"Flesh of my Flesh, Shadow of my Heart..."[3.5, Base Class, Color Wheel, PEACH]

[Amechra]

Bemäntelter Schatten
"I once was a man, much as you are; no longer.
I took my shadow, and formed a cloak;
I took my reflection, and shattered its face.
You think you know loneliness? You think you know doubt?
I climbed the path of power, but every step I took...
Well, allow me to demonstrate."
The shadowcasters are fools, watching but never taking. This one has no such reserves.
There are three maxims, known by all Bemäntelter Schatten; these are taken as truth, and all other truths as mere shadows of: These are lies, there are no truths, no lies. To categorize is to destroy.
1. The shadow and the reflection of a thing is a truth of that thing. Take from me these weaknesses.
2. To change the image of a thing is to change the substance. Shadow and Reflection are one. Ignorance is bliss. Knowledge is a tyranny of the image; to know is to be defined.
3. As long as image persists, Death is a mere illusion. Come, join this one. There is purity in disbelief, strength in being the flow.
Let me tell you a tale.

Game Rule Information: Once upon a time, everything was one
Ability Scores: Charisma and Wisdom are important ability scores... And then the first mind was born.
Starting Age: As Bard With thought, came boundaries, slahed across virgin void with abandon.
Alignment: Cannot have Blue as any part of their alignment.This mutilation of reality was abhorrent.
Starting Gold: As Rogue. My journey is one of healing, becoming, within myself, what the world once was. The end. Wasn't that lovely?
Hit dice: d8 Why don't you join me. Come, let us become gloriously nothing.
Bemäntelter Schatten
{table=head]BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Class Abilities|Mysteries Known|Shadow Conduit|Mantle of Shadow
+0|+0|+0|+2|Fundamentals of Shadow, Mantle of Shadow|1|0|1
+1|+0|+0|+3|Joined with Memory|2|1|1
+2|+1|+1|+3|Fracture the Image (Hidden)|2|1|2
+3|+1|+1|+4||3|2|2
+3|+1|+1|+4|Joined with Memory|3|2|3
+4|+2|+2|+5|Fundamental|4|2|4
+5|+2|+2|+5|Fracture the Image (Travel)|4|3|4
+6/+1|+2|+2|+6|Joined with Memory|5|3|5
+6/+1|+3|+3|+6||5|4|5
+7/+2|+3|+3|+7|Fundamental (Supernatural)|6|4|6
+8/+3|+3|+3|+7|Fracture the Image (Body), Joined with Memory|6|4|7
+9/+4|+4|+4|+8||7|5|7
+9/+4|+4|+4|+8||7|5|8
+10/+5|+4|+4|+9|Fundamental, Joined with Memory|8|6|8
+11/+6/+1|+5|+5|+9|Fracture the Image (Mind)|8|6|9
+12/+7/+2|+5|+5|+10||9|6|10
+12/+7/+2|+5|+5|+10|Joined with Memory|9|7|10
+13/+8/+3|+6|+6|+11|Fundamental (Preternatural)|10|7|11
+14/+9/+4|+6|+6|+11|Fracture the Image (Wholeness)|10|8|11
+15/+10/+5|+6|+6|+12|Joined with Memory|11|8|12[/table]

Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: A Bemäntelter Schatten is proficient in simple weapons, as well as light armor and the very shadows upon the hearts of that one's foes.

Fundamentals of Shadow: The powers of one who seeks the knowledge to make themselves whole must first start at the most basic of power; this manifests as at-will spell-like abilities called fundamentals, drawn from the shadows covering the hearts of all things. a Bemäntelter Schatten begins play knowing a single fundamental; that one gains knowledge of another fundamental at 6th level and every 4 levels thereafter. At 10th level, the fundamentals act as either spell-like abilities or supernatural abilities, whichever would be best at the time; at 18th level, the fundamentals behave as if they were extraordinary, supernatural, or spell-like abilities, whichever would be the best. What are these lies about knowledge? Those who know are ignorant, as they divide into the "known" and "known not".
Mysteries and Paths: The shadows know those who wish to become whole; they lend their knowledge to those who wish to know.No! Division is poison.
A Bemäntelter Schatten knows one Mystery at 1st level, another at 2nd level, and that one obtains yet another at every even level in this class thereafter. Starting at 12th level, that one may learn initiate or apprentice mysteries; prior to that point, only apprentice mysteries are available.

Unlike pathetic shadowcasters, who beg the Place for power, that one derives power from shadows within that one's self; as a result, that one is not required to learn mysteries sequentially within a path; instead, they may learn any mystery as long as they have at least two mysteries of one level lower known; that one is not required to know two 3rd level Mysteries to learn a 4th level Mystery, as long as that one is 12th level or higher.

In addition, that one doesn't have the failings that others using the power of shadows; that one's mysteries are instead manifested as if they were powers of the proper level; as a Bemäntelter Schatten wears their shadow as a cloak, the discerning sign of shadowcasting, the differing gestures of the shadow, does not exist. Indeed, nothing does; all is one, and one is nothing.
If every mystery in a Path is learned, then all of those mysteries become psi-like abilities, and their manifesting level is increased by two.

Unlike an ordinary mystery-user, a Bemäntelter Schatten does not have discrete uses of their Mystery in a day; instead, that one draws points from that one's Shadow Reserve (see the Mantle of Shadow, below); that one may spend any number of points from that one's Shadow Conduit while manifesting a mystery. If that one does so, the Mystery's effective level for the purpose of Shadow Reserve costs is reduced by that amount; this cannot reduce the Mystery's level below 0. That one's Shadow Conduit is filled every day at Dusk, and has a single point restored at the beginning of each encounter.

The save DC for a Bemäntelter Schatten's mysteries is (10+mystery level+Charisma modifier.) That one requires a Wisdom of at least 10+Mystery Level to use a given mystery.

Mantle of Shadow (Ex): A Bemäntelter Schatten has drawn their shadow around them like a cloak, allowing it to permeate that one's being as it should, lending them a grander power than their mere mystery-using compatriots.
That one gains all of the following benefits:

Spoiler

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-That one gains a pool of points, equal to their total hit-points as they would be calculated using that one's Charisma modifier in place of that one's Constitution modifier; from now on, these points will be referred to as the Shadow Reserve.

-Whenever that one is injured, points from the Shadow Reserve are transferred to that one's hit points at a rate of 1 per minute; the Shadow Reserve is restored at twice the rate that natural healing restores hit points. Additionally, any time a Conjuration (Healing) spell of at least 1st level is cast upon that one, that one's Shadow Reserve has a number of points restored equal to Spell Level+the caster's primary ability score.

-Whenever that one manifests a mystery, the amount of points indicated on the table below is transferred from the Shadow Reserve to that one's hit points:

Spoiler

Show

{table=head]Effective Mystery Level|Shadow Reserve Cost
0*, Fundamental|0
1|4
2|6
3|10
4|15
5|22
6|30
7*|40
8*|50
9*|60
10*|70[/table]
*These costs are only obtainable through spending points from either the Shadow Conduit or the Mantle of Shadow.

-When that one manifests a mystery, that one may spend a number of points from that one's Mantle of Shadow to raise the Manifesting level and effective level for the purpose of determining points transferred by an amount equal to the amount of points spent; no more than 4 points may be spent on any given mystery. The points in that one's Mantle of Shadow are restored to full at every Dawn, and a single point is restored at the end of each encounter.

-That one no long requires food or drink for sustenance; after that one obtains the ability to know Initiate mysteries, that one no longer requires air or sleep to sustain their vital processes.

The mantle is purity is self is strength sustains cradles nurtures is is is...
Joined with Memory: Pity the vestige, that being that has been reduced and exalted to an image of itself. To one who has fractured their image, replacing pieces with that of another is simple.
At 2nd level, and every 3 levels thereafter, that one may learn a vestige as if it was a mystery of equivalent level. However, the connection is far more tenuous; it takes a full-round action to manifest a vestige, the duration of the bind is minutes/CL, and that one is always treated as if they had failed their binding check.
A Bemäntelter Schatten may only learn a vestige of up to the level of the highest level Mystery known.Come, brethren, I give you a stepping-stone back. Love me, for I am you.

Fracture the Image (Su): A reflection is not a reflection; it is one and parcel to the reality of the thing is reflects; to mutilate one's image is to set that one's self free.A trap a trap Oh gods this one didn'
t know.
At 3rd level, the breaking of the Bemäntelter Schatten reflection has led to the steady degradation of that one's physical image. They gain a mis chance due to concealment equal to (Class Level-1)/2 *5%. This miss chance does not merely apply to attacks, as it represents the loss of any definite image that that one has; Divination spells, Tremorsense, Blindvision, Scent, and Blindsight have an equal chance to simply not sense that one in any given round. I see beyond now liberate me from here.

At 7th level, that one has cracked further; as such, that one may simply ignore the presence of barriers mundane and extraordinary; as such, that one gains an extra 5ft of movement every time they move (this includes 5ft steps), that may only be used to pass through an obstructed place. That one may extend the length doubled by treating any obstruction as if it was mere difficult terrain; as such, that one would treat a 10ft thick wall as if it was a piece of open terrain 15ft in length. Unfortunately, that one is not incorporeal or ethereal; as such, that one may not end their travel inside an object. If that one attempts to do so, that one is immediately moved back to the point where they entered the obstruction, and they receive an amount of damage equal to twice the distance they had traveled in feet. Why punish me GIVE ME BACK THE WALLS OF MY CELL! RETURN MY PRISON, DAMN YOU!
At 11th level, that one has fractured to the point where that one may be considered to no longer have a mind, at least not as those who are mundane may understand it; the Bemäntelter Schatten is treated as if that one was both Mindless and not Mindless, whichever would be superior in the given situation. Befreie mich von Wahnsinn Befreie mich von Wahnsinn Befreie mich von Wahnsinn
At 15th level, that one has fractured to the point that that one is no longer truly alive, nor dead; as the vestiges are, that one is. That one is treated as an object whenever it would be convenient.Sache der Leere, einer mit dunklen Ernüchterung
At 19th level, that one has broken so far there is no distinction between a fragment shattered Today, Tomorrow, or Yesterday; that one has the Rejuvenation ability of a Ghost. Ich habe ins Leere starrte, und ich wurde es, beachtet auch meine Fehler und lerne aus meinen Fehlern. Ich bin kein Modell, sondern nur eine Verirrung. Die Heilung ist fehlgeschlagen.

[Morph Bark]

There's a little too much white in the text and brown in the table header, making a large part of it unreadable. Fix please?

[Kobold-Bard]

Fix the colouring or nobody will ever critique this. Seriously.

[Eurus]

It's very flavorful, but I would suggest confining the white text to descriptive stuff only rather than actual abilities. Having it in the table is just asking for trouble.

[Amechra]

Alright, fine.

Darn it, I hadn't even noticed that I had it in the table. I've been reading House of Leaves, though, so... I know that isn't an excuse.

[Amechra]

Coloring fixed, bad German in white text has been added in discrete places; I proclaim this thing PEACHABLE!

[Lord_Gareth]

Hit dice are missing. Additionally, why can't they have other colors Primary? No, seriously, break it down for me - I want to hear your explanation.

[NineThePuma]

... Alignment prerequisites that don't have anything to do with the philosophy of the alignment.


Good job. I'm going to go play a Core Paladin/Monk Multiclass in an evil campaign.

[Amechra]

OK, I reread the thread, and I'm smacking my head so hard I have a concussion; these guys are so ANTI-blue that it isn't even funny.

In other words, the prereqs were put up there from an earlier draft, and I hadn't changed them. I'll go change them to something that makes more sense.

And there is no HD because this guy DOESN'T HAVE HIT POINTS! Just like the Nord's Blade, I threw a class ability in that causes any character that takes this class to use the Injury variant rather than HP (look in the Cloak of Shadows spoiler).

[Owrtho]

It really should have hit dice. Even if you're trying to say it gains 0 hp + con modifier each level, it should likely be listed as a d0. After all, if a character has no hit points they will be unconscious unless they take a feat to remain concious at 0 or less hp, and I see no abilities that overcome that (at least not at level 1). I also see no description of the Cloak of Shadow mentioned in the table, though I expect that is a typo of Mantle of Shadow, which is described, but not in the table. As a side note e3e9db is the proper colour to match the spoiler box.
Otherwise I haven't fully looked over the class, but thought I'd mention those.

Edit: Nijad while posting. Still should provide hit dice for those who don't want to use that variant.

Owrtho

[Lord_Gareth]

And there is no HD because this guy DOESN'T HAVE HIT POINTS! Just like the Nord's Blade, I threw a class ability in that causes any character that takes this class to use the Injury variant rather than HP (look in the Cloak of Shadows spoiler).

....

*SMACK*

Bad 'brewer! Bad! No forcing DM's to learn obscure variants!

EDIT: the above, while meant as honest advice, is phrased in a joking fashion; no insult was intended.

[NineThePuma]

Injury variant is also HORRIBLE for balance. Just saiyin.

[Amechra]

Ultimately, though, that rule variant is simpler to learn and use than, oh, I don't know, ADDING AN ENTIRE NEW SPELL-CASTING SYSTEM INTO THE GAME!

Seriously, all that the variant does is remove HP, give a Fort Save DC against any given attack equal to 15+(damage/5, round up)+Number of Hits-(Sources of Bonus HP/5, round up). A fail by 9 or less means you add a single hit; a fail by 10 or more means that you are treated as if you were at 0 HP (Disabled), and if you receive a hit while disabled, you immediately become Dying.

Dying is treated exactly the same as normal, except that you make a Fort Save against a DC of 10+Number of Hits you have +1 per round you have been dying; if you fail this save, you die, if you succeed by less than 5, your condition doesn't worsen or improve, and if you succeed by 5 or more, you go back to being Disabled.

You remove 1 Hit per 2 levels when you rest for the night, and Fast Healing removes a number of hits per round equal to (FH amount/5, rounded up).

There, I explained the variant in a rather simple manner in 2 paragraphs and 1 sentence; was that really that hard?

Would you ask Welkneir to stop making Bloodlines because it is an "obscure variant"?

<Sorry for the mini rant; I just don't see the problem in causing someone to widen their prospects a bit. Plus, using hits instead of HP allows me to have a simple method of "casting from HP", as it were.>

Any other comments to make?

[NineThePuma]

Someone give this guy a lesson in optimizing your Fort save, please. =\ Begging you.

[Amechra]

I am aware that it is trivial to increase your Fort Save to obscene levels.

It is also possible to be completely immune to damage of any sort.

Your point being?

(In other words, I'm aware that the Injury variant makes injury trivial; I'll probably be dropping the Fort save down to poor, and making using you powers create extra Hits.

Either that, or I'll work out a different system.

Why am I being so adamant about using the Injury system, even though it has deep flaws? Because it helps indicate that people using this class aren't normal people; they should be able to at least SURVIVE anything thrown at them.

If you have a better suggestion, that doesn't just boil down to "Hit Points, then flavor properly", I'll be glad to hear it.)
Screw it, I'm giving them the Reserve Variant (Very simple; they get a pool of "Reserve" HP equal to their full HP; they transfer a number of HP from this pool to their actual HP at the rate of 1 per minute of nonstrenuous activity; any excess healing starts to refill this pool.

The idea is that, upon "casting", they transfer a given amount of Reserve Points to their normal HP equal to the following progression:
{table]Level of Mystery|Reserve HP Transferred
1st|4
2nd|6
3rd|10
4th|15
5th|22
6th|30[/table]
Points from your Shadow Conduit reduce that cost by one "level" per point; however, as they recharge slowly, it can be beneficial to just go.

Now it gets more interesting if you cast from your Mantle of Shadow; points from there don't prevent the cost, but instead allow you treat the ML for that mystery as being higher by 1 for each point spent; you may only spend a number of points this way up to the level of the Mystery you are trying to use.

When you spend HP from your Reserve Points, you heal that many HP (a 2nd level mystery would heal 6 HP); if this would put you over your maximum, any excess points would be lost.

I would have to think of a different methodology for "charging" up Mantle of Shadow.
A Warforged's 50% healing clause would be really helpful here, as would be a general "Fundamentals can't fill your Reserve Points".

Pros/Cons:
Pros:
-A LOT simpler than using the Injury Variant.
-Casting doesn't impair your HP; if done at the proper time, IT HEALS YOU. However, you do lose casting resources over time, and can't be completely within combat.
-It let's me actually get some use out of the fact that I memorized the point cost for 2e Spell Points.
.
.
.
You know, I'll go with this.

[Eurus]

Now that's interesting. It supports more of a slow-roll strategy rather than the standard nova that so many spellcasters use, since you want to get the full benefit out of your reserve healing.

[Amechra]

I have the class altered!

The way I have it currently set up, you have a pair of tactical actions you can pull off whenever you use mysteries:
1. You can cheapen the Shadow Reserve cost; this supplies an obvious benefit.
2. You can make the Shadow Reserve cost more expensive; this grants a +1 to your Manifesting level for that mystery. Useful for when you need that teensy, weensy bit of oompf.

One thing I put in there is that the Shadow Reserve regenerates sluggishly; as written, you regain Shadow Reserve points at 2x the rate you heal HP naturally, and you get Spell Level+Primary Ability Score Modifier points whenever someone heals you magically... and that is IT. I might increase that, at some point, though as written a person hitting a DC 50 healing check would restore 4-6 Shadow Reserve points per level, which isn't a problem...

A Ring of Regeneration would be nice, as well...

[Amechra]

All I need to add is skills. Can someone PEACH this?

[Owrtho]

Since you seem to have missed it when I mentioned it before, it looks like you have a name discrepancy between Cloak of Shadow and Mantle of Shadow.

Owrtho

[Amechra]

I did miss that; thank you, Owrtho.

[YouLostMe]

Before I can even look at this class, I have to know, what is with the red strikethrough and blue text? And why is half the name whited out... I mean, it's a name, and whiting out half of it doesn't make it less of a name.

Explain pl0x.

[Amechra]

As I had mentioned before, I have just recently read House of Leaves, so using different colors was a flavor description for me (the class, fluff-wise is opposed to knowledge, as it subdivides reality; thus the struck-through red text.)

As for the name...

If you notice up in the fluffy section, every word relating to shadows or reflections is whited out. The second word in the name is German for Shadow.

Plus, as I explained to a co-DM, it has to be written in white text to be properly spelled.

[Garryl]

Between the different colored text, the struck-through words, and that darned writing style, reading this is giving me a pleasant buzz of creeped the hell out (although it gets stale half-way through). Unfortunately, it does make it a bit difficult to actually understand what it's supposed to do and how it works. A plain text version with just the mechanical text (and without all those that ones) would be appreciated.

[Amechra]

I'll work on it.

[Lord Vampyre]

I would suggest giving the class (4+Int) skills per level. As far as the actual skills are concerned they should get Appraise, Sense Motive, Hide, Move Silently, Spot, Listen, Search, Tumble, Use Magic Device, and Spellcraft.

[Amechra]

Ooh, those skills look nice...

I have to admit, I am HORRID at deciding on skills.

[Lord Vampyre]

Alright, I have some comments, questions, and concerns that I've been thinking about.

Joined with Memory

1. What is the Bemantler's effective binder level? Is this the same as their caster level?

2. How often can the Bemantler manifest a vestige? Is it considered the same as casting a mystery? This would mean that they would have to expend points from their Shadow Reserve to actually manifest the vestige.


Shadow Conduit vs Mantle of Shadow

These abilities seem somewhat redundant. I understand that one lowers the level of the mystery and one raises the level of the mystery for the purpose of transferring points out of the class's Shadow reserve, which is exactly my point. Ideally, I would suggest combining the two, allowing the player decide whether they wish to raise or lower the mystery's level. For this, I would stick with the amount of points granted by the Shadow Conduit, except at first level they should start with 1 point.

Shadow Reserve

This part seems to have the largest possibility for abuse.

1. Based on the way I read it, Fundamentals really don't cost the Bemantler anything. This means that the Bemantler is able to cast Fundamentals an unlimited number of times per day starting at 1st level. Now, this isn't really much of a problem since they only start with 1 Fundamental at first level, and the Fundamentals aren't really that powerful. Just need clarification on this point.

2. Currently, the Shadow Reserve grows at a rate of 1d8 plus Cha Mod per level. A lucky Bemantler would be able to cast their 1st level mystery 3 times per day at 1st level. However, an unlucky Bemantler would have to wait until 2nd level before they could even cast a mystery. Now, ideally a Bemantler should have 120 points in their Shadow Reserve (not including the points they would recieve from a high charisma). With prodigious use of their Shadow Conduit, they would be able to manifest all of their Apprentice Mysteries twice per day and their Initiate Mysteries once per day. (Assuming their Shadow Reserve was full of course, which it may not be since it regenerates slowly.) Ideally, I would simply have the Shadow Reserve increase at a rate of 6 + Cha Mod per level.

3. This brings me to my final point on the Shadow Reserve. Allowing the Shadow Reserve to heal the character as they use it seems to break D&D's action economy. This basically gives the Bemantler the ability to cast a Quickened Cure (insert level here) Wounds, whenever they choose to use a mystery. Couple this with the ability to increase the mystery's effective level gives them the ability to heal almost completely in the middle of a battle while doing something else. I'm not exactly sure how overpowering this would actually be, but it does have quite a bit potential to be abused.

Fracture the Image (Travel)

Clarification: Let's say a character wanted to run through the side of a mountain to get to a cave. Given a base movement of 30ft, does the 5ft increase get added on after you've multiplied the base move to 120, giving you a grand total of 125ft; or does it get added on before you multiply the base move, giving you a grand total of 140 ft? Considering the rock wall would be considered difficult terrain, this would mean that the Bemantler could move either through a wall of 60 or 67.5 feet thick. This would increase dramatically if the character had the Run feat and/or Fast Movement from the Monk or Barbarian class features, giving them another 15 to 42.5 feet of movement straight through a wall. Now, this is an extreme circumstance, but one that I felt deserved consideration. You may even want to give a set distance that the Bemantler can traverse through solid objects.

Finally, I think I would add Intimidation to my previous list of skills. I just see the Bemantler as being naturally intimidating. It is also the only charisma based skill I see them as having. Ironically, eventhough the Bemantler has to have charisma to power their mysteries, they don't strike me as the sort that would utilize many of the charisma based skills.


All in all, I have to admit that I like the class. It has quite a bit of potential.