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The Episkeptis
In the Great Wheel, there beings of beyond the scope of mortal kind; powerful and mighty by simple virtue of
being. Champions of virtue, waging war eternal on the damned to rid creation of their taint. Vile horrors, committing atrocities and genocide for nor greater reason than, they can. But there are other beings with more... esoteric goals; guardians of order, agents of anarchy and others who stand between.
But the stories of their actions, their forms and even their powers are just that. Stories. Tales for campfires and novels. Creations of fantasy, as much as fiction. They hold only as much power as mortal word allows them to have, which was insubstantial as language itself. Role models of highest virtue, hated enemies of vile nature and those who stand at the sidelines. And such would have been their fate, had it not been that some Stories can live.
And so it is with the Episkeptis. Theirs is not the story of a mighty warrior or rampaging beast, but that of an author and storyteller. They do not simply state a story as being, but bring it to life. They call forth those stories, fusing them with their own Living Narrative to give a form, a function, an ability to
act to once unliving tales crafted by men, by gods and by history.
As it is with any ordinary storyteller, the content, moral and meaning of a story can change, so too can the Episkeptis make the stories their own, with embellishments, additions and outright alterations. In this way, no story is ever quite what it first was. With powers, strengths and weaknesses that they did not possess before, the Episkeptis creates soldiers, guardians and beasts with their only goal being that which the Episkeptis says it is.
Spoiler: Making an Episkeptis
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An Episkeptis is a Summoner. Plain and simple. If you're getting into the fray yourself, you've done something wrong. That's not to say you're totally useless, you can defend yourself if need be, but you really shouldn't need to. Even at low levels you have someone else around to do the fighting for you.
Abilities: The most important ability for an Episkeptis is Charisma. Intelligence and Wisdom are secondary. Constitution is nice to have, as always, but your physical attributes are peripheral. At BEST.
Alignment: The Episkeptis are as diverse as the things they summon, therefore they can be of any alignment.
Starting Gold: As Wizard
Hit Dice: d8
Skill Points: 6 + Intelligence Modifier
Class Skills: Bluff, Concentration, Craft, Diplomacy, Disguise, Gather Information, Handle Animal, Heal, Hide, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (All, taken individually), Listen, Move Silently, Perform (Oratory only) Profession, Ride, Sense Motive, Speak Language, Spellcraft, Spot, Use Magic Device
Proficiencies: Episkeptis are proficient with all Simple weapons, one Martial Weapon, light armour and light shields.
Level |
Base Attack Bonus |
Fort Save |
Ref Save |
Will Save |
Special |
Mythos |
Excellencies |
1st |
+0 |
+2 |
+2 |
+2 |
The Storyteller's Mythos, Mythos Known, Exceptional Mythos, Embellished Excellence, Ever Vigilant Guardian, Telling of the Tale I, Stories of Heroes and Villains |
+1 |
+1 |
2nd |
+1 |
+3 |
+3 |
+3 |
|
+0 |
+1 |
3rd |
+2 |
+3 |
+3 |
+3 |
Telling of the Tale II |
+1 |
+0 |
4th |
+3 |
+4 |
+4 |
+4 |
|
+0 |
+1 |
5th |
+3 |
+4 |
+4 |
+4 |
|
+1 |
+0 |
6th |
+4 |
+5 |
+5 |
+5 |
Telling of the Tale III |
+0 |
+1 |
7th |
+5 |
+5 |
+5 |
+5 |
Fantastic Mythos |
+1 |
+1 |
8th |
+6/1 |
+6 |
+6 |
+6 |
|
+0 |
+1 |
9th |
+6/1 |
+6 |
+6 |
+6 |
Telling of the Tale IV |
+1 |
+0 |
10th |
+7/2 |
+7 |
+7 |
+7 |
|
+0 |
+1 |
11th |
+8/3 |
+7 |
+7 |
+7 |
|
+1 |
+0 |
12th |
+9/4 |
+8 |
+8 |
+8 |
Telling of the Tale V |
+0 |
+1 |
13th |
+9/4 |
+8 |
+8 |
+8 |
Legendary Mythos |
+1 |
+1 |
14th |
+10/5 |
+9 |
+9 |
+9 |
|
+0 |
+1 |
15th |
+11/6/1 |
+9 |
+9 |
+9 |
Telling of the Tale VI |
+1 |
+0 |
16th |
+12/7/2 |
+10 |
+10 |
+10 |
|
+0 |
+1 |
17th |
+12/7/2 |
+10 |
+10 |
+10 |
|
+1 |
+0 |
18th |
+13/8/3 |
+11 |
+11 |
+11 |
Telling of the Tale VII |
+0 |
+1 |
19th |
+14/9/4 |
+11 |
+11 |
+11 |
Exalted Mythos |
+1 |
+1 |
20th |
+15/10/5 |
+12 |
+12 |
+12 |
|
+1 |
+1 |
The Storyteller's Mythos: An Episkeptis' power is expressed in terms of one or more "Mythos", the building blocks of the legend they are, and the stories that they have told and will tell. While any given Mythos differs from the rest, they share some similar traits. They are always Supernatural abilities (Except that they function normally in Anti-magic or Dead magic zones, as well as any similar effects, as if they were Extraordinary abilities), except when stated, and when they reference a difficulty class that saving throw is always calculated as (10 + 1/2 class level + Charisma modifier, unless otherwise stated). When a Mythos a "level" that is not clearly defined in some other way, such as "character level", it refers to "class level" as in the number of levels one has in the Episkeptis class. When a Mythos references "allies", it specifically does not refer to the Episkeptis using it. When a Mythos grants a feat as a bonus feat, it is regardless of whether the character meets the prerequisites for that feat (unless otherwise stated), and if the character already possesses that feat (in some permanent fashion - via the normal allotment gained by leveling up, or through another Mythos, and so on, but not those gained temporarily, such as via a "Heroics" spell), they must replace the prior instance of that feat with another feat that they qualify for.
Every Mythos has a Tier. The Tier of a Mythos ranges from 1 to 4, typically referred to as Exceptional, Fantastic, Legendary, and Exalted. Exceptional Mythos are the stories of Knights and Monsters and Beasts. Beings that, while mighty, have been told a thousand times with a thousand faces. Fantastic Mythos are the stories of benevolent angels and vile demons, angry witches and contented healers. Beings of awesome might and exceptional power who often form grand allies and powerful adversaries. Legendary Mythos tell of Demonic rulers, primal forces and ancient, mighty monsters. Beings who's mere
existence can alter the course of a tale. Exalted Mythos tell of ancient gods and forgotten powers, greatness beyond imagining and might beyond stopping.
Some Mythos, in addition to their initial stated effect, have Basic and Advanced manifestations. When an Episkeptis gains access to a Mythos with a list of Basic manifestations, they may choose one such manifestation, and they gain that benefit immediately as well. This choice may not be changed later. When an Episkeptis gains access to a Mythos with a list of Advanced manifestations, they may choose one such manifestation, and they gain that benefit upon achieving their next level of Episkeptis. This choice may be changed at any point before receiving the chosen manifestation itself, but not after (choosing beforehand is just an easy way to mark it down on your character sheet so you don't forget that you'll be getting something later).
Mythos Known: A 1st level Episkeptis begins play with one Exceptional Mythos that he qualifies for, if this is his first level in a PC class. At higher levels he gains additional Mythos as noted on the Episkeptis table.
For character that multiclass into Episkeptis after having taken levels in another PC character class, the 1st level of Episkeptis grants no Mythos, rather than one.
An Episkeptis also has the ability to learn more Mythos, above the ones automatically allotted to him by leveling up by perfecting his ability to summon and control. At any time, an Episkeptis may expend funding by writing, telling and publishing tales, but gaining no financial benefit in return. You may not simply writing
a book and giving it to
a person, but rather you write and tell tales to as many people as you can. The cost of spreading such tales is recouped as a number of Mythos Points equal to the Gold Piece value spent.
By spending 1,000 Mythos Points, and 250xp, he may learn an Exceptional Mythos. A Fantastic Mythos requires 5,000 Mythos Points and 500xp. A Legendary Mythos takes 10,000 Mythos Points, and 1,000xp. And an Exalted Mythos takes 20,000 Mythos Points and 2,000xp.
Learning Mythos above the standard amount requires astounding, nearly single-minded devotion to the story of the Episkeptis. An Episkeptis may only utilize this ability while more than half of his effective character level (ECL) is devoted to levels in the Episkeptis class.
Embellished Excellence: As denoted on their class table, an Episkeptis gains a certain number of abilities known as "Excellencies". These tend to be more general, generic, and passive than a Mythos, but are useful nonetheless, and are drawn from their own separate list, unsegregated by Tiers. Like a Mythos, a Episkeptis may learn more Excellencies above their allotted amount. Each one costs 1,000 Mythos Points and 100xp, plus an additional 1,000 Mythos Points and 100xp for each time a new Excellency is innovated beyond the first. (So, 2,000mp and 200xp for the second, 3,000mp and 300xp for the third, etc.)
Ever Vigilant Guardian: You gain the "Ever Vigilant Guardian" Exceptional Mythos automatically. If you already possess this Mythos via some permanent means (Such as via the Mythborn template or the Broken Storyteller Amalgam feat) you get any other Episkeptis Exceptional Mythos for which you qualify.
Telling of the Tale: The Episkeptis is an unmatched master of fiction. Weaving tales of heroes, villains and all the characters who depend upon
Manifest the Warrior ONLY affects Summons gained via Episkeptis.
At first level you gain the Augment Summoning feat, however, whenever you "craft" a Guardian (See "Crafting Guardians"), you decide which two stats to which the feat applies, instead of Strength and Constitution. (This otherwise IS the Augment Summoning feat)
At third level, your Guardians are tougher to dispel. You add your Charisma modifier to the DC of the Caster Level Check made to dispel your summons.
At sixth level, the benefit granted by Augment Summoning increases to +6 to two different stats, rather than +4.
At ninth level, your Guardians are harder to "kill". They gain extra Hit Points per HD equal to your Charisma modifier in a similar manner to extra Hit Points gained via Constitution.
At 12th level, your Guardians are harder to get rid of. Whenever one of your Guardians is successfully dispelled, you may make a counter check (1d20 + Your Caster Level + Charisma Mod) against a DC equal to the Dispel Check. If you succeed, the Dispel fails and your Guardians stays. If you fail, the creature is dispelled, as normal. ((This effect is so automatic that calling it a Free Action would be insulting.))
At 15th level, the benefit granted by Augment Summoning increases again to +8 to two different stats, rather than +6.
At 18th level, your Guardians are even harder to destroy. They gain an additional 4 Hit Dice for free, on top of any Hit Dice they were crafted with. However, this cannot cause your Summon's Hit Dice to exceed your Episkeptis level, as per normal.
Stories of Heroes and Villains: Some Mythos have the [Summon] tag, these Mythos are treated as if they were Conjuration Spells from the Summoning sub-school, except as noted: creatures brought down to 0 Hit Points or less reform after 5 minutes, rather than 24 hours.
Additionally, you are treated as a spellcaster with a caster level equal to your Episkeptis level, but only in regards to your summons and any effects that are dependent on a Caster Level. This ability does NOT actually grant a Caster Level nor any associated benefits.
Unlike Summon spells, using the various [Summon] Mythos are Standard Actions to use. Additionally, you have complete control over the Guardian, as they are an extension of your own living narrative, rather than an independent creature.
However, because of the difficulty of "telling" so may stories at once, you may only have a number of Guardians active equal to your Charisma modifier.