Base Class Contest XXXXIV: Power Word: Homebrew

[Lanth Sor]

The Scribe

"You know, I have a scroll for just that." -Albus Dorns

Scribes delve for years in ancient volumes and long forgotten tomes. They learn all they can, working with ancient magic items and learning the true power they can muster from them. Sages and knowledgeable leaders come from their stock, as master of how so the world can benefit from ages of mastery far older than any one man or woman could ever muster. Scribe must travel far and wide, to find the oldest esoteric tomes to learn from. The pursuit of learning is never bound to in morals, but ethics often hold strong sway twoard structure.

Scribes come from many different stocks, human, elf, dwarf, ogre, and even dragon. The community they create is one that rarely has time for frivolities of racism, but on occasion, a scribe may give in. Due to their varied nature, no specific diety is chief among scribes, but magic deities and deities of knowledge are most common.

Abilities: Scribes favor high intelligence allowing for more skills and powering many of their class features. Scribes benefit from high charisma as they tend to perform roles as teachers and leaders. Dexterity and constitution aids in the survivability not afforded by their class features.

Alignment: Any.

Hit Die: d4

Starting Age: As Wizard

Starting Gold: 5d6 *10

Class Skills
The Scribe’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are; Appraise (Int), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (All; taken individually) (Int), Perform (Cha), Profession (Cha), Spellcraft (Int), Survival (Wis), Use Magical Device (Cha), Use Rope (Dex).


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

Level	BAB	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special	Lesser Attuned Items	Greater Attuned Items	Esoteric Resonance
1st	+0	+0	+0	+2	Esoteric Attunement (Lesser), Esoteric Understanding, Scholastic Knowledge, Scholastic Learning	3	-	2
2nd	+1	+0	+0	+3	Esoteric Attunement (Greater), Scholastic Record	4	1	5
3rd	+2	+1	+1	+3	Technical Author	5	2	9
4th	+3	+1	+1	+4	Scholastic Record	6	3	14
5th	+5	+1	+1	+4	-	9	3	20
6th	+6/+1	+2	+2	+5	Scholastic Record	10	4	27
7th	+7/+2	+2	+2	+5	-	11	5	35
8th	+8/+3	+2	+2	+6	Scholastic Record	12	6	44
9th	+9/+4	+3	+3	+6	-	15	6	54
10th	+10/+5	+3	+3	+7	Scholastic Record	16	7	65
11th	+11/+6/+1	+3	+3	+7	Advanced Technical Author	17	8	77
12th	+12/+7/+2	+4	+4	+8	Scholastic Record	18	9	90
13th	+13/+8/+3	+4	+4	+8	-	21	9	104
14th	+14/+9/+4	+4	+4	+9	Scholastic Record	22	10	119
15th	+15/+10/+5	+5	+5	+9	-	23	11	135
16th	+16/+11/+6/+1	+5	+5	+10	Scholastic Record	24	12	151
17th	+17/+12/+7/+2	+5	+5	+10	-	27	12	169
18th	+18/+13/+8/+3	+6	+6	+11	Scholastic Record	28	13	188
19th	+19/+14/+9/+4	+6	+6	+11	-	29	14	208
20th	+20/+15/+10/+5	+6	+6	+12	Scholastic Record, Scholastic Author	30	15	229

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the scribe.

Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: A Scribe's is proficient with simple weapons, but no armor or shields.

Esoteric Understanding: A scribe learns to attune themselves to magic items allowing the use of their own magic reserves instead of the items allowing single-use items to be used multiple times and employing items normal restricted to those with specialized knowledge. They may spend 15 minutes attuning with esoteric items. They are treated as meeting the prerequisites tied to the items until they attune themselves again. This attunement is tied to the specific item so if they are attuned to a scroll of fireball and use the scroll normally, they can not pick up a different scroll of fireball and benefit from the attunment.

To attune an item the scribe must have a number of ranks in the knowledge skill related to the item equal to items level + 3. Item level refers to caster level, manifester level, etc. Magic items

Esoteric items are items that require a caster level, manifester level, class level, or similar type of requirement to use and or make.

Lesser Esoteric Attunement: Lesser esoteric items are items that are single use or limited use. Scrolls, wands, potions, power stones, etc.

Greater Esoteric Attunement: Greater esoteric items are permanent items that do not lose their esoteric status upon use. Staves, spell books, psicrowns, magic weapons, etc.

Esoteric Resonance: Esoteric Resonance is the stored energy scribes use to power their esoteric items, allowing use beyond their normal limits. Whenever activating an attuned esoteric item the scribe can instead of spending the items charge to instead spend esoteric resonance. For spells or similar effects, the expended resonance required is their spell level or equivalent. For effects not tied to spells levels or similar levels, the effective level of the effect divided by 2 is the cost. A scribe can only spend 1/2 class level in esoteric resonance per activation. Scribes gain bonus esoteric resonance equal to their intelligence modifier every odd level.

Spell Books grant access to any spell present in the book, but cost 1 extra resonance and casting time increases by 2 steps.
Staves and similar items can be charged as normal, but takes 1 extra resonance if no spell book or other item is available to replicate the required spell or effect.
Scrolls/Power Stones/etc. spend 1 point per level of the effect.

Scholastic Knowledge (Ex): A scribe adds half their class level (minimum 1) on all Knowledge skill checks and may make all Knowledge skill checks untrained. Gain Knowledge Devotion as a bonus feat, you do not need to meet its prerequisites.

Scholastic Learning (Ex): A scribe learns best form books, gaining far more insight from reading than watching. When using a masterwork manual on a topic(skill or otherwise) the bonus granted is 1.5 x the normal bonus.

Technical Author: A scribe can create a instruction manual for any skill or feat or ability they have. The manual provides a +1 competence bonus to rolls related to the manuals topic, if the own reads it in their off time. The manual can be skimmed as a full round action gaining a +3 competence bonus to related rolls for 1 minute. Each manual is worth 400g x (min level + 1 per prerequisite), and is made using Craft (scribe), the scribe must have the ability, feat, or skill for 3 levels to make a manual on the topic.

Scholastic Record: Starting at the second level and every even level there after the scribe adds a new record to their journal. These records are compilations of information they have found or tricks they have come to master. The record is kept in a tome akin to a spell book, an the scribe must have their scholastic record available to benefit from their choices. Replacing a scholastic record takes 1 day per class level and 100g.

• Archivist's Notes: When the scribe makes a knowledge devotion roll against a creature and takes 2 rounds jotting down notes they can retain +1 of the bonus permanently. This bonus stacks each time used, but you cannot increase the bonus unless your current bonus is higher then your existing notes.
• Esoteric Item Efficiency: Choose one type of esoteric item, stave, weapon, armor, wand, etc. When utilizing chosen item you may spend 1 less esoteric resonance, min 1/2 normal or 1 esoteric resonance which ever is greater.
• Esoteric Item Specialization: Choose a type of esoteric item, any attuned item of that type, grants +1 to all numerical benefits, caster level, attack/damage bonus, energy damage, etc. You may take this multiple times, each time can be for the same item type or for different item type.
• Esoteric Ability Mastery: Choose 3 + Intelligence modifier spells, power, class features, or similar abilities, the scribe is considered to have the chosen abilities for meeting prerequisites.
• Monster Hunter's Notes: The scribe gains the ability to research a specific creature(vampire, ogre, human, or etc.) and gains favored enemy toward that creature. Each creature takes up one page per bonus provided by favored enemy. The bonus provided is +1 per 5 your result exceeds DC 10 Knowledge check related to the creatures type. Research requires a large library, or a collection of works about the creature worth 25g per HD of the creature. The research can only be done once for a given creature per level.
• Scholastic [Source] Compendium: The scribe gains an arcane caster/divine caster/manifester/etc.(Choose one) equal to their class level. An attuned item uses your level or its own which ever is higher for determining its effects.
• Scholastic Guide: The scribe gains a feat they meet the requirements for, with any intelligence score or an intelligence based skill as its prerequisite. This may be taken multiple times each time learning another feat.
• Shared Combat Experience: The scribe learns how to direct his allies in combat. As a standard action, they can grant any ally able to hear them the benefit of their knowledge devotion feat.
• Shared Skill Experience: The scribe learns how to direct his allies in preforming a skill. As a standard action, they can grant any ally able to hear them the benefit of any feat they have for a skill, and use the scribes skill bonus for the skill on any checks made for 1 minute. The ally uses their own ability modifier not the scribes.
• Skill Guide: The scribe gains Skill focus(class skill) or a feat with skill focus as a prerequisite. This may be taken multiple times each time learning another feat.
• Technique Guide: The scribe gains a feat with a caster level, manifester level, etc. as a prerequisite that you meet the prerequisites for. This may be taken multiple times each time learning another feat.
• Techno Babble: The scribe starts spouting off random information form their journal, in incohesive lines that leave their enemies dazed. As a standard action, the scribe starts talking and anyone in 30ft must make a will save DC 10 + 1/2 class level + intelligence modifier. On a failed save they are dazed for 1d4 rounds. Anyone with the ability to make all knowledge checks untrained gain +4 to the save.
• Training Notes: The scribe chooses 2 cross-class skills these skills are treated as class skills while the scribe has their journal. Additionally any skill points spent in the skill provide 1 rank while they possess their journal. This may be taken an unlimited number of times.

Packrat (Ex): Beginning at the 3rd level, the scribe learns to maximize their storage space. The scribe may use either their strength or intelligence score for determining how much they can carry and add 1 per odd class level to the ability score for determining carry capacity.

Advanced Technical Author: Starting at the 11th level the scribe can create advanced technical manuals. Advanced technical manuals grant the reader the benefit of a feat or class feature for 1 minute after a they spend a full round action in review. The reader must be of a same level as the first level the class feature would be available +2.

Scholastic Author: Starting at the 20th level the scribe gains the ability to create a copy of their scholastic record for use by others, called a Scholastic Manual. The scholastic manual costs 500g x class level³. Crafting a Scholastic Manual takes a month. The scholastic manual grants all known Scholastic Record abilities learned, including any specific choices such a as what feat is gained or skills are affected. The manual does not grants any prerequisites for the scholastic records.