“BURN HIM!”
“Wait a
minute! Who’s the devil here?!?”
A mob with
pitchforks and torches chases an adept who has not learned subtlety.
Prime
Requisite: CHA
Requirements:
None
Hit Dice: 1d4
Maximum Level:
14
There are men
and women whose blood courses with magical power. These individuals may seek a
quick and easy path to power through trafficking with otherworldly
beings or forces, or they may be the descendants of those who held such power.
Either way, incautious adepts may soon find themselves feared and hunted.
At first level, adepts hit an unarmored foe (AC 0) with
an attack throw of 10+. Like thieves, they advance in attack throws and saving
throws by two points every four levels of experience. Adepts may only wear
leather or lighter armor, and they are unable to use shields. Adepts may fight
with two weapons or use a weapon two-handed, but they may only fight with the
weapons associated with their pact. All adepts receive their abilities and
training through an otherworldly origin, or from a pact with otherworldly
beings or forces. Judges are encouraged to create pacts specific to their
campaign setting. Otherwise, when an adept is created, select a pact for the
character from the Adept Pacts below. Write down the allowed weapons and
special abilities of the pact. Each pact includes a list of allowed weapons, a
collection of special abilities, and four proficiency selections which are
added to the Adept Proficiency List as potential class proficiency choices.
Adepts are noteworthy due to their continuous and at will
magical abilities. Continuous and at will only refer to the frequency and
method of activating a spell-like ability. Unless stated otherwise, the
spell-like ability is otherwise resolved exactly as the spell, including, for
example, requiring concentration for a period of time to benefit from or
maintain certain spells. A continuous magical ability is like a spell that is
“always on”. However, an adept may voluntarily suppress a continuous ability as
an action in lieu of making an attack. An at will magical ability is like a
spell that the adept may invoke as an action in lieu of making an attack. The
signature at will magical ability of all adepts is their magic blast (see below).
At level 2, all adepts gain the Sensing Power
proficiency. At 3rd level, an adept's unnatural
flesh decreases the damage from any non-magical attacks by 1 point per die,
similarly to a dwarven fury’s flesh-runes. This protection increases to 2
points per die at 7th level and 3 points per die at 13th level. At level 8, all
adepts' unnatural healing allows
them to heal themselves (only) 2 hit points per experience level, once per day.
An adept can
use any magic items usable by thieves. Additionally, they may attempt to
use wands, staffs, and other magic items only useable by mages. At level 1, the
adept must make an Arcane Dabbling proficiency throw of 18+ or the attempt
backfires. The proficiency throw required reduces by 2 per level, to a minimum
of 3+. Beginning at level 4, adept
dabbling allows adepts to attempt to use any magic items only usable by clerics or fighters. To do so, the
adept must make an Arcane Dabbling proficiency throw with a -6 modifier or the
attempt backfires. Upon reaching 12th level, the adept may attempt to create
magic items such as weapons, rings, and staffs as a spellcaster of 9th level. However,
the adept must make a successful Arcane Dabbling proficiency throw for each
spell involved in an item’s creation. Otherwise, the adept follows all of the
rules for creating magical items.
Upon reaching 9th level, an adept may construct a hideout. When an adept builds a hideout, the adept will gain 2d6 1st level adept apprentices. If hired, they must be paid standard rates for ruffians. Additional rules for hideouts are detailed in the Campaign chapter of the ACKS Rulebook.
Experience
|
Level
|
Title
|
Hit Dice
|
Special
Abilities
|
0
|
1
|
1d4
|
magic blast at will, Arcane Dabbling
|
|
2,500
|
2
|
2d4
|
Sensing
Power
|
|
5,000
|
3
|
3d4
|
Unnatural
flesh DR 1
|
|
10,000
|
4
|
4d4
|
Adept
dabbling
|
|
20,000
|
5
|
5d4
|
||
40,000
|
6
|
6d4
|
||
80,000
|
7
|
7d4
|
Unnatural
flesh DR 2
|
|
160,000
|
8
|
8d4
|
Unnatural
healing
|
|
310,000
|
9
|
Adept
|
9d4
|
Hideout
|
460,000
|
10
|
9d4+1*
|
||
610,000
|
11
|
9d4+2*
|
||
760,000
|
12
|
9d4+3*
|
Adept
research
|
|
910,000
|
13
|
9d4+4*
|
Unnatural
flesh DR 3
|
|
1,060,000
|
14
|
9d4+5*
|
*Hit point
modifiers from constitution are ignored
Adept Pacts
Pact
|
Weapons
|
Proficiency
List
|
Fey
|
club, composite
bow, dagger, mace, shortbow, short sword, spear, staff, sword
|
Beast
Friendship, Elven Bloodline, Magical Music, Passing Without Trace
|
Level
|
Special
Abilities
|
1
|
magic blast at will, Arcane Dabbling
|
2
|
Sensing
Power, Difficult to spot, as an explorer
|
3
|
Unnatural
flesh DR 1
|
4
|
Adept
dabbling, continuous silent step (self only)
|
5
|
winged flight at will, except that the
character can continuously fly for only 1 round per level before becoming
fatigued
|
6
|
|
7
|
Unnatural
flesh DR 2
|
8
|
Unnatural
healing
|
9
|
alter self at will
|
10
|
Read
and cast magic from arcane scrolls, continuous resist cold (self only), skinchange
once per 8 hours; each use takes 1 round
|
11
|
|
12
|
Adept
research
|
13
|
Unnatural
flesh DR 3
|
14
|
polymorph self once per 8 hours; each
use takes 1 round
|
Pact
|
Weapons
|
Proficiency
List
|
Infernal
|
club,
dagger, flail, spear, staff, whip
|
Divine
Blessing, Divine Health, Familiar, Soothsaying
|
Level
|
Special
Abilities
|
1
|
magic blast at will, Arcane Dabbling, Infravision 30’
|
2
|
Sensing
Power, chameleon (self only) at will
|
3
|
Unnatural
flesh DR 1
|
4
|
Adept
dabbling, Infravision 60’
|
5
|
winged flight at will, except that the
character can continuously fly for only 1 round per level before becoming
fatigued
|
6
|
|
7
|
Unnatural
flesh DR 2
|
8
|
Unnatural
healing
|
9
|
detect invisible at will
|
10
|
continuous
resist fire (self only), dimension door (self only) up to 60’
at will
|
11
|
|
12
|
Adept
research
|
13
|
Unnatural
flesh DR 3
|
14
|
Summon
infernal creature, as a warlock, once per day; each use takes 1 turn
|
Pact
|
Weapons
|
Proficiency
List
|
Psionic
|
club, dagger,
pole arm, spear, staff, sword
|
Acrobatics,
Blind Fighting, Prophecy, Unarmed Fighting
|
Level
|
Special
Abilities
|
1
|
magic blast at will, Arcane Dabbling, Incapacitating Blast -2, The character’s magic blast
may deal nonlethal damage. To do so, the adept must succeed on a magic blast
attack throw with a -2 penalty. If successful, the attack deals nonlethal
damage.
|
2
|
Sensing
Power, +2 bonus on charm and illusion saving
throws
|
3
|
Unnatural
flesh DR 1
|
4
|
Adept
dabbling, Incapacitating Blast -0
|
5
|
continuous
jump (self only)
|
6
|
|
7
|
Unnatural
flesh DR 2
|
8
|
Unnatural
healing
|
9
|
continuous
esp
|
10
|
+4
bonus on charm and illusion saving throws, spider climb (self only) at will, clairvoyance once per 8 hours; each use takes 1 round
|
11
|
|
12
|
Adept
research
|
13
|
Unnatural
flesh DR 3
|
14
|
phantasmal killer once per day; each use
takes 1 round
|
Adept
Proficiency List (24 + 4 = 28): Alchemy, Alertness, Ambushing, Armor
Training, Collegiate Wizardry, Combat Reflexes, Command, Eavesdropping, Extend
Blast, Fighting Style, Healing, Knowledge, Language, Magical
Engineering, Martial Training, Mystic Aura, Naturalism, Performance, Precise
Shooting, Prestidigitation, Running, Skirmishing, Swashbuckling, Weapon Finesse
New Proficiency
Extend Blast
Extend Blast
increases the range of the character’s magic blast to 240 feet.
New Spell
Magic Blast
Arcane 1
Range: 60’
Duration:
instantaneous
When this spell is cast, a blast of magical energy strikes its
target for
1d6 points of damage per odd level of the caster. For example, 1d6 at 1st level, 2d6 at
3rd level, up to 7d6 at 13th level. The spellcaster must make a successful
attack throw against the target, using the target values for a fighter
of her
level. Inanimate objects are not damaged by the spell.
Custom Class Build Information
Hit Dice
|
Fighting
|
Thievery
|
Divine
|
Arcane
|
0
|
1b (Thief)
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
Trade-Offs
Reduce weapon selection from Broad to Narrow for 2 custom
powers
Eliminate 1 fighting style for 1 custom power
Exchange 10 skills for 10 custom powers
Custom: Thievery Value Trade-Off Experience Point Penalty
A class with a Thievery Value of 3 or greater that makes
a tradeoff increases the experience point cost of its Thievery Value by 125XP
per custom power gained.
XP Calculation: 0 + 500 + 750 + 1250 = 2500 at 2nd level
Designer’s Notes
I was inspired to create this class based on a request on
the Autarch forums. Prior to creating this class, I had created a
matrix of spell-like abilities based on the examples provided in the Player’s
Companion, but expanded to show a power cost for 1st through 6th level spells, frequency
at will through 1 per quarter, casting time 1 round or 1 turn (when not at
will). I created this matrix with the goal of using it to create new races.
Although there was some number-crunching behind my matrix, I realized that two
conditions likely invalidated my calculated costs: 1) all spells at a given
level are not equal, and 2) any points system can be abused. Therefore, my
matrix represents, at best, a baseline. The next step is to develop guidelines
for how to apply the matrix, or more specifically, circumstantial cost
adjustments.
The adept class is a fire-hose of spell-like abilities
compared to the races I have in development. That fire-hose may help me to fine
tune my approach more quickly.
Clearly, the adept is not for everyone, and that’s fine.
If you are playing a game where adept PCs may fit in, I hope you will give the
class a try and post your feedback. If you are not playing in a game suitable
for adept PCs, the adept can provide the Judge with a unique and interesting
adversary for the players. I can easily imagine adepts re-skinned as alien
horrors from the deep or demons of the ancient world.
In any event, have fun with it!
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