a bad thing! Trog gets lonely.

I'll add in what classes get Acrobatics soon.

Pyroconstruct
2007-10-05, 08:47 AM
Yeah, the skill points are there cause half-orcs bite in core, hard.

Everyone who had any one of the skills that got rolled into Acrobatics should have Acrobatics as a class skill.