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Generic Paladin
2007-01-16, 04:49 PM
The fighter sat on a chest wiping the blood off of his sword. His companions -a barbarian, a wizard, and a druid- were busy rooting through the treasure trove of a necromancer they had just defeated.

The wizard opened a small chest and removed a necklace with a charm made of a single dragon scale. "An Amulet of Natural Armor," he remarked. "Most useful.

The barbarian snickered. "Going to wear it next to that scarab of yours, are you? Can't have two magic items that close. Some wizard you are!"

The wizard muttered something which made the draconic-speaking druid chuckle. He then set down the amulet and cupped his hands over the scarab pinned to his cloak. There was a flash of blue light, and when he opened his hands the scarab was gone. In its place the wizard bore a tattoo in the shape of the vanished item.

He calmly put on the amulet where the scarab had been, and said to the barbarian, "You were saying?"

The Assimilator has spent a great deal of time studying the forces which bind magic to magic items. Consequently, he can undo these bonds, forcing an item's magic into himself. To an experienced Assimilator, a Belt of Giant's Strength is as much a temporary vessel for a spell as is a scroll or potion.

Members of any spellcasting class can become Assimilators, but those with the most to gain from it are primary spellcasters.The extra spellcasting levels are of little use to paladins or rangers, especially considering their reliance on combat prowess rather than spellcasting to win fights.
Hit Die: d6

Prerequisites:
Skills: Spellcraft 10 ranks
Feats: Craft Wondrous Item and either Forge Ring or Craft Wand
Spells: Able to cast 4th level arcane or divine spells

The Assimilator
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special

1st|
+0|
+2|
+0|
+2|Assimilation(1,000 gp), +1 level of existing spellcasting class

2nd|
+1|
+3|
+0|
+3|Assimilation(2,000 gp)

3rd|
+1|
+3|
+1|
+3|Assimilation(3,000 gp), +1 level of existing spellcasting class

4th|
+2|
+4|
+1|
+4|Assimilation(4,000 gp), Bonus Feat

5th|
+2|
+4|
+1|
+4|Assimilation(5,000 gp), +1 level of existing spellcasting class, Assimilate Ring

6th|
+3|
+5|
+2|
+5|Assimilation(6,000 gp)

7th|
+3|
+5|
+2|
+5|Assimilation(7,000 gp), +1 level of existing spellcasting class

8th|
+4|
+6|
+2|
+6|Assimilation(8,000 gp)

9th|
+4|
+6|
+3|
+6|Assimilation(9,000 gp), +1 level of existing spellcasting class

10th|
+5|
+7|
+3|
+7|Assimilation(10,000 gp), Assimilate Wand[/table]

Class Skills:
Concentraion(Con), Decipher Script(Int), Knowledge (arcana)(Int), Knowledge (religion), Spellcraft(Int), Use Magic Device(Cha)

Skill Points at Each Level:3 + Int modifier

Class Features:
Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: Assimilators gain no weapon or armor proficiencies beyond what they already posessed.

Spells per Day: At every odd-numbered level of Assimilator, the character gains new spells per day as if he had also gained a level in whatever spellcasting class he belonged to before adding the prestige class. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (bonus metamagic or item creation feats, bard or assassin abilities, and so on). This essentially means that he adds one-half his Assimilator level (rounded down) to the level of whatever other spellcasting class the character has, then determines spells per day and caster level accordingly.
If a character had more than one spellcasting class before he becaome an assimilator, he must decide to which class to apply each bonus spellcasting level for the purpose of spells per day.

Assimilation: Assimilation allows a character to make magic items into a part of himself. Only a wearable Wondrous Item may be assimilated. Assimilating an item costs 10% of the item's base price in xp. The character assimilating the item must be wearing it for the process to be successful. The character need only concentrate on the item for a few seconds. Doing so in combat provokes an attack of opportunity. If the character takes damage while attempting to assimilate an item, then he must make a Concentration check to complete the process (DC 10+the amount of damage taken). If for any reason a character attempting an assimilation is unable to complete it, then the xp is wasted. If the item is successfully assimilated, then it disappears. The character is left with a marking in place of the item, the nature of which is at the player's discretion. Any stat bonuses which the item conferred become permanent, any abilities it conferred become either special abilities or special attacks. If it granted spellcasting ability, the spells granted becom spell-like abilities usable a number of times per day equal to the character's Assimilator level. If the item used charges, then its abilities can be used a number of times per day equal to the maximum number of charges the item can hold.
Once assimilated, an item's abilities cannot be lost without assimilating another items which takes up the same body slot. Assimilating an item into a slot which already contains an item incurs an xp cost equal to 20% of the item's base price, rather than 10%. The old item's abilities disappear and are replaced by those of the new one.
An assimilator who wears an item in a slot which carries an assimilated item gains the benefits of both items. In the case of bonuses, spells per day, charges per day, and any other numerical qualities, the effects of two identical items stack.
Alternately, a character who meets the creation prerequisites for an item can assmilate its magic directly into themselves without actually using the item. The process functions exactly like creating the item, except that the item never physically exists. All of its effects are transferred directly to the character, and the appropriate body slot is used up. The 10% xp cost is negated. However, there is still a 20% xp cost if there is already an assimilated item in the slot to be used. Apart from that, the cost of this type of assimilation is the same as creating the item.
An assimilator can assimilate an item which costs up to 1,000 gp x the character's assimilator level.
An assimilated item's magic can not be dispelled. However, a Dispel Magic spell nullifies one targeted assimilated item's abilities for a number of rounds equal to the caster's caster level.

Bonus Feats: At 4th level, an assimilator gains either Forge Ring or Craft Wand as bonus feats, whichever was not taken as a class prerequisite.

Assimilate Ring: At 5th level, an assimilator gains the ability to assimilate a magic ring. For the purpose of xp costs, cost of items which can be assimilated, and all other abilities, treat this as a use of the Assimilation ability which targets a ring.

Assimilate Wand: At 10th level, an assimilator gains the ability to assimilate a wand. For the purpose of cost of items which can be assimilated, uses per day and all other abilities, treat this as a use of the Assimilation ability which targets a wand, with the following exceptions:
-An assimilated wand takes up a new body slot, either the left or right wrist. This cannot be occupied by any item other than an assimilated wand, and only one wand can be assimilated into each of these slots.
-The caster level of a spell cast from an assimilated wand is equal to the assimilator's caster level.
-The xp cost for assimilating a wand is equal to 100 X the spell's level X the character's caster level.
-Assimilated wands have the following number of charges per day, depending upon the level of the spell:
{table=head]Spell Level|Uses Per Day


0|
50|


1|
40|


2|
20|


3|
10|


4|
5|


5|
3|


6|
2|


7-9|
1|[/table]




Well, there's my idea. Comments?

Wizard_Tom
2007-01-16, 05:02 PM
Isn't only being able to absorb items worth 10k a little weak at level 17? Especially if i'm giving up a 1/4 of my spell casting ability and xp each time I do so? Maybe make it a 5 level class, with levels 1,3, and 5 being spell progression levels and gaining a 2k assimilation per level? Also, why favor Fort? With its heavy "I know lots about magic" theme, Fort doesn't make all that much sense to me.

Yakk
2007-01-16, 05:45 PM
I'm a bit concerned about wands. As written, you can get 8 uses/day of a 9th level spell (for a high XP cost, I'll admit), because the wand would be worth less than 10,000 gp.

Clearing up "wearable" might be a good idea. Is a bag of holding "wearable"? Ioun stone? Necklace of Fireballs?

It could be gimpy, it could be rather powerful.

Lord Iames Osari
2007-01-16, 05:53 PM
I was always under the impression that the necklace of fireballs took up an amulet slot.

Generic Paladin
2007-01-16, 06:21 PM
The idea with the massive fort saves is that these guys are making themselves unusually tough by way of their magical meddlings. Not tough enough for a big Hit Dice or anything, but tougher than your average mage.

To clear something up, a "wearable" item is any item which takes up one of the 15 body slots outlined on page 288 of the DMG. Bags of Holding or Ioun Stones do not take up body slots, and therefore cannot be assimilated. A Necklace of Fireballs can be assimilated into one of several slots.

The ninth level wand thing is a good point. I'll have to nerf the higher-level assimilated wands a bit. 13500 xp is a small price to pay for 50 9th level spells per day.

Lord Iames Osari
2007-01-16, 06:34 PM
A Necklace of Fireballs can be assimilated into one of several slots.

How do you figure? They do occupy the amulet/periapt/necklace slot, do they not?

Indon
2007-01-16, 06:57 PM
How do you figure? They do occupy the amulet/periapt/necklace slot, do they not?

Assimilation slots appear to be untyped; i.e. you could assimilate one of the same item where you would equip any item, so you could have one necklace of fireballs assimilated for each item slot you have. (Of course, that'd be one insane self-combustion)

The only thing that matters about slot usage would be for the purposes of effect stacking; say you have two rings of protection. If you wear both, they don't stack. If you assimilate one and wear the other, they WILL stack, if and only if the assimilated ring is assimilated into your finger slot.

This is important only very rarely, for, say, two different items that could enhance a single score, such as gauntlets and a girdle that both grant an enhancement bonus to strength.

As for how powerful or weak the mechanic is, I think it's relatively balanced, prone to powergaming but no more so than many published classes or variants. For instance, at 10 levels of the class, you could wear a ring of improved swimming and assimilate another ring of improved swimming, for a competence bonus of +20 to swim checks. However, this kind of potential comes at a heavy cost, in both class capability from a lower caster level, and in xp for the actual assimilation.

Iituem
2007-01-16, 06:58 PM
Just as a thought, the max value of any one item you should have at the following levels (just using a 1/5th of total PC wealth guideline)...

7th: 3,800gp
8th: 5,400gp
9th: 7,200gp
10th: 9,800gp
11th: 13,200gp
12th: 17,600gp
13th: 22,000gp
14th: 30,000gp
15th: 40,000gp
16th: 52,000gp
17th: 68,000gp