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Thread: Base Class Contest XIX - Inner Might

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    Barbarian in the Playground
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    Jun 2012

    Default Re: Base Class Contest XIX - Inner Might

    Planar Mage

    Put an optional image of your class here!

    Do you like my blast of fire? I can do this all day.

    There are many forms of magic and many ways to use them. Wizards learn arcane magic through intense study, but sorcerers only need to channel the power of their mighty ancestor (usually a dragon, but sometimes an outsider or an elemental). Divine magic is the custody of worshippers. Planar magic, for its part, is a wholly different set of skills : Planar Mages meditate for years to "synchronize" themselves with the constant flow of energy originating from the inner planes. As such, their magic functions differently.

    Adventures: Planar Mages adventure for the same reasons as more traditional spellcasters : they want to practice their magic, and won't say no if they can become rich along the way.

    Characteristics: Planar Mages can cast formulas, which are the equivalent of spells. They don't need to prepare their spells or use spell slots. Instead, they need planar points, which are spent when casting a formula and are slowly recovered over time. When they fight, they must spare their planar points to make sure they don't run out before the end of the encounter. Once it is done, they have plenty of time to recover their planar points before facing the next opponent.

    Alignment: Planar Mages can be of any alignment, but they tend to be neutral aligned, because the planes have no particular affinity to alignments and a character must have at least some notions of balance to master their energy.

    Religion: Some Planar Mages believe that the inner planes are sentient gods, granting their gift to those that please them. Others think that the harmony and self-discipline required to master planecasting is a religion in itself. Others yet worship elemental gods and various other entities of the inner planes.

    Background: Planecasting results from intense efforts to harmonize the applicant with the planes. In the Planar Mage's case, its the inner planes. Potential Planar Mages almost always study in one of many monasteries on the inner planes, but there are some of these locations in other planes, including the prime material. These monasteries are often directed by genies or elemental creatures. Finally, some Planar Mages learn their powers directly from a teacher of the class, but they are rare.

    Races: Planar Mages are most common amongst races of the inner planes, such as genies. Those born in the material plane are usually genasi. Very rarely will a character become a Planar Mage if he does not have a least a remote connection to one of the inner planes. Amongst humanoids native to the material plane, humans are the most likely to have such connection.

    Other Classes: Planar Mages tend to dislike more traditional spellcasters, which they see as too limited. After all, a wizard can only cast a couple of spells per day, but a Planar Mage can cast formulas all day as long as he gets enough time to accumulate the planar points he needs. However, they respect divine spellcasters for their dedication to an higher power. Monks receive the same treatment, especially since many adherent Planar Mages trained in monasteries. Finally, Planar Mages usually have a low opinion of fighting classes, which they see as meat shields, as well as of roguelike classes, because they see magic as intrinsically better than lockpicking and stealing skills.

    Role: Planar Mages are the equivalent of arcane spellcasters. At lower level, they can use their formulas to attack at range, hide their allies or protect them from the effects of certain planes. As they improve in level, their slowly learn formulas that can damage multiple opponents at once, improve their fighting abilities or give them utilitarian tools to use between encounters.

    Adaptation: As GM's discretion, a Planer Mage may be an elemental-bending character with no particular connection to the inner planes. The planecasting subsystem may also be refluffed into something else, such as emotion-based magic, but this would require greater adjustment and the creation of many new formulas. Finally, a different plane-based class may use the general chassis of the Planar Mage, but use planar points from the outer planes and thus have a wholly different set of formulas.

    GAME RULE INFORMATION
    Planar Mages have the following game statistics.
    Abilities: A Planar Mage needs a high enough Charisma score to learn high level formulas and improve the save DC of them. Like any character, he benefits from having a high Constitution score and gets more hit points as a result. Dexterity will improve his Armor Class and thus make him avoid some hits. Finally, a decent Strength score may allow him to fight in melee should he lack the planar points he needs to cast formulas.
    Alignment: Any
    Hit Die: d8
    Starting Age: Complex.
    Starting Gold: 5d4 x 10 gp (125 gp).

    Class Skills
    The Planar Mage's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (the planes) (Int), Profession (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), Survival (Wis) and Use Magic Device (Cha)

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

    PLANAR MAGE
    {table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Formulas Known|Maximum Formula Level Known

    1st|
    +0
    |
    +0
    |
    +0
    |
    +2
    |Instant Recovery (full-round action), Planecasting|
    1
    |
    1

    2nd|
    +1
    |
    +0
    |
    +0
    |
    +3
    |—|
    2
    |
    1

    3rd|
    +2
    |
    +1
    |
    +1
    |
    +3
    |—|
    3
    |
    1

    4th|
    +3
    |
    +1
    |
    +1
    |
    +4
    |—|
    5
    |
    2

    5th|
    +4
    |
    +1
    |
    +1
    |
    +4
    |Bonus Feat|
    6
    |
    2

    6th|
    +4
    |
    +2
    |
    +2
    |
    +5
    |—|
    7
    |
    3

    7th|
    +5
    |
    +2
    |
    +2
    |
    +5
    |Instant Recovery (standard action)|
    8
    |
    3

    8th|
    +6/+1
    |
    +2
    |
    +2
    |
    +6
    |—|
    10
    |
    4

    9th|
    +6/+1
    |
    +3
    |
    +3
    |
    +6
    |—|
    12
    |
    4

    10th|
    +7/+2
    |
    +3
    |
    +3
    |
    +7
    |Bonus Feat|
    13
    |
    5

    11th|
    +8/+3
    |
    +3
    |
    +3
    |
    +7
    |—|
    14
    |
    5

    12th|
    +9/+4
    |
    +4
    |
    +4
    |
    +8
    |—|
    16
    |
    6

    13th|
    +9/+4
    |
    +4
    |
    +4
    |
    +8
    |Instant Recovery (move action)|
    18
    |
    6

    14th|
    +10/+5
    |
    +4
    |
    +4
    |
    +9
    |—|
    19
    |
    7

    15th|
    +11/+6/+1
    |
    +5
    |
    +5
    |
    +9
    |Bonus Feat|
    20
    |
    7

    16th|
    +12/+7/+2
    |
    +5
    |
    +5
    |
    +10
    |—|
    22
    |
    8

    17th|
    +12/+7/+2
    |
    +5
    |
    +5
    |
    +10
    |—|
    24
    |
    8

    18th|
    +13/+8/+3
    |
    +6
    |
    +6
    |
    +11
    |—|
    25
    |
    9

    19th|
    +14/+9/+4
    |
    +6
    |
    +6
    |
    +11
    |Instant Recovery (swift action)|
    26
    |
    9

    20th|
    +15/+10/+5
    |
    +6
    |
    +6
    |
    +12
    |Bonus Feat|
    28
    |
    9
    [/table]

    Class Features
    All of the following are class features of the Planar Mage.

    Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: Planar Mages are proficient with all simple weapons. They are not proficient with any type of armor or shield. Armor of any type interferes with a Planar Mage's gestures, which can cause his formulas with somatic components to fail.

    Planecasting (Sp): Planar Mages rely on a form of magic known as planecasting. A Planar Mage casts spell-like abilities known as formulas, which are drawn from the Planar Mage formula list. He can cast any formula he knowns without preparing it ahead of time, but doing so requires the spending of planar points (see below).

    To learn or cast a formula, a Planar Mage must have a Charisma score equal to at least 10 + the effective spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a Planar Mage's formula is 10 + the effective spell level + the Planar Mage's Charisma modifier.

    A Planar Mage's selection of formulas is extremely limited. He begins play knowing one 1st-level formula of his choice. At each new Planar Mage level, he gains one or more new formulas, as indicated on Table: Planar Mage. These new formulas can be common ones chosen from the Planar Mage formula list, or they can be unusual formulas that the Planar Mage has gained some understanding of by study. The Planar Mage can’t use this method of formula acquisition to learn formulas at a faster rate, however.

    A Planar Mage can cast any formula he knows at any time, assuming he has enough planar points remaining to cast it. There are many types of planar points associated with different planes, but the Planar Mage only needs air points (shortened A), earth points (E), fire points (F), water points (W), positive energy points (P) and negative energy points (N). Other planecasting classes may use different types of points. Spent planar points recover naturally at the rate of 1 per minute (taken individually for each type of points), though there are ways to quicken the process. The Planar Mage can only have a given amount of points at any time, as indicated on Table: Planar Points.

    PLANAR POINTS
    {table=head]Level|Air Points|Earth Points|Fire Points|Water Points|Positive Energy Points|Negative Energy Points
    1st|
    1
    |
    1
    |
    1
    |
    1
    |
    -
    |
    -

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

    3rd|
    2
    |
    2
    |
    2
    |
    2
    |
    -
    |
    -

    4th|
    2
    |
    2
    |
    2
    |
    2
    |
    -
    |
    -

    5th|
    3
    |
    3
    |
    3
    |
    3
    |
    -
    |
    -

    6th|
    3
    |
    3
    |
    3
    |
    3
    |
    1
    |
    1

    7th|
    4
    |
    4
    |
    4
    |
    4
    |
    2
    |
    2

    8th|
    4
    |
    4
    |
    4
    |
    4
    |
    2
    |
    2

    9th|
    5
    |
    5
    |
    5
    |
    5
    |
    3
    |
    3

    10th|
    5
    |
    5
    |
    5
    |
    5
    |
    3
    |
    3

    11th|
    6
    |
    6
    |
    6
    |
    6
    |
    4
    |
    4

    12th|
    6
    |
    6
    |
    6
    |
    6
    |
    4
    |
    4

    13th|
    7
    |
    7
    |
    7
    |
    7
    |
    5
    |
    5

    14th|
    7
    |
    7
    |
    7
    |
    7
    |
    5
    |
    5

    15th|
    8
    |
    8
    |
    8
    |
    8
    |
    6
    |
    6

    16th|
    8
    |
    8
    |
    8
    |
    8
    |
    6
    |
    6

    17th|
    9
    |
    9
    |
    9
    |
    9
    |
    7
    |
    7

    18th|
    9
    |
    9
    |
    9
    |
    9
    |
    7
    |
    7

    19th|
    10
    |
    10
    |
    10
    |
    10
    |
    8
    |
    8

    20th|
    10
    |
    10
    |
    10
    |
    10
    |
    8
    |
    8
    [/table]

    Instant Recovery (Su): At first level, a Planar Mage may use a full-round action to instantly recover 1 planar point or any one type. He can do so at will, but never more than once per round.

    At seventh level, a Planar Mage can do so as a standard action.

    At thirteenth level, a Planar Mage only needs a move action, though the limit of one time per round still apply.

    At twentieth level, a Planar Mage can use this ability as a swift action.

    Bonus Feat: At 5th, 10th, 15th and 20th level, a Planar Mage gains a bonus feat. At each such opportunity, he can choose a feat from the following list: Augment Summoning, Beckon the Frozen (Frost), Boost Spell-like Ability (BoVD), Combat Casting, Elemental Spellcasting (PlH), Empower Spell-like Ability, Energy Gestalt (CM), Greater Spell Focus, Greater Spell Penetration, Heighten Spell-like Ability (CAr), Improved Counterspell, Maximize Spell-like Ability (CAr), Quicken Spell-like Ability, Skill Focus (Knowledge (the planes)), Spell Focus or Spell Penetration. The Planar Mage must still meet all prerequisites for a bonus feat, including caster level minimums (which he can fulfill with the spell-like abilities he gains as a planecaster).

    These bonus feats are in addition to the feat that a character of any class gets from advancing levels. The Planar is not limited to the feats above when choosing these feats.

    Note that, even though many of the feats above mention spells in their description, their benefits also apply to spell-like abilities (which does include formulas).
    Last edited by Network; 2013-10-15 at 10:39 PM.
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