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slan 07-25-05, 10:35 PM

Here is a sample variant wizard core class from Havilah: Land of the Covenant (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=369839), my homebrew world inspired by Old Testament and ancient Near Eastern mythology. Shem Tovha (Wizard) The shem tovhaim (singular: shem tovha) are arcane spell casters who gain their power through intense study of the Torah, specifically of the secrets buried in its arrangements of gematric letters and numbers. The tradition has its roots among the Yarikhites, who first discovered that power lay in the speaking of Ha-Shem's many names; hence, the class's name translates from Elven as “speakers of the Name.” Shem tovhaim are the Covenant's only tradition of organized wizardry. Like other wizards, they have schools to pass on their secrets, but they still consider themselves set apart from other arcane casters, as their magic is blessed by Adonai himself. Adventures: Shem tovhaim adventure for the same reasons as wizards. Characteristics: A shem tovha casts arcane spells, much like a normal wizard. However, he does not gain a familiar. Instead, he is able to augment his arcane spells with a bit of divine power, and at higher levels can tap the power of the enchanted Torah scrolls scribed by kohanim. Alignment: Shem tovhaim cannot be evil. Religion: All shem tovhaim keep the Covenant, though a majority of them do so through the esoteric Sefirot rites of the Yarikhites, even if they themselves are not of elvish descent. Background: Shem tovhaim come from the same sorts of backgrounds as other wizards, though all of them are born among races of the Covenant. Races: Yarikhite elves have shem tovha as their favored class, and make up the largest minority of the class's numbers. The majority, of course, are human. Be'hetim also show an affinity for the shem tovha's path. The class rarely attracts any of the other Covenant races, though none of them are barred from entering it. Other Classes: Shem tovhaim despise khery-hebs and magi as servants of the Idols, and as agents of their people's oppression. They work well with Covenant-born sorcerers and kohanim, and slightly less well with psalmists. They admire the nazirite's strict discpline, because shem tovhaim must themselves be quite exacting in their devotion. Of course, like all wizards, they rely on fighters to watch their back. Beyond the usual Israshemite rejection of evil, however, shem tovhaim are among the most cosmopolitan of the Israshemites, as their studies lead them down many paths. Game Rule Information Shem tovhaim have the following game statistics. Abilities: Intelligence determines how powerful of a spell the shem tovha can cast, how many he can cast, and how hard those spells are to resist. Also, shem tovhaim can benefit from high Dexterity and Constitution scores, to help compensate for their lack of fighting abilities and hit points. Alignment: Any non-evil. Hit Die: d4. Class Skills The shem tovha's class skills (and the ability modifier for those skills) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Knowledge (all skills taken individually) (Int), Profession (Int) and Spellcraft (Int). Skill Points at 1st Level: (2 + Int modifier) x 4. Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 2 + Int modifier. Class Features All of the following are class features of the shem tovha. Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Shem tovhaim use the same guidelines as wizards in determining their weapon and armor proficiencies. Wizardly Advancement: For purposes of determining their Base Attack Bonus, base saving throw bonuses, and spell advancement, shem tovhaim use the same table as wizards, on page 55 of the PHB. Spells: A shem tovha casts arcane spells, which are drawn from the wizard/sorcerer spell list, beginning on page 192 of the PHB. A shem tovha must choose and prepare his spells ahead of time, as other types of wizards must. However, rather than drawing his spells from ancient scrolls, as the khery-heb does, or from the study of astronomy like magi, the shem tovha discovers his spells through daily study of the Torah; specifically, he studies the secret meanings and deeper gematric relationships hidden within the superficial words found in Israshem's holiest work. The shem tovha does not have multiple spell books; he has only the Torah. A shem tovha chooses and prepares his spells by getting a good night's sleep and studying the Torah for one hour a day. While studying Torah, the shem tovha chooses his daily allotment of spells. To learn, prepare or cast a spell, the shem tovha must have an Intelligence score equal to 10 + the spell's level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against the shem tovha's spells is 10 + the spell's modifier + the shem tovha's Intelligence modifier. The shem tovha may not cast spells with the evil descriptor; spells that involve planar travel, the raising of the dead or the creation of undead; or non-lifesaving spells on the Sabbath. Doing so casts them into a state of ritual Uncleanliness. Otherwise, shem tovhaim follow all the same spell rules as wizards in the PHB. Annointed Arcana: Unlike other arcane spell users, shem tovhaim can augment their spells with a limited number of Divine Feats. Any time he is eligible to gain a new feat, whether it is a bonus feat or the feat all characters receive every three levels, a shem tovha can choose one of the following feats, and apply its bonuses to his arcane spells: Anointed Spell, Divine Recall, Exalted Spell, Sanctify Spell, or Scourging Spell.* The shem tovha must still meet all the pre-requisites of these feats before selecting them, however. This replaces the normal wizard ability to gain a familiar. Shem tovhaim never gain familiars. Prophetic Potential: A shem tovha who takes up the prophet prestige class from Testament retains his spell-casting capabilities just as users of divine magic would. Scribe Scroll: As per wizards of the PHB. Bonus Feats: A shem tovha gains bonus feats exactly as does a wizard in the PHB. Blessed Studies: Beginning at 13th level, a shem tovha may benefit from a magical Torah scroll that has been scribed for him by one of the kohanim. This Torah functions for him exactly as it does for a kohan, except that he may speak cantrips instead of orisons. For more about enchanted Torah scrolls, see the description of the kohan class. Golem Construction: At 15th level, a shem tovha gains Craft Construct as a bonus feat, even if he does not meet the prerequisites for it. However, he may only use the feat to create homunculi, brass golems (MM2), clay golems, iron golems, stone golems, runic guardians (MM2), or shield guardians. Because the creation of clay golems requires the use of divine magic, a shem tovha must either seek the aid of an Israshemite divine spell caster with the class ability of Permissible Resurrection (such as a kohan or a prophet), or possess appropriate levels of such a class himself. * These feats appear in the Testament sourcebook. "Anointed Spell" appears there as "Consecrated Spell," but I changed its name to avoid confusion with the feat of the same name from other sources.