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View Full Version : D&D 3.x Class The Delver (Support-focused dungeon explorer) [PEACH]



Alabenson
2019-10-19, 10:21 AM
The Delver

Many academics are content to remain cloistered in their universities as they research the outside world through books and scrolls. Not so the delvers. These adventuring archaeologists put the vast repositories of knowledge they have accumulated over years of study to use exploring ruins, tombs and other dangerous locales in the pursuit of their next great discovery.

Adventures: Delvers are almost universally fixated on the pursuit of ever greater knowledge, and they know the most valuable secrets are invariably uncovered by adventurers. As such, delvers will often attach themselves to adventuring parties they deem likely to stumble upon some ancient discovery or another, and if nothing else they’re liable to find treasure that can further fund their research.

Characteristics: Delvers are able to put their studies of various monsters to excellent use, improving their and their allies abilities to defend themselves and combat nearly any sort of creature. Additionally, while delver’s lack a rogue’s training when it comes to traps, their study of architecture and trap design means they can spot and avoid traps with amazing skill. Finally, while they’re nowhere near the peer of a dedicated spellcaster, delvers have developed a unique form of arcane spellcasting to aid them in their work.

Alignment: The thirst for knowledge can take many forms, both benevolent and malicious. As such, delver’s can be found of any alignment.

Religion: As a general rule, delvers tend to gravitate towards deities of knowledge and secrets. On rare occasions, however, a delver will become obsessed with an ancient or obscure deity whose existence they learned of in the course of their studies.

Background: Most delvers start their careers in universities or academies, gathering the deep stores of knowledge that they will later use in their adventures. Occasionally, however, a rich eccentric will learn their craft from time spent alone in their private libraries.

Races: Humans, with their boundless thirst for knowledge and willingness to take insane risks, make up a majority of delvers, though delvers count elves, halflings, gnomes and especially scholarly dwarves among their number.

Other Classes: Martial classes particularly like traveling with delvers, as they appreciate the delver’s ability to bolster their combat ability with intelligence on their opponents. Wizards and other members of scholarly-focused classes can view delvers as rivals, however, and rogues often find themselves driven to distraction by the tendency delvers have of waltzing into and through trap-filled corridors.

Role: Delvers generally focus on supporting other classes with their ability to locate and identify threats. Furthermore, their skills and maneuverability make delvers excellent scouts.

GAME RULE INFORMATION
Delvers have the following game statistics
Abilities: Intelligence is the most important ability for delvers, as it fuels both their spellcasting and several of their special abilities, as well as increasing their skill points. Dexterity is also valuable, as delvers tend to wear little or no armor. Finally, a number of a delver’s important skills are keyed off of Wisdom.
Alignment: Delvers can be of any alignment.
Hit Die: D6
Starting Age: As cleric
Starting Gold: As barbarian

Class Skills:
Appraise, Balance, Climb, Concentration, Craft, Decipher Script, Escape Artist, Forgery, Gather Information, Hide, Jump, Knowledge (all), Listen, Move Silently, Open Lock, Profession, Search, Speak Language, Spellcraft, Spot, Survival, Swim, Tumble, Use Rope
Skill Points at 1st level: (6 + Intelligence Modifier) x4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 6 + Intelligence Modifier



LevelBABFortRefWillSpecialSpell Points / Day



1st+0+0+2+2 Armored Mage, Dungeon Lore (AC; +1), Sixth Sense, Trap Awareness 1



2nd+1+0+3+3Dungeon Senses (darkvision), Tight Quarters Affinity 2



3rd+2+1+3+3 Uncanny Dodge 4


4th+3+1+4+4 Dungeon Lore (+2) 8



5th+3+1+4+4 Dungeon Lore (attack) 11



6th+4+2+5+5 Mass Trap Awareness 17


7th+5+2+5+5 Dungeon Lore (+3) 24



8th+6+2+6+6 Poison Immunity, Stone Shape 31


9th+6+3+6+6 Dungeon Lore (damage) 39



10th+7+3+7+7 Dungeon Lore (+4) 51


11th+8+3+7+7 Dungeon Senses (blindsense) 61



12th+9+4+8+8 Improved Uncanny Dodge 73



13th+9+4+8+8 Dungeon Lore (saves; +5) 85


14th+10+4+9+9 Ethereal Jaunt 97


15th+11+5+9+9 Arcane Improvisation 110


16th+12+5+10+10 Dungeon Lore (+6) 125


17th+12+5+10+10 Dungeon Lore (deathblow) 140


18th+13+6+11+11 Earth Glide 157


19th+14+6+11+11 Dungeon Lore (+7) 175


20th+15+6+12+12 Create Portal, Dungeon Senses (blindsight) 188



Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A delver is proficient with all simple weapons. Delvers are proficient with light armor but not shields.

Spells: A delver casts arcane spells from the delver spell list. When a delver gains access to a new level of spells, they automatically know all the spells for that level on the delver’s spell list, and they can cast any spell they have retrieved for the day as long as they have the spell points to do so (see below).
Unlike other spellcasters, a delver fuels their spellcasting through a reserve of spell points instead of set spell slots. The delver’s spell point reserve is equal to their base spell points gained from their class plus bonus spell points they may gain for having a high Intelligence score (use the table for determining bonus power points to determine the number of bonus spell points the delver receives). Each spell the delver casts costs a certain number of spell points depending on its level, as shown on the table below.
Spell Level Spell Point Cost
00*
11
23
35
47
59
611
*A delver can cast a number of 0th level spells per day equal to 3 + their Intelligence modifier (if positive) without expending spell points. After that, a delver can cast further level 0 spells for 1 spell point each.
To retrieve or cast a spell, a delver must have an Intelligence score of at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a delver’s spell is 10 + the spell level + the delver’s Intelligence modifier.
While the delver knows all of the available spells on their spell list, the delver can only access a small number of them per day. Each day when the delver rests to regain their spell points they retrieve a certain number of spells that they will be able to access during the course of the day. The delver can cast any spell that they have retrieved at any time as long as they have the spell points available to cast a spell of that level. For example, a 4th-level delver can retrieve two 0-level, one 1st-level, and one 2nd-level delver spell.
If a delver knows any metamagic feats, they apply them to their spells when the retrieve their spells for the day. For example, a delver might choose to retrieve an extended water breathing by using a 4th-level spell retrieved slot. Any time they use water breathing during the ensuing day, they must pay spell points for a 4th-level spell to cast it, and it is always extended. A delver could use a 3rd-level spell slot and a 4th-level spell slot to retrieve water breathing and extended water breathing if they wanted to have both spells available to them in a day. A delver cannot choose to alter their spells with metamagic feats on the fly, as other spontaneous casters do. Delvers using metamagic feats do not have an increased casting time as sorcerers do.




Level 0th 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th


1st 1 -- -- -- -- -- --



2nd 2 1 -- -- -- -- --



3rd 2 1 -- -- -- -- --



4th 2 1 1 -- -- -- --



5th 2 2 1 -- -- -- --



6th 2 2 1 -- -- -- --



7th 2 2 1 1 -- -- --



8th 2 2 2 1 -- -- --



9th 2 2 2 1 -- -- --



10th 2 2 2 1 1 -- --



11th 2 2 2 2 1 -- --



12th 2 2 2 2 1 -- --



13th 2 2 2 2 1 1 --



14th 3 2 2 2 2 1 --



15th 3 3 2 2 2 1 --



16th 3 3 3 2 2 1 1



17th 3 3 3 3 2 2 1



18th 3 3 3 3 3 2 1



19th 3 3 3 3 3 3 2



20th 3 3 3 3 3 3 3




Armored Mage (Ex): Normally, armor of any type interferes with an arcane spellcaster’s gestures, which can cause your spells to fail if those spells have a somatic component. The unique nature of a delver’s spells, however, allows them to avoid any chance of arcane spell failure if they wear light armor. This does not extend to any other form of armor or if they carry a shield, nor does this ability apply to spells gained from other spellcasting classes.

Dungeon Lore (Ex): A delver can draw upon his vast knowledge of monsters to grant himself and his allies certain benefits against the creatures that they face a number times per day equal to 3 + the delver's Intelligence modifier. Using this ability counts as a move action.
Using this ability requires a DC 15 Knowledge check of a type appropriate to the creature faced:
Arcana; dragons, magical beasts
Dungeoneering; aberrations, oozes
Local; humaniods
Nature; animals, fey, giants, monstrous humanoids, plants, vermin
Religion; undead
The planes; elementals, outsiders
The bonuses grated by dungeon lore apply to either a single creature or all creatures of the same race, depending on the effect used. The target creature must be within 60 feet, and the delver must be aware of the creature's presence, although they do not need line of sight to it. The bonus provided by the delver's dungeon lore ability starts at +1 at 1st level, and increases by an additional +1 for every three class levels beyond 1st (+2 at 4th, +3 at 7th, +4 at 10th, +5 at 13th, +6 at 16th and +7 at 19th). The effects of the delver's dungeon lore ability last for 1 minute. Unless otherwise noted, the delver may grant the bonuses from dungeon lore to themselves and all allies within 30 feet that are able to hear the delver. The delver can grant only one type of bonus per use of dungeon lore.
At 1st level, the delver can use their dungeon lore to grant themselves and their allies an insight bonus to AC against all attacks made by the target creatures.
At 5th level, the delver can use their dungeon lore to grant themselves and their allies an insight bonus to all attack rolls made against the target creatures.
At 9th level, the delver can use their dungeon lore to allow themselves and their allies to deal a bonus to weapon damage rolls made against the target creatures equal to 1d6 per point of dungeon lore bonus.
At 13th level, the delver can use their dungeon lore to grant themselves and their allies an insight bonus to all saving throws made against the target creatures' special abilities.
At 17th level, the delver can expend a use of their dungeon lore ability to identify a critical weakness in a single target creature. The next weapon attack made by either the delver or a single designated ally forces the targeted creature to make a Fortitude save with a DC equal to the delver's Knowledge check or die (unliving creatures are destroyed instead). This attack must either be a melee attack, or a ranged attack from no further than 30 feet away. On a successful save, the target takes damage as if the attacker had scored a critical hit.

Sixth Sense (Ex): Through long study of architectural history and accounts of famous dungeons, a delver gains the ability to notice secret doors and traps even if they're not actively looking for them. Whenever a delver comes within 10 feet of a secret or concealed door or a trap, the delver may make a Spot check against the Search DC to locate them. The delver can potentially locate traps with this ability that have a Difficulty Class higher than 20, even if the delver does not otherwise possess the trapfinding ability.

Trap Awareness (Ex): The delver has an intuitive sense that alerts them to the dangers of traps, granting them a bonus to AC and any saving throws made against traps equal to their Intelligence modifier (if positive).

Dungeon Senses (Ex): A delver's continuous exposure to pitch-black surroundings enables them to develop darkvision out to 60 feet. If the delver already has darkvision, then the range of their darkvision extends out another 60 feet.
By level 11, a delver's senses sharpen further, granting them blindsense out to a range of 60 feet.
A delver of level 20 hones their senses to their pinnacle, granting them blindsight out to a range of 60 feet.

Tight Quarters Affinity (Ex): Delver's must frequently squeeze themselves into tight spaces, and a delver of level 2 or higher learns to fight and defend themselves effectively in such circumstances. A delver with this ability no longer takes penalties to attack rolls and AC when squeezed into a narrow space. Furthermore, when using the Escape Artist skill to squeeze through a space less than half their space's width the delver takes no penalty to AC and they retain their Dexterity bonus to AC.

Uncanny Dodge (Ex): Starting at 3rd level, a delver can react to danger before their senses would normally allow them to do so. They retain their Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) even if they are caught flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker. However, they still lose their Dexterity bonus to AC if immobilized.
If a delver already had uncanny dodge from a different class (a delver with at least two levels of barbarian, for example), they automatically gain improved uncanny dodge (see below) instead.

Mass Trap Awareness (Ex): A delver of 6th level or higher gains the ability to grant the bonuses from their trap awareness ability to any allies within 30 feet.

Poison Immunity (Ex): Thanks to continual experimentation and exposure, a delver of level 8 or higher gains immunity to all forms of poison.

Stone Shape (Sp): At 8th level, a delver gains the ability to use the spell stone shape 3 times per day with a caster level equal to their class level.

Improved Uncanny Dodge (Ex): A delver of 12th level or higher can no longer be flanked; they can react to opponents on opposite sides of them as easily as they can react to a single attacker. This defense denies an opponent the ability to sneak attack the character by flanking them, unless the attacker has at least four more sneak attack granting levels than the target has delver levels.
If a character already has uncanny dodge (see above) from a second class, the character automatically gains improved uncanny dodge instead, and the levels from the classes that grant uncanny dodge stack to determine the minimum level an opponent must be to flank the character.

Ethereal Jaunt (Sp): At 14th level, a delver gains the ability to use the spell ethereal jaunt 3 times per day with a caster level equal to their class level.

Arcane Improvisation (Ex): Dungeon exploration is an unpredictable process, and the risk that one may not have the precise spells needed to overcome a given obstacle are almost unavoidable. Thanks to their unique method of spellcasting, however, experienced delvers are able to circumvent this issue somewhat. Once per day, a delver of at least 15th level may spend 15 minutes meditating, during which they may swap out some of their spells retrieved for the day. When using this ability, the delver may swap out a number of spell levels equal to their class level.

Earth Glide (Ex): A delver of 18th level gains the ability to glide through stone, dirt of almost any other sort of earth except metal as easily as a fish swims through water. Their burrowing leaves behind to tunnel or hole, nor does it create any ripple or other signs of their presence. A move earth spell cast on an area containing a burrowing earth elemental flings the delver back 30 feet, stunning them for 1 round unless they succeed on a DC 15 Fortitude save. Furthermore, the delver does not suffocate if they end their movement inside earth or stone.

Create Portal (Sp): At 20th level, a delver develops the ability to open a gateway between any two points either on the same plane or between different planes, as per the transport function of the gate spell, except that the delver may open a portal between two points on the same plane if he wishes and the delver need not concentrate to keep the portal open. The delver may use this ability up to three times per day.

0: arcane mark, create water, dancing lights, detect magic, detect poison, flare, ghost sound, know direction, light, mage hand, mending, message, open/close, prestidigitation, read magic, resistance

1: alarm, animate rope, calm animals, comprehend languages, detect animals or plants, detect secret doors, disguise self, endure elements, expeditious retreat, feather fall, grease, hide from animals, hide from undead, hold portal, identify, jump, mount, pass without trace, remove fear, speak with animals, Tenser's floating disk, undetectable alignment, unseen servant, ventriloquism

2: alter self, animal messenger, arcane lock, augury, bear's endurance, blur, calm emotions, cat's grace, command undead, continual flame, darkvision, detect thoughts, eagle's splendor, false life, find traps, fox's cunning, gentle repose, invisibility, knock, levitate, locate object, magic mouth, make whole, misdirection, obscure object, remove paralysis, resist energy, rope trick, see invisibility, silence, soften earth and stone, spider climb, status, warp wood, whispering wind, wood shape

3: arcane sight, blink, clairaudience/clairvoyance, create food and water, daylight, deeper darkness, dispel magic, displacement, fly, gaseous form, halt undead, helping hand, illusory script, invisibility purge, invisibility sphere, meld into stone, nondetection, protection from energy, remove blindness/deafness, remove curse, remove disease, secret page, shrink page, speak with dead, speak with plants, stone shape, tongues, water breathing, water walk, wind wall

4: air walk, arcane eye, control water, death ward, detect scrying, dimension door, dimension door, dimension anchor, discern lies, dismissal, divination, freedom of movement, greater invisibility, illusory wall, legend lore, locate creature, minor creation, neutralize poison, repel vermin, scrying, sending, zone of silence

5: break enchantment, commune with nature, control winds, fabricate, false vision, major creation, mislead, overland flight, passwall, prying eyes, seeming, shadow walk, transmute mud to rock, transmute rock to mud, true seeing, telekinesis, teleport

6: analyze dweomer, antimagic field, control undead, ethereal jaunt, find the path, greater dispel magic, greater scrying, mass bear's endurance, mass cat's grace, mass eagle's splendor, mass fox's cunning, move earth, plane shift, reverse gravity, sequester, statue, stone tell, veil, word of recall

aimlessPolymath
2019-10-19, 11:02 AM
On mobile rn but I'm a big fan of the class, and especially the spellcasting method- you can pick up appropriate spells for the challenges you expect, but spend spell points on other things if that's what turns out to be what you need.

Can you provide multiple dungeon lore bonuses simultaneously if you keep spending actions and uses on them?
Might rearrange the order of gained bonuses somewhat- attack bonuses(valuable at low levels before BAB picks up, especially for your poor rogue!), saving throws(feels like the most straightforwards usage of the bonus, since a monster's special attacks are often the most well known aspect), damage, AC.
A personal preference on these sorts of bonuses is to start the scaling at +2, then scale slightly slower from there on, so as to make the effect more noticeable at low levels.


Edit: Took another look. Some low concerns about how it runs in combat; it has a very limited number of buff spells; is it planning to use Dungeon Lore every turn or so? If so, I assume you can keep multiple of them running at once, but have concerns about running out of uses too quickly. Possibly suggest some kind of standard action ability to shout advice at people, upgrading the bonus granted by +x for one turn, giving a reroll on an attack or save, etc.
Despite having average BAB, it has only simple weapon proficiency; consider giving it access to a single exotic or martial weapon or something? Indy needs his whip.
No Disable Device skill- intended, from characteristics?

Elves
2019-10-19, 11:37 AM
Is this intended as a factotum redo? If not, I would do more to differentiate them.

Is it intended that they're basically a caster? If not, other things to actually do with their actions would be beneficial.

It's not a very multiclass friendly class so a clearer idea of how the class is meant to play would be helpful.

Alabenson
2019-10-20, 05:52 PM
On mobile rn but I'm a big fan of the class, and especially the spellcasting method- you can pick up appropriate spells for the challenges you expect, but spend spell points on other things if that's what turns out to be what you need.

Can you provide multiple dungeon lore bonuses simultaneously if you keep spending actions and uses on them?
Might rearrange the order of gained bonuses somewhat- attack bonuses(valuable at low levels before BAB picks up, especially for your poor rogue!), saving throws(feels like the most straightforwards usage of the bonus, since a monster's special attacks are often the most well known aspect), damage, AC.
A personal preference on these sorts of bonuses is to start the scaling at +2, then scale slightly slower from there on, so as to make the effect more noticeable at low levels.


Edit: Took another look. Some low concerns about how it runs in combat; it has a very limited number of buff spells; is it planning to use Dungeon Lore every turn or so? If so, I assume you can keep multiple of them running at once, but have concerns about running out of uses too quickly. Possibly suggest some kind of standard action ability to shout advice at people, upgrading the bonus granted by +x for one turn, giving a reroll on an attack or save, etc.
Despite having average BAB, it has only simple weapon proficiency; consider giving it access to a single exotic or martial weapon or something? Indy needs his whip.
No Disable Device skill- intended, from characteristics?

I wouldn't say the Delver is intended to use Dungeon Lore every turn, closer to 1/encounter under normal circumstances, with the option to use it multiple times in particularly difficult fights. As for the weapon proficiencies, that is an area I think I may make some adjustments to since that would make taking a more active role in combat a little easier.
The lack of Disable Device was indeed a conscious design choice on my part; the Delver isn't meant to deal with traps by finding and disabling them, but by noticing and avoiding them.