[TSED]

Channeler



I used to pray for these people. Now I will not rest until they are destroyed.
-Samavha, channeler

The Channeler carries within them a great and powerful spark, but this spark is strange and unlike other things. They may instigate great sweeping revolutions - or extinguish them - and may not even intend to do so. They may topple tyrants to raise new loving governments and then topple those to raise new tyrants decades later. It is not necessarily their goal, but their nature - this spark of chaos, of neutralization, will bend both individuals and societies to act unpredictably. Their benefactor delights in this. The Channeler wields not the classic forces many adventurers are familiar with, but new swords and shields of motivation.

The common creation myth is as follows: A powerful hero of a God of Chaos founded an order of Paladin-like warriors devoted not to good, but to chaos. His teachings and their own studies shaped a rare breed of 'anarchs,' but over time the fire in the zealots died, their vitality tempered. Many of them misinterpreted the old teachings, and what was once an order devoted solely to change slowly became an order devoted to neutralization. The extremes of an individual, of an organization, of a country or a church or even a God are to be eroded. Luckily, this God of Chaos - which one specifically has been lost, be it intentionally or not - delighted in the direction its wayward wardens turned, and began to provide them with abilities more suited to their new roles. This is often refuted: channelers who worship different deities of chaos argue over which was the instigator, whilst others who do not worship chaotic deities at all proclaim their power comes from another source altogether. It is impossible to tell, as there is no written or oral tradition telling their history, only their practices. Such is their way.

Adventures: Channelers adventure for two reasons: one, it is what they are supposed to do. Paladins must go and right wrongs, blackguards must go and commit them, and channelers must go and end things. Those things are usually social orders, but not necessarily. The other reason they adventure is an unconscious fear of stability. Their lives have been punctuated by changes for as long as they can remember, and the almost universal thing behind them is that good things can never last. It is far more favourable - not just for the channeler, remember - to move on before the 'other shoe drops', as it were.

Characteristics: Channelers are unpredictable warriors because not even they know which force they shall wield against their foes. One minute they may be wracking their opponent with the most hideous of suffering, the next inspiring their allies to new heights of productivity, the next becoming an unstoppable rampaging destroyer before driving their enemies away by inspiring the deepest of apathies. They fight with chaos but not for chaos' sake; more a force causing a cycle of death and renewal.

Alignment: Some channelers seek out tyrants and depose their regimes, whilst others wish only to see good people suffer. The only thing they have in common is a disregard of rules. They have seen so many things change, after all, that dedicating themselves to some static ideal seems as ludicrous as a cold sun. Though they heavily lean towards chaotic alignments, neutral channelers are not unheard of.

Religion: Almost any deity can be worshipped by a channeler (the gods of law being the rare exceptions), but any channeler worshipping a deity that does not include chaos in its portfolio is part of an almost insignificant minority.

Background: Some individuals are cursed to live in interesting times. They may eventually find themselves in the care of a channeler's care or tutelage by any number of contrived circumstances. Circumstances, after all, are the channeler's forte. Some very rare monastic orders of channelers exist as well, but these organizations almost always break up within a decade or two. A stable group of channelers is almost antithetical to their unspoken purpose. Occasionally, the odd person develops the knack for being a channeler completely by themselves. These rare individuals are practically destined to be significant world-movers.

Races: Any and all races seem to have channelers, but races without a strong force of personality tend to be more rare than those that are genuinely charismatic.

Other Classes: Channelers do not harbour any intrinsic grudges with any of the common classes. A fair number of knights and paladins hold grudges against their constant tides of social upheaval, but that is to be expected and they rarely openly discriminate.

Role: A channeler's powerful supernatural abilities and their strong front-line presence makes them incredibly difficult to ignore as a threat in a party. Without warning, a strategy to get past them and into the less defensible party members can be foiled in any number of ways.

Adaptation: All realms hold entropy, change, and chaos. These things affect everything and everyone. Where ever there is some strange thing (whatever that thing may be) resisting this, there will be channelers drawn to it, doomed to change and end it.

GAME RULE INFORMATION
Channelers have the following game statistics.
Abilities: A Channeler has a vested interest in being healthy and strong like all fighting-types do, but they also benefit greatly from a high charisma modifier. Their strange powers almost always rely on charisma in some fashion.
Alignment: Any non-lawful.
Hit Die: d8
Starting Age: As barbarian.
Starting Gold: As fighter.

Class Skills
The Channeler's class skills are:
Balance, bluff, climb, diplomacy, disguise, escape artist, forgery, gather information, handle animal, hide, intimidate, jump, knowledge (religion), knowledge (local), listen, move silently, ride, search, sense motive, speak languages, spot, survival, swim, tumble, use magic device.

Skill Points at First Level: (4 + Int modifier) x 4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier

CHANNELER

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special
1st	+0	+2	+0	+0	Aspects
2nd	+1	+3	+0	+0	Dismiss The Spirits
3rd	+2	+3	+1	+1	Sufferer
4th	+3	+4	+1	+1	2d6 Aspect Duration
5th	+3	+4	+1	+1	New Aspect Abilities
6th	+4	+5	+2	+2	Chastise The Spirits
7th	+5	+5	+2	+2	Resist The Times
8th	+6/+1	+6	+2	+2	3d6 Aspect Duration
9th	+6/+1	+6	+3	+3	Rejoice!
10th	+7/+2	+7	+3	+3	New Aspect Abilities
11th	+8/+3	+7	+3	+3	A New era
12th	+9/+4	+8	+4	+4	4d6 Aspect Duration
13th	+9/+4	+8	+4	+4	Victor
14th	+10/+5	+9	+4	+4	Aura of Calming
15th	+11/+6+1	+9	+5	+5	New Aspect Abilities
16th	+12/+7/+2	+10	+5	+5	5d6 Aspect Duration
17th	+12/+7/+2	+10	+5	+5	Defeatist
18th	+13/+8/+3	+11	+6	+6	Industrialist
19th	+14/+9/+4	+11	+6	+6	Apatheticist
20th	+15/+10/+5	+12	+6	+6	6d6 Aspect Duration, Zeitgeist, New Aspect Abilities

Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: Heavy armour, simple and martial weapons, shields (but not tower shields)


Class Features

Spoiler

Aspects (Su):
Upon the Channeler's first action in combat, they may imbue themselves with an aspect of their choice. This aspect provides a number of specialized bonuses, but they do not have any control over how long they will maintain their aspect. Instead, the aspect lasts for 1d6 rounds. Starting at 4th level, and every 3 levels after that, the number of rounds the aspects last increases by another 1d6. Once the aspect ends, however, the way they are surges with new purpose and they are filled with another aspect. Roll 1d8 to determine what new aspect they take (see following table) and then roll duration again. This happens until the character is no longer threatened or feels threatened, whichever comes first, though their aspect runs out naturally. Note that mind-affecting effects can influence this. The aspect can be dispelled with a successful dispel check (its caster level is equal to your channeler level) but the aspect remanifests itself in 1d4 rounds.

Spoiler

Level	Aspects
1st	The same aspect as last time, or its direct opposite (your choice).
2nd	Suffering
3rd	Rejoicing
4th	Victory
5th	Defeat
6th	Industry
7th	Apathy
8th	Any aspect of your choice.

*Suffering opposes Rejoicing, Victory opposes Defeat, and Industry opposes Apathy.

Dismiss The Spirits (Su):
The Channeler makes a full round action that provokes attacks of opportunities. Upon their next action, they reroll which aspect they are imbued with and duration. In effect, this 'ends' the aspect they currently imbue.

Sufferer (Su):
Once per encounter, the channeler can use Sufferer as a move action. When Sufferer is active, all allies within 30' that would have taken damage do not take damage, but instead the channeler takes an equal amount of untyped damage in their stead.

Chastise The Spirits (Su):
Dismiss The Spirits now only takes a move action, though it still provokes attacks of opportunities.

Resist The Times (Su):
When an aspect would fade away due to its duration running out, the channeler may attempt to make a DC20 will save to renew its duration. Whether or not the will save is successful, the channeler receives a -4 penalty to attack, armour class, and initiative for the next two rounds.

Rejoice! (Su):
Once per day, the channeler can invoke Rejoice! as a standard action. While Rejoice! is active, any ally within 30' that would be the recipient of a new positive magical effect (for example, a Bull's Strength being cast on a target, a potion of healing being drunk, or a rogue successfully using Use Magic Device to cast Mirror Image upon herself) also causes the effect to take place upon the channeler. The channeler can decide against receiving the effect if it so chooses. Rejoice! lasts for one minute.

A New Era (Su):
Dismiss The Spirits now only takes a swift action, though it still provokes attacks of opportunities.

Victor (Su):
Once per encounter, the channeler can invoke Victor as a move action. For the next 10 rounds, the channeler can choose to imbue a d20 roll with this ability. The die is considered to have rolled a 20, but it is not a 'natural' 20 - a saving throw does not automatically succeed, and an attack roll does not threaten a critical. Victor cannot be used on skill checks, only one d20 can be imbued per use of Victor. The decision to use Victor must be declared before the d20 is rolled.

Aura of Calming (Su):
The channeler is surrounded by an aura that has the exact same effects as the cleric / bard spell Calm Emotions. The aura has a range equal to 5' + 5' per point of charisma modifier, and channeler can suppress it at will as a full round action.

Defeatist (Su):
Once per encounter, the channeler can invoke Defeatist as a full-round action. Every enemy within 30' must make a will save (DC 5 + 1/2 channeler levels + charisma modifier) or their next d20 roll will be considered a 1. It is not considered a natural 1; an attack roll does not automatically or critically miss, and a saving throw does not automatically fail.

Apatheticist (Su):
Once per encounter, the channeler can invoke the Apatheticist power as a standard action. For one round, any creature acting on a higher initiative count than the channeler can inflict no damage or negative status effects on the channeler.

Industrialist (Su):
Once per encounter, the channeler can invoke the Industrialist power as a standard action. For one round, any creature acting on a lower initiative count than the channeler can inflict no damage or negative status effects on the channeler.

Zeitgeist (Su):
Dismiss The Spirits can now be performed as an immediate action, and will not provoke an attack of opportunity.

ASPECTS

Spoiler

Suffering
1st level: All enemies within 5' of suffer a penalty to their saves equal to your charisma modifier.
5th level: All enemies within 30' of you suffer a penalty to their armour class equal to your charisma modifier.
10th level: All enemies within 30' of you suffer a penalty to their saves equal to your charisma modifier, and take an amount of damage equal to your charisma modifier per round.
15th level: All enemies within 30' of you suffer a penalty to their attack equal to your charisma modifier.
20th level: All enemies within 30' of you that make an attack of opportunity receive Xd6 untyped damage, where X is equal to your charisma modifier. The enemies in question understand this will happen if they have an intelligence score.


Rejoicing
1st level: All allies within 5' of you gain your charisma bonus to their saves; you are not included.
5th level: All allies within 30' of you are immune to fear (yourself included).
10th level: All allies within 30' of you gain an amount of fast healing and a bonus to all saves equal to your charisma modifier; you are not included.
15th level: All allies within 30' of you may reroll a natural 1 on a saving throw or attack roll. Once they have done so, they may not do this again for the remainder of the encounter. You are not included in this effect.
20th level: Every ally within 30' of you that does not take its standard or move action is healed for Xd6 hp, where X is equal to your charisma modifier. If it takes no actions at all, the heal is empowered as of the metamagic feat. Being unable to take the actions in question (for example, being stunned or unconscious) does not confer the healing bonus. This ability will not heal you.

Victory
1st Level: You gain fast healing equal to your charisma modifier.
5th level: Your base attack bonus increases to equal your channeler level. That is, while imbued with this aspect, your BAB is considered full progression instead of 3/4.
10th level: You gain damage reduction/- equal to your charisma modifier.
15th level: You gain a bonus to attack and damage equal to your charisma modifier.20th level: While you are imbued with the Victory aspect, you cannot die of hit point loss. If you are reduced below -10 hp and the Victory Aspect wears off without the damage having been healed above -10, you die immediately.




Defeat
1st level: Every time an enemy within 60' of you is reduced below 0hp, you and all allies within 60' gain an enhancement bonus to all statistics equal to your charisma modifier for 5 rounds.
5th level: Every time an enemy within 60' of you is reduced below 0hp, all remaining enemies within 60' of you must make a will save (DC 10 + 1/2 channeler levels + charisma modifier) or become shaken. This is a mind-affecting ability.
10th level: Every time an enemy within 30' of you is reduced below 0hp, all remaining enemies within 30' of you receive Xd6 points of non-lethal damage (fort save of DC 10 + 1/2 channeler levels + charisma modifier halves). This effect can only happen once per round.
15th level: Every time an enemy within 60' of you is reduced below 0hp, you and all allies within 60' of you are receive Xd8 temporary hp, where X is equal to your charisma modifier (round down). The temporary hp lasts for 5 rounds.
20th level: The first time an enemy within 60' of you inflicts damage in a round, it suffers an equal amount of damage that it inflicted. This can only effect one enemy per round, and you have no control over it.




Industry
1st level: All allies within 30' of you gain a bonus to initiative equal to your charisma modifier.
5th level: If an ally within 30' of you delays their initiative or uses a readied action, their initiative is unchanged next round.
10th level: All allies within 30' of you are immune to fatigue and exhaustion.
15th level: Allies within 30' who wish to take 10 or 20 on a skill check but cannot due to the stressful situations may take it anyway, and taking 10 or 20 requires half as much time as normal. Note that this bonus remains if being taken advantage of, even if the aspect changes or fades.
20th level: All allies within 60' of you may take an extra move action on their turn. This stacks with other sources, like marshal commands or haste.




Apathy
1st level: Enemies within 30' of you suffer a penalty to their initiative equal to your charisma bonus.
5th level: Enemies cannot take swift actions when within 30' of you. If they must, it counts as a move action.
10th level: Enemies within 30' of you suffer a -10 penalty to all forms of movement speed, and cannot take 5 foot steps.
15th level: Enemies within 120' of you are unable to run or charge and suffer a penalty to their initiative equal to your charisma bonus.
20th level: Enemies within 60' must make a will save (DC 20 + cha mod) or are unable to make full round actions and cannot make a standard action and a move action in a round.