Cormyr Campaign [Prestige Classes, Affiliations, House Rules]
Welcome! This thread will be a compendium of homebrew for my upcoming Cormyr campaign. I've redesigned the two classic Cormyr prestige classes (Purple Dragon Knight & War Wizard of Cormyr) to make them more palatable with late 3.5 mechanics. I'm also going to be including write ups of Affiliations in Cormyr using the rules in the PHB II for certain organizations relevant to the campaign, i.e. Purple Dragon Knights, Harpers, War Wizards, Zhentarim, Society of Stalwart Adventurers, etc.
I'll be drawing inspiration and reference from some of the following sourcebooks: Volo's Guide to Cormyr, Cormyr (AD&D Forgotten Realms setting book), Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (1987 & 2001), and the Players Guide to Faerun. For anyone interested in reading some of the lore and background of Cormyr, I highly recommend Volo's Guide to Cormyr, if you can find a used copy somewhere.
First up are the two prestige classes, Purple Dragon Knight and War Wizard of Cormyr. Each has been redesigned to be more effective, both in terms of gameplay and in meshing with later 3.5 sourcebooks, the Purple Dragon Knight especially so. I'll be reserving a few posts below this to save space for the other information and pieces, such as the Affiliations and other homebrew.
Re: Cormyr Campaign [Prestige Classes, Affiliations, House Rules]
Requirements:
Alignment: Any nonevil, nonchaotic.
Skills: Spellcraft 10 ranks
Feats: Any two metamagic feats
Spellcasting: Ability to cast 4th-level arcane spells.
Special: Must swear fealty to the Crown of Cormyr.
Class Skills
The war wizard's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Knowledge (all) (Int), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int).
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.
War Wizar of Cormyr
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Spells per Day/Spells Known
1|+0|+2|+0|+2|Detect Thoughts|+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
2|+1|+3|+0|+3|Bonus Feat|+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
3|+1|+3|+1|+3|Widen Spell|+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
4|+2|+4|+1|+4|Bonus Feat|+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
5|+2|+4|+1|+4|Scan Thoughts|+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class[/table]
Class Features
Hit Die: d4
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: War wizards gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.
Spells per Day/Spells Known: At each level, a war wizard gains new spells per day (and spells known, if applicable) as if he had also gained a level in an arcane spellcasting class to which he belonged before adding the prestige class level. He does not gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (such as wizard bonus feats). If he had more than one arcane spellcasting class before becoming a war wizard he must decide to which class to add each level for the purposes of determing spells per day and spells known.
Detect Thoughts (Sp): The war wizards of Cormyr are directly responsible for the safety of the realm and are often the first line of defense in dealing with threats before they become problems. Part of a war wizards training is to peer into the minds of the weak and craven in order read any evil plots or designs they have against the people of Cormyr.
A war wizard may sacrifice a prepared arcane spell or spell slot of at least 2nd level to cast Detect Thoughts. The saving throw DC is determined by the level of spell sacrificed, so a war wizard that sacrifices the 6th level spell Greater Dispel Magic to cast Detect Thoughts sets the DC as if Detect Thoughts were a 6th level spell. The war wizard may use this ability at-will.
Bonus Feat (Ex): The College of War Wizards is an elite academy, ranking high across all of Faerun for the quality of the mages that graduate from there. The Crown of Cormyr expects the best from his war wizards and he provides some of the best instructors and materials in the world. At 2nd and 4th level a war wizard gains a bonus feat chosen from the list below. The war wizard must meet all prerequistes of the feat.
Any metamagic feat, Skill Focus (Spellcraft), Spell Mastery, Spell Focus, Greater Spell Focus, Spell Penetration, Greater Spell Penetration.
Widen Spell (Sp): When the war wizards come to the battlefield the other armies know what they're in for. Not merely guards and wardens of the cities, the war wizards are capable battle mages, able to hurl fire and lightning from the heavens and into the enemies ranks.
By sacrificing a prepared arcane spell or spell slot of at least 1st level the war wizard may cast any spell as if it were affected by the Widen Spell feat. Doing so does not increase the spellcasting time for spontaneous casters. Additionally, when a war wizard uses this ability the spell only targets enemies within the area of effect, ignoring allies caught within the blast. For spells with a duration longer than instanteous this effect only lasts until the end of the war wizards next turn.
For example, if a war wizard uses her Widen Spell ability while casting Evard's Black Tentacles, the spell only ignores allies caught in the area until the end of the war wizards next turn. After her next turn the allies will be subject to the effects of this spell. This includes spells that deal damage, such as Fireball, and spells that impose an effect, such as Solid Fog.
Scan Thoughts (Sp): When using the Detect Thoughts ability, a war wizard is able to quickly bypass the upper layers of defense of the targets mind. A war wizard gains all the information from the spell in the first round of study, instead of waiting for 3 rounds. In addition the war wizard may concentrate upon multiple individuals at once. The maximum number of individuals she may use detect thoughts on simultaneously is equal to 1/2 her caster level.
Requirements:
Alignment: Any nonevil, nonchaotic
Base Attack Bonus: +5
Skills: Diplomacy 2 ranks or Knowledge (nobility & royalty) 2 ranks, Sense Motive 2 ranks
Special: Must swear an oath of fealty to the Crown of Cormyr.
Class Skills
The Purple Dragon Knight's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Climb (Str), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (local) (Int), Knowledge (nobility & royalty) (Int), Jump (Str), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), and Swim (Str).
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.
Purple Dragon Knight
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special
1|+1|+2|+0|+2|Oath of the Crown, Heroic Shield, Inspire Courage +1
2|+2|+3|+0|+3|Rallying Cry
3|+3|+3|+1|+3|Wrathful Charge, Inspire Courage +2
4|+4|+4|+1|+4|Oath of Challenge
5|+5|+4|+1|+4|Final Stand, Inspire Courage +3[/table]
Class Features
Hit Die: d10
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Purple dragon knights gain proficiency in all simple and martial weapons, all types of armor (light, medium, and heavy) and shields (including tower shields).
Oath of the Crown (Ex): Purple dragon knight's come from many different backgrounds, including other knightly and paladin orders as well as experience fighters. While the Crown requires service and dedication, it does not require that you abandon your previous oaths.
- Levels in the purple dragon knight prestige class stack with levels in paladin for determing the number of hit points healed with the paladin's Lay on Hands ability as well as determing her cleric level when using the paladin's Turn Undead ability.
- Levels in the purple dragon knight prestige class stack with levels in Knight for determing the uses per day and saving throw DC of the Knight's Challenge ability.
- Levels in the purple dragon knight prestige class stack with levels in Marshall for determing the bonus of the Marshall's Major Aura and uses per day of his Grant Move Action ability.
- Martial adepts add their full levels in the purple dragon knight prestige class to their initiator level, instead of the normal half level.
Heroic Shield (Ex): A purple dragon knight can use the aid another action as a swift action to give an adjacent ally a +2 circumstance bonus to Armor Class. In addition the purple dragon knight does not take the attack penalty when wielding a tower shield.
Inspire Courage (Su): The purple dragon knight is often the cornerstone of any battle, holding ground and directing the troops. He gains the Inspire Courage ability of the Bard, without the requirement for ranks in Perform. Activating this ability requires a standard action and last for as long the allies hears the purple dragon knight speak and for 5 round thereafter. While using this ability the purple dragon knight can fight normally but cannot cast spells or activate magic items by spell completion, spell trigger, or command words. An affected ally receives a +1 morale bonus on saving throws against charm and feat effects and a +1 morale bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls. At 3rd level and 5th level these bonuses increase by 1. The purple dragon knight may use Inspire Courage once per day per level of purple dragon knight.
Rallying Cry (Ex): As a swift action once per encounter, the purple dragon knight may issue a loud shout that invigorates himself and his allies. All allies within 60ft that can hear him, including himself, gain a morale bonus to attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, and saving throws equal to the purple dragon knight's prestige class level (maximum +5) until the end of the purple dragon knight's next turn.
Wrathful Charge (Su): When the purple dragon knight charges or makes a full attack action, enemies within 10ft of him must make a saving throw (DC 15 +purple dragon knight class level +Charisma modifier) or be shaken for 1 round. An enemy can only be affected by this ability once every 24 hours.
Oath of Challenge (Ex): Once per encounter as a swift action the purple dragon knight may shout out a challenge to an enemy within 60ft, calling him to battle. For the duration of the encounter or until the purple dragon knight falls unconscious, he gains the benefit of the Improved Critical feat with any weapon he wields and he does not automatticaly fail an attack roll or saving throw on a natural 1. These effects only apply when attacking the challenged enemy or saving against an effect caused by him.
Final Stand (Ex): When all others would fall, the purple dragon knight fights on. When the purple dragon knight is at or below half his normal maximum hit points he gains damage reduction 10/-- and may make an extra attack at his highest attack bonus when using the full attack action. This extra attack does not stack with abilities that grant an extra attack, such as haste. The damage reduction stacks with any other source of damage reduction of the same kind (DR X/--).
Re: Cormyr Campaign [Prestige Classes, Affiliations, House Rules]
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Re: Cormyr Campaign [Prestige Classes, Affiliations, House Rules]
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Re: Cormyr Campaign [Prestige Classes, Affiliations, House Rules]
That'll do it, I think. Comment away!
Re: Cormyr Campaign [Prestige Classes, Affiliations, House Rules]
...As is, final stand always applies. I mean, I guess temporary hit points might neutralize it, but... I think it needs to be reworded.
Re: Cormyr Campaign [Prestige Classes, Affiliations, House Rules]
It's a typo. It should be "at or less than half normal hit points". I'll fix it later, on my phone now. Thanks for the catch.
