Results 1 to 13 of 13
Thread: [3.5; PrC] The Psychic Slayer
-
2010-05-01, 05:14 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2005
- Location
- South Korea
- Gender
[3.5; PrC] The Psychic Slayer
PSYCHIC SLAYER
”You can run, but you will never be able to hide from me! I can sense your fear!”
— Rein, half-elf psychic slayer
A psychic slayer is a psionic assassin incarnate, the ultimate melding of both mental and physical dexterity. Psychic slayers utilize their training as cerebral stalkers and their psionic powers in order to breach the most secure locations and gain unrestricted access to the mind. By accessing the mind from beyond the inhibitions of sight, a psychic slayer can charm, trick, and attack his opponents through the links of the mind. And when combat is necessary, the psychic slayer can manifest blades of pure psychic energy, linking his mind to those he attacks with brutal effect. Psychic slayers tend to be hired assassins or spies that use their mental powers to gain an advantage over their unenlightened foes.
Becoming a Psychic Slayer
A psychic slayer usually results from the combination of the mental prowess of a psionic and the training of a killer. By honing mental might and perfecting it for use as an assassin, a psychic slayer is born. Psychic slayers tend to spark their psionic skills by training as a cerebral stalker first.
Entry Requirements
Base Attack Bonus: +3
Feats: Psionic Weapon, Mindsight
Psionics: Ability to manifest 1st level powers
Special: Mental acuity class feature
Class Skills
The psychic slayer’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Autohypnosis (Wis), Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disable Device (Int), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Gather Information (Cha), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Knowledge (local) (Int), Knowledge (psionics), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Open Lock (Dex), Profession (Wis), Psicraft (Int), Search (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), Tumble (Dex), Use Psionic Device (Cha), and Use Rope (Dex).
Skills Points at Each Level: 6 + Int
Hit Dice: d6
Level BAB Fort Save Ref Save Will Save Special Powers Known 1st +0+0+2+2Mind strike +1d6, psychic blade +1 level of existing manifesting class 2nd +1+0+3+3Improved psionic weapon +1 level of existing manifesting class 3rd +2+1+3+3Mind strike +2d6 +1 level of existing manifesting class 4th +3+1+4+4Psychic barrage +1 level of existing manifesting class 5th +3+1+4+4Mind strike +3d6 +1 level of existing manifesting class 6th +4+2+5+5Mental acuity (powers) — 7th +5+2+5+5Mind strike +4d6 +1 level of existing manifesting class 8th +6+2+6+6Sight of the stalker — 9th +6+3+6+6Mind strike +5d6 +1 level of existing manifesting class 10th +7+3+7+7Mental execution +1 level of existing manifesting class
Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A psychic slayer does not gain proficiency with any weapons or armor.
Cerebral Stalker Abilities: A psychic slayer continues to advance as a cerebral stalker. A psychic slayer may add his psychic slayer level to his cerebral stalker level when determining his effective cerebral stalker level for his telepathy, AC bonus, and mental acuity (the psychic slayer does not gain new mental acuity powers and his initiative bonus does not increase, but he does continue to gain additional uses of mental acuity per day as if he had gained levels of the cerebral stalker class) abilities.
Powers Known: At every level indicated on the table, the character gains additional power points per day and powers known as if he had gained a level in whatever manifesting class he had before becoming a psychic slayer. He does not gain any other benefit of gaining a level in that class. Essentially, the character adds his psychic slayer level to that of his previous manifesting class when determining power points per day, powers known, and manifester level.
Mind Strike: As the cerebral stalker ability of the same name. When determining the DC of mind strike, a psychic slayer adds his psychic slayer levels to his cerebral stalker levels.
Psychic Blade (Su): A psychic slayer can alter his weapon to one of pure psychic energy. By expending a full round concentrating on a weapon, a psychic slayer may permanently transform it into a psychic blade. Only melee weapons (although they need not be blades) may be made into psychic blades (any thrown weapon dissipates before impact). A psychic slayer can have multiple psychic blades at once, but each requires a full round to convert. All normal penalties for wielding more than one weapon are incurred, but psychic blades are always considered light. Psychic blades have no weight, and cannot be sundered or destroyed in any manner. If a psychic blade is out of the possession of its owner, it disappears (but is not lost to the psychic slayer) and the psychic slayer must expend a free action to retrieve the blade(s). A psychic slayer can willingly disable his psychic blade(s) as a free action.
Psychic blades’ form differs for every psychic slayer; the psychic slayer may choose how exact of a copy his psychic blade is, as well as the color of it. However, a psychic blade must always at least somewhat resemble the weapon it originated as. A psychic blade can also be fashioned to glow, as if a torch. All attributes of a psychic blade (color, rigidity, brightness) may be altered as a standard action.
As a standard action, by expending a use of mental acuity, the psychic slayer may perform a single attack with a psychic blade. This attack bypasses any physical barrier (armor, natural armor, etc.). If the attack is successful, the target is also affected with a telepathy power of the psychic slayer’s choice (the psychic slayer must know the power, be currently able to manifest it, and it must have a manifesting time of one standard action or less). If the power requires an attack roll, it automatically succeeds. The psychic slayer must pay all power point costs as normal. The target is still allowed any saves dictated by the power, but receives a -3 penalty on his saving throw(s).
For one full round after utilizing the preceding option, the psychic slayer gains access to all surface thoughts of the target, including any telepathic communication.
When channeling a power through his psychic blade(s), if a psychic slayer performs a critical hit, the target is also dazed for 1 round (as the power psionic daze).
Improved Psionic Weapon: A psychic slayer’s ability to channel his psionic energy into his weapon increases when using a psychic blade. As a free action a psychic slayer may invest his power points into his weapon, increasing its damage to a deadly degree. For every power point invested into his weapon, its damage is increased by 2. You cannot invest a number of power points greater than half your manifester level.
Psychic Barrage (Su): The psychic warriors grasp over the power of his psychic blade increases, allowing it to leave his grasp for extended periods of time. This allows the psychic blade to convert ranged weapons into psychic blades, and thrown weapons do not dissipate when thrown, and will return to the psychic slayer at the beginning of the next round. The psychic slayer can still channel powers through his psychic blade at a range, and all powers are considered manifested by the psychic blade. All ranged weapons have a range equal to the distance of a psychic slayer’s telepathy (past this range, the weapon dissipates). As long as the psychic slayer can psychically “see” his target, he can attack them. All concealment penalties are negated, and the psychic slayer suffers no penalties for any line of sight issues (walls, fog, or any other obstructions). Additionally, the psychic slayer can “shoot” a melee weapon that has been converted into a psychic blade up to half of his normal telepathy range. As normal, the weapon returns to the psychic slayer at the beginning of the following round.
Mental Acuity (Ex): A psychic slayer’s use of his mental acuity increases at level 6. By expending a use of mental acuity, the psychic slayer can increase the DC of any power he manifests by +2. The maximum amount a psychic slayer may increase the DC is equal to his Intelligence modifier.
Sight of the Stalker: The psychic slayer’s mindsight allows him to utilize his powers regardless of his target’s location. By expending a use of mental acuity, a psychic slayer may manifest a single power against anything he can “see” with mindsight. If the power requires an attack roll, any concealment penalties are negated as psychic barrage.
Mental Execution (Su): A psychic slayer can destroy those whose minds he infiltrates. Whenever a psychic slayer inhabits the mind of a target through use of his mental leap, mind vision, or psychic blade attack, he may expend two uses of mental acuity and destroy the creatures mind (in the case of mental leap, the psychic slayer is unharmed and is deposited into the nearest free location. The target must succeed on DC 10 + 1/2 effective cerebral stalker level (psychic slayer levels + cerebral stalker levels) + Intelligence modifier Will save or have his mind destroyed, killing him. If the target is resurrected, he returns to life with only the remnants of his mind, suffering -4 Intelligence drain.
Note: This class is meant as a progression of the cerebral stalker base class.
Comments/criticism? And yes, that's Psylocke.Last edited by Vaynor; 2014-09-05 at 05:33 PM.
“Sometimes, immersed in his books, there would come to him
the awareness of all that he did not know, of all that he had not read;
and the serenity for which he labored was shattered as he realized the
little time he had in life to read so much, to learn what he had to know.”
~Stoner, John Williams~
My Homebrew (Most Recent) | Forum Rules
/veɪnoɚ/
-
2010-05-01, 06:10 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2009
- Location
- WOTC ≱ my opinion
Re: [3.5; PrC] The Psychic Slayer
Well, at least it's not a full progression manifester.
I like this version of Psionic weapon; i was considering something similar up to the point where I had a better idea [for my game at least]
I've got two real questions, i suppose: one, why a Theuge? It seems like a nice and different enough set of abilities that it could have just been one of those PrCs that is designed to be an alternate x+ level progression for a base class without the manifesting.
Two, given that it has requirements alien to the Cerebral Stalker, was it really necessary to make it accessible only via that class? I dunno, in several cases, especially Betsy Braddock's, i could as easily see it being accessible via ninja [blame Mark Millar, not me].
Also, I knew there was a reason i didn't like Mangaverse...Mine is not so much a Peter Pan Complex as a Peter Pan Doom Fortress and Underground LairTM!
Fae-o-matic Want a fae from folklore stated? Give me the lore and I'll do it for you!
Le Cirque Funeste Evil Fairy Circus! Ray Bradbury, refined down to snortable powder!
-
2010-05-01, 06:21 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2005
- Location
- South Korea
- Gender
Re: [3.5; PrC] The Psychic Slayer
It's not meant to be based off of Psylocke, it was made as a PrC for a gish cerebral stalker. The pic of Ms. Braddock just happened to work perfectly for the class.
The only thing it requires that's not from the cerebral stalker class is the ability to manifest powers and the psionic weapon feat. I don't think that seems to extraneous, especially for a prestige class specifically made for a base class (which as far as I'm concerned is exactly what prestige classes are for, being very specific progressions for a class).
Also, I'm not sure what a theuge is, could you elaborate?“Sometimes, immersed in his books, there would come to him
the awareness of all that he did not know, of all that he had not read;
and the serenity for which he labored was shattered as he realized the
little time he had in life to read so much, to learn what he had to know.”
~Stoner, John Williams~
My Homebrew (Most Recent) | Forum Rules
/veɪnoɚ/
-
2010-05-01, 06:30 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2009
- Location
- WOTC ≱ my opinion
Re: [3.5; PrC] The Psychic Slayer
Strictly, a Theuge is a spellcaster who traffics with deities and Angels via evocation in order to advance to a higher state of existence.
In the parlance of this board, it's a term for a class that advances two classes at a high rate, generally two supernal effect classes, while Gish is used to refer to a martial/Supernal hybrid.Mine is not so much a Peter Pan Complex as a Peter Pan Doom Fortress and Underground LairTM!
Fae-o-matic Want a fae from folklore stated? Give me the lore and I'll do it for you!
Le Cirque Funeste Evil Fairy Circus! Ray Bradbury, refined down to snortable powder!
-
2010-05-01, 06:36 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2005
- Location
- South Korea
- Gender
Re: [3.5; PrC] The Psychic Slayer
“Sometimes, immersed in his books, there would come to him
the awareness of all that he did not know, of all that he had not read;
and the serenity for which he labored was shattered as he realized the
little time he had in life to read so much, to learn what he had to know.”
~Stoner, John Williams~
My Homebrew (Most Recent) | Forum Rules
/veɪnoɚ/
-
2010-05-01, 06:50 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2009
- Location
- WOTC ≱ my opinion
Re: [3.5; PrC] The Psychic Slayer
Well, anyway, I think the class is interesting enough and the manifesting feels a little tacked on. Just my opinion.
I'd probably ignore the manifesting, take this as soon as possible and cap off my 20 level progression with a nice spot of Mindspy [assuming that's the one with the mind reading making you better in combat].
Beyond that, I really like the idea of exploding out of your victim's mind with the Mindleap/Mental Execution combo. Pity there aren't any abilities on either the Stalker or this that could be used with Sight of the Stalker.Mine is not so much a Peter Pan Complex as a Peter Pan Doom Fortress and Underground LairTM!
Fae-o-matic Want a fae from folklore stated? Give me the lore and I'll do it for you!
Le Cirque Funeste Evil Fairy Circus! Ray Bradbury, refined down to snortable powder!
-
2010-05-01, 07:00 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2005
- Location
- South Korea
- Gender
Re: [3.5; PrC] The Psychic Slayer
Sight of the stalker is meant to be used with the psion part of the character, not the cerebral stalker's abilities. I think the ability to manifest powers on foes you can't even see is pretty useful, personally. Anyways, it's meant to be an option, not a necessity.
“Sometimes, immersed in his books, there would come to him
the awareness of all that he did not know, of all that he had not read;
and the serenity for which he labored was shattered as he realized the
little time he had in life to read so much, to learn what he had to know.”
~Stoner, John Williams~
My Homebrew (Most Recent) | Forum Rules
/veɪnoɚ/
-
2010-05-01, 10:15 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2007
- Location
- Some kind of hell
- Gender
Re: [3.5; PrC] The Psychic Slayer
The psychic blade: Does it appear and disappear like a soulknife's mindblade? I.e. if I have a +3 longsword that I make my psychic weapon, it just disappears until I call for it (a swift action)?
Otherwise, not unlike the base class this feeds into, I like this. Good stuff, and I like it's psi-gishiness because those are fun.
-XChris Bennett
Author and Lead Developer of Path of War
Freelancer
My credits:
Path of War and Path of War Expanded: An OGL Tome of Battle for the Pathfinder game system, for Dreamscarred Press.
Psionics Augmented: Psychic Warrior and Psionics Augmented: Soulknife for Dreamscarred Press.
My extended homebrew signature!
-
2010-05-01, 10:20 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2005
- Location
- South Korea
- Gender
Re: [3.5; PrC] The Psychic Slayer
“Sometimes, immersed in his books, there would come to him
the awareness of all that he did not know, of all that he had not read;
and the serenity for which he labored was shattered as he realized the
little time he had in life to read so much, to learn what he had to know.”
~Stoner, John Williams~
My Homebrew (Most Recent) | Forum Rules
/veɪnoɚ/
-
2010-05-02, 01:51 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2010
- Location
- Usaki City, Syona
- Gender
Re: [3.5; PrC] The Psychic Slayer
Ooh, like it.
Recent Homebrew: The Socialite | The Crystalline: Memory Altering Construct Race | Sanguine Hand, a ToB Discipline of blood and cruelty
Homebrew Signature | NEW Homebrew Collection
Thanks to all my avatar artists, especially to Paisley for my avatar of Vivian, cowardly cryophoenix.
-
2010-05-03, 03:04 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2005
- Location
- South Korea
- Gender
Re: [3.5; PrC] The Psychic Slayer
Thanks.
Anything else to add before I let this thread die?“Sometimes, immersed in his books, there would come to him
the awareness of all that he did not know, of all that he had not read;
and the serenity for which he labored was shattered as he realized the
little time he had in life to read so much, to learn what he had to know.”
~Stoner, John Williams~
My Homebrew (Most Recent) | Forum Rules
/veɪnoɚ/
-
2010-05-03, 03:13 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2008
- Location
- Midwest, not Middle East
- Gender
Re: [3.5; PrC] The Psychic Slayer
Did you want the left over effects from dying to the capstone to only be Int damage? Damage is easy to fix, it heals naturally at a point a day and lesser restoration restores 1d4 points. By the time you can raise people from the dead ability damage is an inconvenience, nothing more.
You might consider making it ability drain, which is a little harder to fix; or ability burn which can't be healed magically. I wouldn't make it a permanent reduction in Int because that seems too powerful. You could also drop the side effect entirely.
-
2010-05-03, 03:31 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2005
- Location
- South Korea
- Gender
Re: [3.5; PrC] The Psychic Slayer
“Sometimes, immersed in his books, there would come to him
the awareness of all that he did not know, of all that he had not read;
and the serenity for which he labored was shattered as he realized the
little time he had in life to read so much, to learn what he had to know.”
~Stoner, John Williams~
My Homebrew (Most Recent) | Forum Rules
/veɪnoɚ/