[3.5/P, PEACH] Cyclic Knight- fun with time travel

[DarkMonkey]

Fluff will follow sleep.
As you may have guessed it's a class based on fooling around with time. Unsure as to the restrictions or wording on various things, whether they're too lenient or too strict. See if anything important was lost in the trimming down. Please do ask for clarification if anything confuses you.

Alignment: Any lawful.
Starting Gold: 4d4
Hit Die: d10

Cyclic Knight
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|1st|2nd|3rd|4th

1st|

+0

|

+2

|

+0

|

+2

|Temporal Oath, Temporal Symbol, Discern Time|-|-|-|-

2nd|

+1

|

+3

|

+0

|

+3

|Timefoolery, Fast Movement (10 ft)|-|-|-|-

3rd|

+2

|

+3

|

+1

|

+3

|Ravages of Time|-|-|-|-

4th|

+3

|

+4

|

+1

|

+4

|Glimpsing the Future 1/day|0|-|-|-|-

5th|

+3

|

+4

|

+1

|

+4

|Travel Points, Time Loop, Paradox|0|-|-|-

6th|

+4

|

+5

|

+2

|

+5

|Temporal Distillation (Move Action)|1|-|-|-

7th|

+5

|

+5

|

+2

|

+5

|Time Catalyst 1/day|1|-|-|-

8th|

+6/+1

|

+6

|

+2

|

+6

|Slowing Blow 1/day|1|0|-|-

9th|

+6/+1

|

+6

|

+3

|

+6

|Glimpsing the Future 2/day|1|0|-|-

10th|

+7/+2

|

+7

|

+3

|

+7

|Time Hop 1/day|1|1|-|-

11th|

+8/+3

|

+7

|

+3

|

+7

|Temporal Distillation (Standard Action)|1|1|0|-

12th|

+9/+4

|

+8

|

+4

|

+8

|Time Catalyst 2/day|1|1|1|-

13th|

+9/+4

|

+8

|

+4

|

+8

|Slowing Blow 2/day|1|1|1|-

14th|

+10/+5

|

+9

|

+4

|

+9

|Glimpsing the Future 3/day|2|1|1|0

15th|

+11/+6/+1

|

+9

|

+5

|

+9

|Fast Movement (20 ft)|2|1|1|1

16th|

+12/+7/+2

|

+10

|

+5

|

+10

|Temporal Distillation (Full-Round Action)|2|2|1|1

17th|

+12/+7/+2

|

+10

|

+5

|

+10

|Time Catalyst 3/day|2|2|2|1

18th|

+13/+8/+3

|

+11

|

+6

|

+11

|Slowing Blow 3/day|3|2|2|1

19th|

+14/+9/+4

|

+11

|

+6

|

+11

|Time Stop 1/day|3|3|3|2

20th|

+15/+10/+5

|

+12

|

+6

|

+12

|Temporal Mastery|3|3|3|3[/table]

Class Skills: The Cyclic Knight’s class skills are Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Ride (Dex), and Swim (Str).
Skill Points at 1st Level: (2 + Int modifier) × 4.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 2 + Int modifier.

Class Features
Spells: A Cyclic Knight casts arcane spells drawn from the Cyclic Knight spell list, without incurring a failure chance from wearing armor. He can cast any spell he knows without preparing it ahead of time, as a sorcerer does.
To cast a spell, a Cyclic Knight must have an Intelligence score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. When he gains access to a new spell level, he immediately learns all of the spells of that level that are on his spell list.


Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A Cyclic Knight is proficient with all simple and martial weapons and with all armor (heavy, medium, and light) and shields (including tower shields).

Temporal Oath: While formalized upon the characters induction into the Order of the Cycle proper, the continued existence of the knight is itself a pact and a reminder that the future itself cannot be changed once witnessed, not without dire consequences. A Cyclic Knight is forbidden from revealing the future to the past in any way that might shape said future, particularly advice.

Temporal Symbol: All Cyclic Knight abilities, including spellcasting, require a symbol unique to each knight and their understanding of time as focus. If lost, the knight may purchase or craft a new one valuing at least 50gp, and spend 4 hours attuning it to himself before it becomes functional.

Discern Time: The knight may accurately determine the time and date at will.

Timefoolery: The knight may subtly alter reality around himself at will as per the spell prestidigitation.

Fast Movement: The knight slightly warps time around him, increasing his movement speed by 10'. This increases to 20' at 15th level.

Ravages of Time: Beginning at third level, a knight with an Intelligence score of 12 or higher can unleash raw temporal by touch. Each day he can inflict a total number of hit points of damage equal to his knight level × his Intelligence bonus. This requires a successful melee touch attack and doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity. The knight decides how many of his daily allotment of points to use as damage after successfully touching his target. The target is aged one year, DC 10 fortitude save negates.

Glimpsing the Future: The knight spends a move action to look into the immediate future, gaining a +2 insight bonus to any one attack roll, saving throw, damage roll, skill check, or his armor class until the start of his next turn.

Travel Points: Starting at fifth level, the knight maintains a pool of time travel points. The size of this pool is equal to one-half his level rounded down, and requires 8 hours of rest to replenish.

Time Loop: As a full-round action the knight can spend travel points to pull himself back from the future, a number of rounds equal to the amount of travel points spent. At the start of the knight's next turn the future self appears within five feet per travel point pool size, and the location marked. Both knights act simultaneously in the initiative order. Any damage or effect that is incurred by the original knight is shared to the future self immediately. Any items, spells, abilities, etc used or consumed by either self are removed from both selves' possession. The current knight must focus his energies on maintaining the loop and may not use any non-passive Cyclic Knight class abilities, while the future knight has no such restriction. After the chosen number of rounds, the current knight is pulled back to the now-past and vanishes, while the future knight becomes the current knight. For every five feet away from the marked location the current self is when it vanishes, the knight loses a travel point.

Paradox: Whenever the knight uses his Time Loop ability, roll percentile. If the result is less than 5*the number of travel points spent, then he must roll percentile against the Paradox Chart and apply the result to the arriving future knight.
If the knight attempts to chain Time Loops, he must roll a d10 against the Severe Paradox Chart for each additional self beyond 2.
If the knight is ever reduced to a negative number of travel points by any means, he must roll a d10 against the Severe Paradox Chart for every point below zero.

Temporal Distillation: Once per day, the knight may drastically shift the flow of time around himself, allowing him to take an additional move action in the turn the ability is used. At 11th level he may choose to gain a standard level instead, which advances to a full-round action at level 16.

Time Catalyst: The knight may touch another creature as a standard action, or himself as a swift action, speeding the flow of time around them and affecting them as the spell Haste with a caster level of 7.

Slowing Blow: As a move action the knight may imbue his weapon with the ability to slow time. The next target he strikes must succeed a will save equal to 13+ the knight's intelligence modifier, or be Slowed as the spell for half the knight's level number of rounds.

Time Hop: As per the power, with a manifested level equal to half the knight's level.

Time Stop: As per the spell.

Temporal Mastery: The knight is allowed an additional self without Severe Paradox during a Time Loop, allowing three total without penalty. All normal rules and restrictions apply.

Ex-Cyclic Knights
A Cyclic Knight who willingly reveals the details of the future in an attempt to change it or who otherwise abuses the space-time continuum beyond the scope of his granted abilities loses all Cyclic Knight spells and abilities. They may no longer progress as a Cyclic Knight.

Cyclic Knight Spells
1st level: Detect Poison, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Comprehend Languages, Identify, True Strike
2nd level: Detect Thoughts, Locate Object, See Invisibility
3rd level: Arcane Sight, Tongues
4th level: Arcane Eye, Detect Scrying

Paradox Chart
{table=head]

%

|

Effects

1-5|Knight is stunned for 5 rounds, DC15 will save negates
6-10|Faerie Fire surrounds the knight for 1d20 rounds
11-15|The knight's life flashes before his eyes, dazing him for one round
16-20|An extra knight appears from the future, aging into dust over the course of the round
21-25|Sound is slowed around the knight, deafening him for 1d4 rounds
26-30|All hair within 30' of the knight grows as if a full day has passed
31-35|The knight is forced to repeat his next action for 1d3 rounds
36-40|Light slows around the knight, rendering him a blob of darkness and blinding him for 1d4 rounds
41-45|All food within 10' of the knight spoils
46-50|All plants within 60' experience a year of good growth
51-55|The knight is covered in frost, taking 2d4 cold damage
56-60|Time freezes within 30' of the knight for 2d4 rounds. None may act or enter the area, but are fully conscious
61-65|Reality jitters for a moment, inducing deja vu in all present and granting them a +2 to their saves for one round
66-70|All color within 150' of the knight fades, leaving the world black and white for 2d4 rounds
71-75|Flip a coin; if heads, all spells in effect have their durations doubled. If tails, their durations are halved
76-80|You begin traveling forward through time at a rate of one second per second
81-85|The knight advances one age category for 1d10 rounds, after which they return to normal
86-90|The knight becomes Hasted as the spell for 1d4 rounds, but is then fatigued
91-95|The knight becomes Hasted as the spell for 1d6 rounds, but is then exhausted
96|The knight ages 1d6-3 years, allowing reverse aging
97|The knight loses the ability to time travel for the rest of the day
98|A copy of the knight from an alternate timeline appears under the DM's control, convinced that he must slay the prime knight to survive. He ages into dust after 1d6 rounds regardless
99|Roll twice, apply both
100|Roll on Severe Paradox Chart
[/table]

Severe Paradox Chart
{table=head]1d10|

Effects

1|The knight is frozen in time for 1d3 hours
2|Everything withing a 30' sphere is teleported a random direction 1d3 miles away
3|A rift to the Astral Plane opens for 1d4 rounds
4|Roll 1d6 to determine the direction of gravity for 1d4 rounds
5|The knight advances to the next age category permanently
6|The knight begins aging twice as fast as usual, this effect may stack
7|The knight loses their ability to travel through time for a week
8|All of the knight's non-magical items disintegrate
9|The knight's mind is trapped in the Astral Plane for 3 days
10|Time and space fall out of sync, DM's discretion
[/table]

[TheGeckoKing]

Awwwwwwww.......I was gonna post a Prc that was Time Themed, but then you go and post a Base Class, and a good one too! I do have a few nit-picks/comments;

1. Is there any reason you made Temporal Oath the way it is? The "Take this at 1st level or not at all." seems a bit harsh to me.
2. The spell list at 3rd/4th level seems a bit sparse. I've dug up a list of Time Themed Spells. Maybe that'll help you.
3. Thoes dead levels seem a bit dead. I'm not sure at lower levels, but maybe this as an SLA at 19th level?

[DracoDei]

The "This must be your first level" thing doesn't make any sense... and that is why I am in favor of it. It gives the right sort of sense of weird logic that time travel should have.

This class looks a bit "Meh" at levels 1 to 4. I recommend moving the Glimpsing the Future ability back to start at level 1 and/or giving them full BAB (but that might overpower later levels, which I haven't looked at). As it is, they are mechanically underpowered compared to a paladin (not the strongest class in the world anyway) at those levels. Paladins get a very useful 1st level spell at will at first character level...

[TheGeckoKing]

What........but........somehow......if......ow. I can't see any logic in the 1st level only bit, not even wacky logic.
Timefoolery could be moved to 1st level without too much breaking of balance, methinks.

[DarkMonkey]

Posting from phone, pardon formatting.
'First level only' clause is a holdover from the first debut, when time loop was far less restricted and horrible visions of time-travelling wizards danced in our heads. Could bear removal. Although if kept, makes perfect sense from a predestination standpoint.
It is a bit flimsy at the early levels yeah. Been having some trouble thinking of what to fill it with.
Yet to look into that spell list.

[penbed400]

I'm the DM for the player who put this up. The reason why the class was made so that you had to enter it at first level was originally to keep people from doing Wizard 19/Cyclic Knight 1 and using the shenanigans to get twice the casting power back when the Time Loop ability was a bit overpowered. I don't think that Time Loop would be as bad as it was now at level 1, but it is still quite powerful. It's basically a level 8 spell off of the Alchemist spell list with just a few changes.

I skimmed over the list of spells you listed. I certainly don't have a problem with adding those to the list, but it depends on the player since I know he wasn't really looking for a spell caster.

I think the problem with class abilities is the sparsity between level 1 when you start and level 5 where the meat of the class really is. After that you just keep on getting more and more powerful with the bonus of Travel Points so no dead level is really too dead.

How would you recommend boosting them to a bit more powerful, maybe something around tier 3 I suppose.

[TheGeckoKing]

Well, the spell list was just something I dug up, so he could have a gander at time based spells. The class itself is alright, to be honest. I notice that it doesn't have much in the way of straight damage, though. Maybe fill Lv3 with an offensive ability, and the other 2 dead levels could be filled with whatever he feels like, because he's already got lots of options by then.

[DarkMonkey]

Oath and consequences clipped to reasonableness.
As for the first few levels, hm. Had a friend suggest some permutation of the Object Reading power, but not entirely certain how to scale it properly as an ability. For offense perhaps an inflict/heal/damage/repair power based on aging/de-aging the target. Touch based? Weapon-applied like slowing blow?
Hm.
Move timefoolery to first level, object reading on second, damage/repair on third, split time stop down to 19th, throw another 10' to movement speed at 15th because why not, and hm.
Thoughts on that arrangement? Still sorting through that spell list.

[penbed400]

Oath and consequences clipped to reasonableness.
As for the first few levels, hm. Had a friend suggest some permutation of the Object Reading power, but not entirely certain how to scale it properly as an ability. For offense perhaps an inflict/heal/damage/repair power based on aging/de-aging the target. Touch based? Weapon-applied like slowing blow?
Hm.
Move timefoolery to first level, object reading on second, damage/repair on third, split time stop down to 19th, throw another 10' to movement speed at 15th because why not, and hm.
Thoughts on that arrangement? Still sorting through that spell list.

Object Reading sounds life a fluff nightmare for me. But if you want it is a 2nd level power so you shouldn't gain it before level 3, maybe have two sections, one at level 3 and one at level 6. The first allowing for up to three minutes of concentration to that degree, and the 6th allowing up to 6 minutes of concentration?

Inflict/Heal damage as if a paladin/anti-paladin base-class. Must choose to be a master of speeding up(inflict) or reversing(heal) time at level 1? Dunno about channeling it through the weapon though. I think there is a feat like that for such things.

The added 10' of movement at 15 sounds fine.

[konner09]

I am curious what would the startoing gold be

[DarkMonkey]

Alrighty then.

Starting gold slapped up,
Nixed the object reading,
Made it damage only for the inflict ability, slotted as the offesnive portion of lay on hands, stuck it at third level,
Stuck the second speed increase into fifteenth,
Split Time Stop down as previously mentioned,

Barring anything else brought up, I'm calling this done.