Tomefoolery (3.5) (New weapons) (Or magic stuff?) (FE)

[The-Mage-King]

Tomes


A tome is a minor magical item, that allows a mage to attack without using their limited resources. Tomes attack as normal, using the character's Base Attack Bonus and Dexterity modifier to calculate their to-hit, and using a tome is an attack action, just like any weapon. Using a tome does provoke Attacks of Opportunity, as they are ranged weapons, but there is no other penalty for using them in melee, and no need for a concentration check.

In order to use a tome, a character must be able to cast spells or use similar abilities (such as Psionic Powers, Shadowcasting, etc), and be holding it in one hand. A character without spells or similar abilities can attempt a DC 15 Use Magic Device check to activate it, treating his Caster Level for using it as 1/2 (Use Magic Device ranks -3). Once a given tome has been activated in this manner, a new check is not needed for 24 hours, unless the user rolls a natural 1 on an attack roll made with the tome.



All tomes use a standard spellcasting ranges- Close (25 ft+5ft/2 CL)- as a default range, with the attack roll on them being modified by an amount varying by the tome. A tome radiates faint Evocation,and all attacks made by it are affected by Spell Resistance.

The basic tomes are as follows;

Name	Damage	Damage Type	Attack Modifier	Attack Type	Critical	Cost
Fire	1d4	Fire	+0	Ranged	19-20/x2	25 gp
Thunder	1d6	Electric	-2	Ranged	20/x3	25 gp
Wind	1d3	Sonic	+1	Ranged	18-20/x2	40 gp
Frost	1d4	Cold	+0	Ranged Touch	20/x2	35 gp
Flux	1d3	Force	-1	Ranged Touch	20/x3	40 gp
Light	1d3	Divine	+0	Ranged Touch	20/x2	30 gp

All tomes fall into one of these six base types, though rumors do speak of a seventh, drawing on the power of the earth...



Improving Tomes

Tomes cannot be made Masterwork like normal weapons, but instead follow the system described as follows.


A tome may be made into an "El-" class tome by adding 200 gp to the price it would normally cost. When used, it now deals another die of damage when used, and requires the user have a Caster Level of 4 to use. For example, an Elfire tome deals 2d4 points of Fire damage, and requires the user to have a CL of 4 or greater.

Increasing a tome to be Arc-quality requires the tome already be of El-quality, and adds an additional 2,800 gp to the price of the tome, for a total increase of 3,000 gp over the normal price. . It now deals an additional two dice of damage, in addition to those granted by being of El-quality, and requires the user to have a CL of 8 or greater. Continuing the above example, Arcfire would deal 4d4 points of fire damage when used.

Increasing a tome to be Rex-quality requires the tome already be of Arc-quality, and adds an additional 6,000 gp to the price of the tome, for a total increase of 6,000 gp over the normal price. It now deals an additional three dice of damage, in addition to those granted by being of El- and Arc-quality, and requires the user to have a CL of 12 or greater. Continuing the above example, Rexfire would deal 7d4 points of fire damage when used.

Tomes of El-quality and higher can be enhanced much like magic weapons, using the same pricing range. However, they do have their own set of special abilities, which are separate from the ones for melee and ranged weapon special abilities.

The costs and benefits of each quality are summarized on the following table.

Quality	Price	Benefit	Caster Level to Use
El-	+200 gp	+1 die of damage	CL 4
Arc-	+2,800 gp	+2 dice of damage	CL 8
Rex-	+6,000 gp	+3 dice of damage	CL 12

__________

Reserving the nest post for special abilities, feats, and proficiency rules.

[The-Mage-King]

Enhanced Tomes
Much as weapons can be enhanced, and magical versions of normal items can be purchased, upgraded versions of tomes can be produced. These are priced in the same way as magical weapons, with properties having a price in bonus that is used to calculate the total cost.

Special Ability	Base Price Modifier1
Striking	+1 bonus
Critical	+1 bonus
Bane	+1 bonus
Wingclipper	+2 bonus
Greater Striking	+2 bonus
Piercing	+ bonus
Moonlit	+3 bonus
Speed	+3 bonus

Spoiler: Tome Properties

Show

Bane: This functions as the weapon special ability of the same name.


Critical: This ability doubles the threat range of a tome. Only Fire, Wind, and Flux based tomes can be Critical. This benefit doesn’t stack with any other effect that expands the threat range of a tome (such as the Improved Critical feat).
Moderate transmutation; CL 10th; Craft Magic Arms and Armor, proficiency with tomes, keen edge; Price: +1 bonus.


Moonlit: The power of the tome has been altered, causing the blasts of magic it uses to be less 'made', and more 'formed'. Attacks made with the tome no longer have spell resistance apply to them, and are treated as conjuration effects rather than evocation.
Strong conjuration; CL 12th; Craft Magic Arms and Armor, proficiency with tomes, spell enhancer; Price: +3 bonus


Piercing: The tome possesses overwhelming magical power, allowing it to overcome even resistances. This may only be applied to Fire, Frost, and Thunder based tomes. All attacks made with the tome can ignore up to 10 points of energy resistance the target possesses.
Strong evocation; CL 12th; Craft Magic Arms and Armor, proficiency with tomes, vulnerability; Price: +2 bonus


Speed: This functions as the weapon special ability of the same name.


Striking: A Striking tome deals additional damage when used. Its base damage die increases in size, as seen on the following table.

Original Size	New Size
d3	d4
d4	d6
d6	d8
d8	d10

Faint Evocation; CL6 ; Craft Magic Arms and Armor, proficiency with tomes, magic weapon; Price: +1 bonus


Striking, Greater: This property can only be added to a tome which possesses the Striking property. The tome's base damage die increases in size again, as according to the Striking table.
Strong Evocation; CL12 ; Craft Magic Arms and Armor, proficiency with tomes, greater magic weapon; Price: +2 bonus


Wingclipper: The tome is able to deal damage effectively against a creature that is capable of flight. When used against a creature with an Extraordinary fly speed, gained from wings or similar natural methods of flight, the tome deals an extra two points of damage per die. When used against a creature with a Supernatural fly speed, such as from a spell or from an inherent ability, it deals an extra point of damage per die.
This can only be applied to Wind-based tomes.
Moderate transmutation; CL 10th; Craft Magic Arms and Armor, proficiency with tomes, earthen grasp; Price +2 bonus.

Tome Feats

Tome Specialization [General]
Prerequisites: Caster Level 3rd
Benefit: Select one category of tomes you are proficient in. You may add your key spellcasting modifier to damage done by attacks made with that type of tome. If the tome you are wielding is of at least Arc-quality, you may instead add twice your key spellcasting modifier.

For example, a Sorcerer with 16 Charisma would deal 1d3+3 Force damage when attacking with a Flux tome. When using a Flux tome of Arc-quality, he instead would deal 4d3+6 Force damage.
Special: You may take this feat multiple times. Each time, select an additional type of tome. You gain the benefits of this feat for that type of tome.


Tome Focus [General]
Prerequisites: Tome Specialization, CL 9th
Benefits: Select one category of tomes that you have the Tome Specialization feat for. You may use your Caster Level in place of your Base Attack Bonus for attacks made with that type of tome. You are still restricted in the number of iterative attacks you can make each round by your base attack bonus.
Special: You may take this feat multiple times. Each time, select an additional type of tome. You gain the benefits of this feat for that type of tome.




Crafting Tomes

Creating a tome requires the use of two skills- Craft (Calligraphy) and Spellcraft- and the possession of the Scribe Scroll feat. The Craft portion of it works as normal, with a DC of 15 for any of the normal tome varieties. In addition to the Craft check, a character must succeed on a DC 15 Spellcraft check to imbue the tome with the magic needed for it to function.

Creating a tome of El, Arc, or Rex quality, however, takes more effort. These require an additional component, like a Masterwork item. The DC for this is 20 for El, 25 for Arc, and 30 for Rex.

There is no experience point cost for creating a normal tome or tome of higher quality- only enhanced tomes have an experience point cost for creation.



Tome Proficiency

The methods to gain proficiency with tomes are relatively tame. Unlike with normal weapons, any character may spend two skill points to obtain proficiency with one category of tome, provided that they possess at least 5 ranks in Spellcraft or Use Magic Device.

In addition, if a character begins play with levels in a class that grants spellcasting progression, with a maximum achievable spell level of 9th, and the class grants proficiency in crossbows, the character may exchange the proficiency with crossbows for proficiency in a single type of tome.

[The-Mage-King]

Feel free to post on what's there now. I'm just running a bit late, and all that I need to do is format the enhancement stuff, and finish wording on the proficiency rules.

[Jormengand]

Rex appears to be mis-priced on the table.

[The-Mage-King]

Rex appears to be mis-priced on the table.

Fixed.

[ShiningStarling]

I noticed a handful of typos, mostly just in the 'normal to El to arc to rex' section, other than that, this seems pretty solid, giving mages some basic combat ability without spell use and without making them tanks, and the damage isn'the so crazy as to merit immediate nursing, especially with the range penalties (though the ranges might be a bit high)

All in all, nice adaptation of Fire Emblem, looking forward to the polish

[The-Mage-King]

Typos should be resolved, and I got the basic special abilities up. Probably adding 1-3 more, just not today.


Ranges... That was the best option I could see to make CL matter, since I based attacks off BAB. I might change it, though. Maybe remove Long range, or just treat them as Close range, with medium and Long being granted by special abilities for siege tomes...

[The-Mage-King]

Modified the ranges, nerfed some, buffed some. Should look a bit better.

Wind got called out as being 2gud by someone off-site.

[~Corvus~]

My impression of dark tomes is that they should be the least accurate and the most damaging. Like -2 or -3 and a base d8.