Shadow_Elf
2011-04-06, 06:23 PM
Dweomancer
“Impenetrable, but impossible to ignore. That's me.”
http://www.critical-hits.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/excerpt_4e_archmage.jpg
Role: Defender. Your wards and enchantments draw attention from your enemies and your magic hampers their ability to attack. Secondarily, you are either a controller or a striker, though either way you use these assets to make yourself a better defender.
Power Source: Arcane. Your powers stem from arcane study, and powerful magic enchantments.
Key Abilities: Intelligence, Constitution, Wisdom
Armor Proficiencies: Cloth
Weapon Proficiencies: Simple Melee
Implements: Wands, Staves, Tomes
Bonus to Defense: +2 Reflex
Hit Points at First Level: 14 + constitution score
Hit Points per Level Gained: 5
Healing Surges per Day: 8 + constitution modifier
Trained Skills: Arcana. From the class skills list below, chose three more trained skills at first level: Arcana (INT), Diplomacy (CHA), Dungeoneering (WIS), Endurance (CON), History (INT), Insight (WIS), Nature (WIS), Religion (INT).
Build Options: Military Caster, Wandering Spellslinger
Class Features: Counterspell, Defensive Dweomers, Dweomancer’s Sigil, Enchanter, Talent Arcana
Dweomancy was first used in the Dawn War, when primordials and the lesser elementals they spawned clashed with the gods of the Astral Sea and their exarchs. Wizards in service to Ioun and Corellon wove spells of negation regularly to protect allies from the elementals, but this was inefficient. Wards were straining on a wizard’s energy and their use involved careful prediction to near prescience amid the storm of elemental forces.
The first dweomancer revolutionized the combat of that ancient war. By using magic to draw attention, rather than weave spells of sweeping protection, the dweomancer could then use reflexes, rather that prediction, to block incoming attacks directed at their persons. This combination of magical attention-getting and self-defense proved extremely effective. The dweomancers’ reflexes eventually became so well-tuned that they could swiftly punish those that ignored them with their simplest spells cast with alarming rapidity.
To this day, the art of dweomancy has survived. Military campaigns are almost incomplete without dweomancers - in concert with cadre mages, military dweomancers can extend the lifespan of squads by months, even years. Not all who practice this arcane art seek organized military, however - others wander with small adventuring groups, protecting a small set of allies and mastering their self-defense foremost.
Creating a Dweomancer
Dweomancers rely on Intelligence for attack and damage, as well as their Armor Class and Reflex defense, all things that help them do their job, so it gets top priority. After that, you should take Constitution or Wisdom, depending on your build and powers.
Military Caster
You have or have had an illustrious military career, either as a squad mage or as the protector of a powerful mage cadre or command relay. You focus on harming those who ignore your magical compulsions even more, making your magic nearly as devastating as the magic of your more offense-oriented peers in the magical world. Intelligence ought to be you highest stat, since it determines your attack, damage and two of your defenses, as well as the bonus hitpoints from Force Shield. Constitution should get second billing; it improves the effects of your War Magus Talent, and governs the secondary effects of many of your most signature spells, as well as improving hitpoints and surges. Wisdom or Charisma should be your third choice; they each help a different skill set, and also contribute to your third defense, Will.
Talent Arcana: War Magus
Suggested Feat: Soldier's Spell Style
Suggested At-Will Powers: Rimebolt, Stormbolt
Suggested Encounter Power: Cirrus Strike
Suggested Daily Power: Pronged Flame Jet
Suggested Skills: Arcana, History, Diplomacy, Endurance.
Wandering Spellslinger
Not a military type, you aren’t used to having cutters and healers at the ready to repair your wounds. As such, rather than focusing on the devastation your spells cause, you focus more on reducing harm to your own person, an inevitability in your line of work. Intelligence, like with the Military Caster, takes priority, for the same reasons. You should, however, prioritize Wisdom after that; it determines the damage reduction provided by your Mage Errant Talent, and at the same time improves your Will, and the effects of many of your powers. Constitution should be the statistic you focus on third; it will give you more hitpoints, and surges, which means more and more durable Force Shields, not to mention that it helps your Fortitude defense.
Talent Arcana: Mage Errant
Suggested Feat: Wise Man's Magic
Suggested At-Will Powers: Chancebolt, Mindbolt
Suggested Encounter Power: Thoughtmire
Suggested Daily Power: Peripheral Phantasms
Suggested Skills: Arcana, Insight, Dungeoneering, Nature
Dweomancer Class Features
Counterspell
All Dweomancers gain the counterspell at-will power.
Counterspell
An enemy chooses to ignore you. Mistake.
At-Will * Arcane
Opportunity Action Close Burst 10
Trigger: An enemy within the burst who is marked by your Dweomancer’s Sigil makes an attack which does not include you as a target.
Target: The triggering enemy.
Effect: Make a ranged basic attack with the Arcane keyword against the target. This attack does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
Dweomancer’s Sigil
All Dweomancers gain the Dweomancer’s sigil at-will power.
Dweomancer’s Sigil
You place your arcane brand upon a foe
At-Will * Arcane
Minor Action Close Burst 10
Target: One enemy in the burst
Effect: The target is marked until you hit it with an attack granted by counterspell.
Special: You can only have a number of enemies marked by this power at a time equal to your Intelligence modifier. If you mark an enemy and you already have the maximum number of enemies marked, the first mark you placed with this power chronologically disappears. You can only use this power once per round.
Defensive Dweomers
While wielding an implement with which you are proficient and wearing cloth or no armour, you gain a +4 bonus to your AC. You also gain the force shield encounter power.
Force Shield
You funnel your life energy into a physical shield around your person
Encounter * Arcane, Healing, Force
Minor Action Personal
Effect: Spend a healing surge, but regain no hitpoints. Instead, gain temporary hitpoints equal to your surge value plus your intelligence modifier. In addition, until you run out of temporary hitpoints, you can slide 1 square any enemy that hits you with a melee or ranged attack.
Enchanter
You can master and perform rituals of the Creation and Warding categories as if you had the ritual caster feat. In addition, you gain a spellbook for storing the rituals you have mastered, and this spellbook includes both Enchant Magic Item and Disenchant Magic Item. Once per day, you can cast a ritual of the Creation or Warding categories without expending components, except Enchant Magic Item.
Talent Arcana
Choose one of the following build options:
War Magus:
You gain a bonus to the damage rolls of your ranged basic attacks against marked enemies. This bonus to damage rolls equals your constitution modifier. In addition, you gain a +2 bonus to your will defense while wielding an implement with which you are proficient. This bonus increases to +3 at level 11, and to +4 at level 21.
Mage Errant:
When a marked enemy hits you with an attack that targets only you, reduce the damage by your wisdom modifier. In addition, you gain a +2 bonus to your fortitude defense while wielding an implement with which you are proficient. This bonus increases to +3 at level 11, and to +4 at level 21.
Author's Notes and Edit Log:
Ever since 4e came out, I have wanted to work on an Arcane Defender class. When the swordmage came out so early in the going, however, I got kind of discouraged and abandoned the idea for quite some time. But I think that the Dweomancer conveys a spin on the defender role that the Swordmage, or any other defender, including the Swashbuckler I have created (see my sig) can sport. I have gone through many a name for this class, none of which seemed to fit the way I wanted. This is the best I have come up with, but I welcome your suggestions. PEACH and Enjoy!
Edit Log:
06/04/2011: Added all level 1 powers for the class.
07/04/2011: Fixed an issue with Mindbolt and limited Dweomancer's Sigil to be 1/round. Glyphbolt changed to reflect this change. Typo in Peripheral Phantasms fixed.
18/06/2011: Added level 2 utility powers and three feats that support the Force Shield class feature. Considering upgrading Venombolt.
19/06/2011: Added level 3 encounter powers and level 5 daily powers, and three racial feats; gnomes, elves and devas.
20/06/2011: Added racial feats for humans, warforged, githzerai and genasi.
“Impenetrable, but impossible to ignore. That's me.”
http://www.critical-hits.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/excerpt_4e_archmage.jpg
Role: Defender. Your wards and enchantments draw attention from your enemies and your magic hampers their ability to attack. Secondarily, you are either a controller or a striker, though either way you use these assets to make yourself a better defender.
Power Source: Arcane. Your powers stem from arcane study, and powerful magic enchantments.
Key Abilities: Intelligence, Constitution, Wisdom
Armor Proficiencies: Cloth
Weapon Proficiencies: Simple Melee
Implements: Wands, Staves, Tomes
Bonus to Defense: +2 Reflex
Hit Points at First Level: 14 + constitution score
Hit Points per Level Gained: 5
Healing Surges per Day: 8 + constitution modifier
Trained Skills: Arcana. From the class skills list below, chose three more trained skills at first level: Arcana (INT), Diplomacy (CHA), Dungeoneering (WIS), Endurance (CON), History (INT), Insight (WIS), Nature (WIS), Religion (INT).
Build Options: Military Caster, Wandering Spellslinger
Class Features: Counterspell, Defensive Dweomers, Dweomancer’s Sigil, Enchanter, Talent Arcana
Dweomancy was first used in the Dawn War, when primordials and the lesser elementals they spawned clashed with the gods of the Astral Sea and their exarchs. Wizards in service to Ioun and Corellon wove spells of negation regularly to protect allies from the elementals, but this was inefficient. Wards were straining on a wizard’s energy and their use involved careful prediction to near prescience amid the storm of elemental forces.
The first dweomancer revolutionized the combat of that ancient war. By using magic to draw attention, rather than weave spells of sweeping protection, the dweomancer could then use reflexes, rather that prediction, to block incoming attacks directed at their persons. This combination of magical attention-getting and self-defense proved extremely effective. The dweomancers’ reflexes eventually became so well-tuned that they could swiftly punish those that ignored them with their simplest spells cast with alarming rapidity.
To this day, the art of dweomancy has survived. Military campaigns are almost incomplete without dweomancers - in concert with cadre mages, military dweomancers can extend the lifespan of squads by months, even years. Not all who practice this arcane art seek organized military, however - others wander with small adventuring groups, protecting a small set of allies and mastering their self-defense foremost.
Creating a Dweomancer
Dweomancers rely on Intelligence for attack and damage, as well as their Armor Class and Reflex defense, all things that help them do their job, so it gets top priority. After that, you should take Constitution or Wisdom, depending on your build and powers.
Military Caster
You have or have had an illustrious military career, either as a squad mage or as the protector of a powerful mage cadre or command relay. You focus on harming those who ignore your magical compulsions even more, making your magic nearly as devastating as the magic of your more offense-oriented peers in the magical world. Intelligence ought to be you highest stat, since it determines your attack, damage and two of your defenses, as well as the bonus hitpoints from Force Shield. Constitution should get second billing; it improves the effects of your War Magus Talent, and governs the secondary effects of many of your most signature spells, as well as improving hitpoints and surges. Wisdom or Charisma should be your third choice; they each help a different skill set, and also contribute to your third defense, Will.
Talent Arcana: War Magus
Suggested Feat: Soldier's Spell Style
Suggested At-Will Powers: Rimebolt, Stormbolt
Suggested Encounter Power: Cirrus Strike
Suggested Daily Power: Pronged Flame Jet
Suggested Skills: Arcana, History, Diplomacy, Endurance.
Wandering Spellslinger
Not a military type, you aren’t used to having cutters and healers at the ready to repair your wounds. As such, rather than focusing on the devastation your spells cause, you focus more on reducing harm to your own person, an inevitability in your line of work. Intelligence, like with the Military Caster, takes priority, for the same reasons. You should, however, prioritize Wisdom after that; it determines the damage reduction provided by your Mage Errant Talent, and at the same time improves your Will, and the effects of many of your powers. Constitution should be the statistic you focus on third; it will give you more hitpoints, and surges, which means more and more durable Force Shields, not to mention that it helps your Fortitude defense.
Talent Arcana: Mage Errant
Suggested Feat: Wise Man's Magic
Suggested At-Will Powers: Chancebolt, Mindbolt
Suggested Encounter Power: Thoughtmire
Suggested Daily Power: Peripheral Phantasms
Suggested Skills: Arcana, Insight, Dungeoneering, Nature
Dweomancer Class Features
Counterspell
All Dweomancers gain the counterspell at-will power.
Counterspell
An enemy chooses to ignore you. Mistake.
At-Will * Arcane
Opportunity Action Close Burst 10
Trigger: An enemy within the burst who is marked by your Dweomancer’s Sigil makes an attack which does not include you as a target.
Target: The triggering enemy.
Effect: Make a ranged basic attack with the Arcane keyword against the target. This attack does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
Dweomancer’s Sigil
All Dweomancers gain the Dweomancer’s sigil at-will power.
Dweomancer’s Sigil
You place your arcane brand upon a foe
At-Will * Arcane
Minor Action Close Burst 10
Target: One enemy in the burst
Effect: The target is marked until you hit it with an attack granted by counterspell.
Special: You can only have a number of enemies marked by this power at a time equal to your Intelligence modifier. If you mark an enemy and you already have the maximum number of enemies marked, the first mark you placed with this power chronologically disappears. You can only use this power once per round.
Defensive Dweomers
While wielding an implement with which you are proficient and wearing cloth or no armour, you gain a +4 bonus to your AC. You also gain the force shield encounter power.
Force Shield
You funnel your life energy into a physical shield around your person
Encounter * Arcane, Healing, Force
Minor Action Personal
Effect: Spend a healing surge, but regain no hitpoints. Instead, gain temporary hitpoints equal to your surge value plus your intelligence modifier. In addition, until you run out of temporary hitpoints, you can slide 1 square any enemy that hits you with a melee or ranged attack.
Enchanter
You can master and perform rituals of the Creation and Warding categories as if you had the ritual caster feat. In addition, you gain a spellbook for storing the rituals you have mastered, and this spellbook includes both Enchant Magic Item and Disenchant Magic Item. Once per day, you can cast a ritual of the Creation or Warding categories without expending components, except Enchant Magic Item.
Talent Arcana
Choose one of the following build options:
War Magus:
You gain a bonus to the damage rolls of your ranged basic attacks against marked enemies. This bonus to damage rolls equals your constitution modifier. In addition, you gain a +2 bonus to your will defense while wielding an implement with which you are proficient. This bonus increases to +3 at level 11, and to +4 at level 21.
Mage Errant:
When a marked enemy hits you with an attack that targets only you, reduce the damage by your wisdom modifier. In addition, you gain a +2 bonus to your fortitude defense while wielding an implement with which you are proficient. This bonus increases to +3 at level 11, and to +4 at level 21.
Author's Notes and Edit Log:
Ever since 4e came out, I have wanted to work on an Arcane Defender class. When the swordmage came out so early in the going, however, I got kind of discouraged and abandoned the idea for quite some time. But I think that the Dweomancer conveys a spin on the defender role that the Swordmage, or any other defender, including the Swashbuckler I have created (see my sig) can sport. I have gone through many a name for this class, none of which seemed to fit the way I wanted. This is the best I have come up with, but I welcome your suggestions. PEACH and Enjoy!
Edit Log:
06/04/2011: Added all level 1 powers for the class.
07/04/2011: Fixed an issue with Mindbolt and limited Dweomancer's Sigil to be 1/round. Glyphbolt changed to reflect this change. Typo in Peripheral Phantasms fixed.
18/06/2011: Added level 2 utility powers and three feats that support the Force Shield class feature. Considering upgrading Venombolt.
19/06/2011: Added level 3 encounter powers and level 5 daily powers, and three racial feats; gnomes, elves and devas.
20/06/2011: Added racial feats for humans, warforged, githzerai and genasi.