Spellfire Banisher

[The Demented One]

Spellfire Banisher



Legend has it that the first Spellfire Banisher, the first warrior to train himself against the ways of spellcraft and sorcery, was called Devon, a swordsman whose legacy is now lost to myth and rumor. It is said that his sister, Salina, was the most puissant sorceress born in a thousand years, a true wonderworker. Devon, or so the story goes, had the same arcane power in his blood, but forsook it to study swordsmanship and battle. He trained against the most fearsome foe he could find–his own sister. After years of dueling with his precociously potent sibling, he mastered a set of techniques for fighting mages, the arts employed by today’s Spellfire Banishers. He is said to have tutored Reshar in his techniques, and through him they were taught to many of the most skilled to study at the Temple of Nine Swords. Now, the art is widely spread through many mentors, sifus, and academies. Many Spellfire Banishers serve as bodyguards, mercenaries, or assassins, putting their skills to use for those who have cause to fight mages. Others are simply adventurers, whose prowess proves powerful against their magic-wielding foes.

Hit Dice
d10

Requirements
To qualify to become a Spellfire Banisher, you must fulfill all the following criteria.
BAB: +7
Feats: Blade Meditation
Skills: Spellcraft 5 ranks
Maneuvers: Must know at least one maneuver of 4th level or higher from the Diamond Mind or Iron Heart disciplines.

Class Skills
The Spellfire Banisher’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (Arcana) (Int), Knowledge (Local) (Int), Martial Lore (Int), Swim (Str), Tumble (Dex).

Skill Points per Level
4 + Int modifier.

{table=head]Level|BAB|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Maneuvers[br]Known|Maneuvers[br]Readied|Stances[br]Known

1st|

+1

|

+2

|

+0

|

+2

|Banishing Strike|

0

|

0

|

0

2nd|

+2

|

+3

|

+0

|

+3

|Enlightened Senses|

1

|

0

|

0

3rd|

+3

|

+3

|

+1

|

+3

|Blind Purpose|

1

|

0

|

0

4th|

+4

|

+4

|

+1

|

+4

|Mettle|

2

|

0

|

0

5th|

+5

|

+4

|

+1

|

+4

|Spell-Shattering Blade|

2

|

1

|

1

6th|

+6

|

+5

|

+2

|

+5

|Stoking the Sword’s Flame|

3

|

1

|

1

7th|

+7

|

+5

|

+2

|

+5

|Aegis of Arcane Warding|

3

|

1

|

1

8th|

+8

|

+6

|

+2

|

+6

|One-Purpose Meditation|

4

|

1

|

1

9th|

+9

|

+6

|

+3

|

+6

|Sorcerer-Slaying Prowess|

4

|

1

|

1

10th|

+10

|

+7

|

+3

|

+7

|Banisher Triumphant|

5

|

2

|

1

[/table]

Class Features
All the following are class features of the Spellfire Banisher prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency
You gain no additional weapon or armor proficiencies.

Maneuvers
At each even-numbered level, you gain one new maneuver known from the Diamond Mind or Iron Heart disciplines. You must meet a maneuver’s prerequisites to learn it. You add your full Spellfire Banisher level to your initiator level to determine your total initiator level and the highest level of maneuver you can learn. If you have levels in an initiator class that allows you to exchange out maneuvers at certain levels, your Spellfire Banisher levels stack with your levels in that class for determining when you may exchange maneuvers. At 5th and 10th levels, you gain an additional maneuver readied each day.

Stances
At 5th level, you gain a new martial stance known from the Diamond Mind or Iron Heart disciplines. You must meet a stance’s prerequisites to learn it.

Banishing Strike (Su)
The puissance of the Spellfire Banishers lies in their power to deny a mage his spells. Whenever you hit an enemy with a melee attack, you may choose to take a -10 penalty on the damage roll to make the attack a banishing strike. As long as it deals any damage at all, the enemy loses a single spell slot or prepared spell of the highest level it can cast, up to a maximum of half your initiator level, rounded up (for example, a Spellfire Banisher with an initiator level of 11th would case an enemy to lose a spell or spell slot of 6th level or lower with his banishing strike).

Enlightened Senses (Su)
By 2nd level, all Spellfire Banishers have fought more mages than most men ever meet in their lives, and have honed their senses to the point of perceiving magic itself. Some actually see magical auras–others hear each spell as a musical chord, or smell burning hair when magic is cast, or experience menstrual cramps in reaction to the presence of magic. Regardless of the exact form the magic sense takes, you gain the ability to perceive magical auras up to 60 ft. You can distinguish the strength of each aura, but cannot tell what school of magic it is from.

Blind Purpose (Ex)
So great is the focus and dedication of a Spellfire Banisher that he cannot perceive that which would try to frighten him away from what he seeks, or beguile him from his true goals. At 3rd level, you gain immunity to all fear and charm effects.

Mettle (Ex)
At 4th level, your mind and body have been hardened through training and testing. If you make a successful Fortitude or Will save against an effect that allows a save for half or partial effect, that effect is instead negated.

Spell-Shattering Blade (Su)
At 5th level, a Spellfire Banisher master the sacred mudra and asana of the spell-shattering blade, learning to assume a meditative stance to ward against magic. While you are in a martial stance of the Diamond Mind or Iron Heart disciplines, you may, as a swift action, forgo its normal benefit to gain the effects of the spell-shattering blade stance. You can also end the spell-shattering blade stance and resume the normal benefit of the stance you were in as a swift action. Whenever you are targeted by a spell that allows for spell resistance, you may make an attack roll at a -10 penalty, opposed by a caster level check, as an immediate action. If your attack roll beats the caster level check, the spell is negated, as if by spell resistance.

Stoking the Sword’s Flame (Su)
Spellfire Banishers draw on the strength of their foes, channeling the magic they unweave into their own blade. At 6th level, whenever you successfully use your banishing strike class feature, you may recover a single expended martial maneuver. You may not use this class feature if you have already recovered a maneuver that turn.

Aegis of Arcane Warding (Su)
Having dueled with some of the most skilled and fearsome mages of the world, it is inevitable that a Spellfire Banisher masters some of their magics for his own uses. At 7th level, you gain the power to invoke the aegis of arcane warding, a bastardized abjuration that is tremendously puissant against magical attack. Whenever you would be dealt damage by a spell, you may invoke the aegis as an immediate action. If you do, reduce the damage dealt to you by your initiator level.

One-Purpose Meditation (Ex)
A Spellfire Banisher is utterly committed in everything he does, an unswerving juggernaut of self. At 8th level, you gain immunity to all mind-affecting spells and abilities.

Sorcerer-Slaying Prowess (Su)
A mere mage, relying on his spells alone, stands no chance against the wrath of a Banisher. At 9th level, whenever you use your banishing strike class feature, you may choose to dispel the enemy’s existing spells, rather than causing him to lose a spell slot. This is treated as a targeted dispel magic, using the result of your attack roll minus ten in place of a caster level check. In addition, you can dispel ongoing area or effect spells, such as mind fog or crushing hand. You must be adjacent to or within the area or effect, and must make an melee attack against it at a -10 penalty, trying to sunder the spell’s magical energies. Treat the result of the attack roll as a caster level check to dispel the spell, as with dispel magic. By increasing the penalty on your attack roll to -15, you can use this class feature to dispel spells that are normally unaffected by dispel magic, such as a wall of force or prismatic sphere. You may only attempt to dispel a given spell once–if you fail, you cannot try to dispel it again.

Banisher Triumphant (Su)
A Spellfire Banisher needs only his sword and his self–against those, no spell can triumph. At 10th level, you learn the secret of turning spells back on their casters. Whenever you successfully resist a spell while in the spell-shattering blade stance, you may turn the spell back on its caster as an immediate action. You cannot turn spells whose level exceeds half your initiator level, rounded up.

[Vaynor]

Only thing wrong with this that I can see is a minor formatting error on their hit die.

Awesome.

[The Rose Dragon]

I was really expecting this to utilize Spellfire.

For some reason, Devon and Salina really remind me of Devonian School and Salinan Working.

Coincidence?

[Belial_the_Leveler]

*casts maximized orb of acid on the enemy's sword, melting it to goo with no save*

Meh, you warriors and your swords. Don't you realize magic will always reign supreme?

[Jane_Smith]

Or just shatter... or, better yet..

-casts Force Cage and summons monsters inside it for entertainment value-

[Belial_the_Leveler]

Except the Banisher can deal with shatter (allows SR), forcecage (spell-shattering strike) and summoned monsters (he's a warrior).

But if you break his sword, he no longer gets bonuses to attack by the sword's enhancement and his combat feats, can't use shattering strikes and he deals pitiful damage.

[The Glyphstone]

And if he's wielding a Riverine sword?

[Belial_the_Leveler]

Rod of Cancellation.

Seriously guys, riverine is overrated. You got an extra-costly item that is supposed to be invulnerable... that gets automagically destroyed by a 6th level spell (disintegrate) and a 10.000 gp magic item. And that's just in mid-level Core.

[Fan]

Rod of Cancellation.

Seriously guys, riverine is overrated. You got an extra-costly item that is supposed to be invulnerable... that gets automagically destroyed by a 6th level spell (disintegrate) and a 10.000 gp magic item. And that's just in mid-level Core.

There's also the fact that a DM targetting your magic items with a intent to permanently destroy them, the DM is doing it wrong.

[The Glyphstone]

Something that changes a weapon from being vulnerable to every targeted direct damage spell in the game to a single direct damage spell (which can then be negated by making the weapon a Spellblade) is overrated? As for the Rod, I'm pretty sure Moment of Perfect Mind can handle it, considering you can get +22 to Concentration checks at level 12 or so with minimal optimization, and this is a PrC for Martial Adepts with access to Diamond Mind.



Yes, wizards are uber and unbeatable. Everyone understands that. But once in a while, someone like the OP decides to make a wizard-killing PrC homebrew better than the atrocious Occult Slayer, and starts by patching the biggest and most obvious weaknesses melee has vs. casters. Repeating the "melee sux, cant ever beat casters" mantra, much as I adhere to it myself, doesn't really help anyone. Better to point out flaws in the class then suggest modifications to fix those flaws. For example, an ability that prevents magical spells from distinguishing between the Spellfire Banisher and his equipment would prevent mages blasting his sword of of its hands, and also guard him from other nasty things like the Chain-Dispel Quickened Chain-Shatter 'All Your Items Are Belong To Us' combo.

[quick_comment]

I was hoping for some spellfire :(

I think maybe give it one more stance at level 10.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

The only issue I can see is that Banishing Strike should say whether the lost slot is chosen by the target or determined randomly, since there are existing lose-a-slot abilities that do both. Otherwise, I think this fulfills the caster killer role very well, and I might use this in my next game.

[Fizban]

Rod of Cancellation.

Seriously guys, riverine is overrated. You got an extra-costly item that is supposed to be invulnerable... that gets automagically destroyed by a 6th level spell (disintegrate) and a 10.000 gp magic item. And that's just in mid-level Core.

I'd ask more what the deal is with riverine even existing. It's water encased in walls of force... that get's it's power from the water? It's made of force, why would you need water at all!? Since when does making armor out of force change it into deflection instead of armor (see Bracers of Armor)? It doesn't say anything about the force only blocking water, but that's the only thing I can think of, and it still makes no sense.

As for the actual topic, I think the class is fine. As with most mage slayers, a mage prepared for the specific character will still always win, but one who's just out for a normal adventuring day will be challenged fine. Mechanics seem sound.

[Cieyrin]

I likes it, even if there's a lack of any Spellfire mentioned. It's at least a decent mage slayer, if judged by its own merits. Picking at it till it breaks and then saying it's worthless doesn't help anybody, as nothing is completely untrumpable. Plus, despite the flavor, the class does not *need* a weapon to function, especially if they go the Superior Unarmed Strike path and have their druid buddy cast greater magic fang on 'em and invest in an amulet of mighty fists to put the special abilities you want on, if we follow the Arms and Equipment Guide allowing for special abilities in place of enhancement bonuses that are covered by greater magic fang, anyways.

Them's my 2 coppers. Take as you will.