Archivist goodies! (alternative features and feats) [Archive] - Wizards Community

Archivist goodies! (alternative features and feats) [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Pazu
04-26-07, 03:46 AM In this thread (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?p=12218968#post12218968), there was a call for more archivist support. To be honest, I'm not particularly optimistic about Complete Champion in this regard, so I thought I would try my hand at filling the gaps. My goal in this project was to come up with interesting, flavorful, and thematic abilities that wouldn't be overpowering. Comments and constructive criticism are welcome, and additional ideas are encouraged! :)

THE ARCHIVIST

Alternative class features:

Seeker of Truth
Technically, an archivist can learn any divine spell she can find. Some DMs, however, may prefer to keep domain spells the exclusive province of clerics, representing their special connection to the deity they serve, while encouraging archivists to learn spells more in keeping with their role as lorekeepers. (This may work better as a campaign house rule rather than a class variant.)

Level: 1st
Replaces: If you select this class feature, you are prohibited from learning clerical domain spells (other than the Knowledge and Magic domains) that do not otherwise appear on the cleric spell list. Other “special” spells, such as the spells of specific shugenja orders, may also be prohibited, at the DM’s discretion.
Benefit: You may select your spells from the cloistered cleric variant spell list (see Unearthed Arcana). You may also learn the spells from the Knowledge and Magic domain spell lists. Your ability to learn other non-clerical divine spells (e.g. druid, adept, paladin, ranger) remains unchanged.

Lore Collector
While many archivists tend to specialize in certain fields of research, others tend towards a more eclectic approach. With volumes of ancient scripture at their fingertips, they amass a wide range of interesting facts without any particular systematic organization.

Level: 2nd
Replaces: If you select this class feature, you do not gain the Lore Mastery ability (or its additional bonuses at 7th, 13th, and 17th level).
Benefit: Beginning at 2nd level, you gain the ability to know legends or information regarding various topics, just as a bard can with bardic knowledge. The archivist adds her level and her Intelligence modifier to the lore check. In addition, she gains a +2 synergy bonus to the check if she has at least 5 ranks in any relevant Knowledge skill.

Feats:

Academic Minor [General]
In addition to your studies of supernatural beings, you have spent some of your free time researching more mundane creatures as well.
Prerequisites: Dark knowledge ability, appropriate Knowledge skill(s) 5 ranks (see below).
Benefit: Select one of the following pairs of creature categories: plants and oozes, animals and vermin, humanoids and monstrous humanoids. You may use your dark knowledge abilities against the creatures you selected; Knowledge (nature) covers plants, animals, vermin, and monstrous humanoids, while Knowledge (dungeoneering) applies to oozes, and Knowledge (local) pertains to humanoids.
Special: You may select this feat only once, as the majority of your studies are devoted to more unusual foes.

Breadth of Knowledge [General]
You have achieved sufficient mastery of your subject matter that you can make startling mental connections with respect to your foes.
Prerequisites: Dark knowledge ability, Knowledge (arcana, dungeoneering, religion, or the planes) 9 ranks.
Benefits: You can combine two dark knowledge effects against the same target(s). Each effect costs one of your daily uses of dark knowledge. You may not use the same dark knowledge effect twice on the same target.

Depth of Knowledge [General]
Your understanding of your foes is remarkable indeed.
Prerequisites: Dark knowledge ability, Knowledge (arcana, dungeoneering, religion, or the planes) 12 ranks.
Benefits: For every 10 that you exceed the DC of your dark knowledge check, your bonuses increase by +1 or +1d6, as applicable.
Normal: The maximum bonus from a dark knowledge check is +3 or +3d6 (DC+20 effect).

Enhanced Knowledge [Reserve]
Your skill with ancient divine magic can enhance or alter your dark knowledge bonuses.
Prerequisites: Dark knowledge ability, able to cast certain spells (see below).
Benefits: You may modify your dark knowledge bonuses as noted below.

- Enhanced Tactics: As long as you have a divination spell of 2nd level or higher available to cast, you may forgo the bonus to hit and instead reduce your allies’ miss chances due to incorporeality, displacement, blur, or similar effects. The miss chance is reduced by 15% for every +1 you would have gained from the normal use of the tactics ability.

- Improved Puissance: As long as you have a conjuration (healing) spell of 3rd level or higher available to cast, you may forgo the saving throw bonus and instead produce an effect identical to remove blindness/deafness, remove disease, remove curse, remove paralysis, or neutralize poison, with a caster level equal to your archivist level. You may affect a number of allies equal to the saving throw bonus you would have gained from a normal use of the puissance ability, and the same effect must apply to each ally. In addition, you must be treating the same malady in each ally; thus, if your party fought a mixed group of mummies and ghouls, you could choose to treat any allies afflicted with ghoul paralysis or mummy rot, but not both (but see Breadth of Knowledge above).

- Sworn Foe: As long as you have a transmutation spell of 4th level or higher available to cast, you may forgo the damage bonus and instead allow your allies to bypass a creature’s DR. Your allies may ignore 4 points of DR for every +1d6 damage bonus you would have gained by a normal use of the foe ability.

- Deeper Secret: As long as you have an evocation spell of 5th level or higher available to cast, you may target one additional creature (of the same type) with your dread secret ability.

- Divine Foreknowledge: As long as you have an abjuration spell of 6th level or higher available to cast, you may forgo the AC bonus and instead cause the target creature(s) to suffer a miss chance on their attacks against your allies. The target creatures' attacks take a 20% chance of missing for every +1 AC you would have gained from a normal use of the foreknowledge ability.

Erudite Under Pressure [General]
Your confidence in your knowledge is unshakeable.
Prerequisite: Master of Knowledge.
Benefit: You may take 10 on any Knowledge check, even when being rushed or threatened.

Indefatigable Knowledge [General]
You are an inexhaustable source of information, and you are willing to share it whenever possible.
Prerequisite: Dark knowledge ability.
Benefit: You gain 2 additional daily uses of your dark knowledge ability.
Special: You may take this feat multiple times. Its effects stack.

Any other ideas? Let’s have fun with this! :)
NoldorForce
04-26-07, 01:44 PM Master of Knowledge (a prerequisite for Erudite under Pressure) does not exist.

Depth of Knowledge needs to be able to improve the dread secret ability of dark knowledge.

Breadth of Knowledge is useless unless you're aiming to use two dark knowledge effects at once. Dark knowledge already has no per-encounter limitation; instead it can only be used once per creature.
Pazu
04-26-07, 02:10 PM Master of Knowledge (a prerequisite for Erudite under Pressure) does not exist.

Am I misremembering the name? It's the feat in Heroes of Horror that gives a +1 to all Knowledge skills.

Edit: No, here it is: Master of Knowledge; Heroes of Horror page 123.

Depth of Knowledge needs to be able to improve the dread secret ability of dark knowledge.

You're right, I hadn't yet come up with a good way of improving dread secret. Got any ideas? :)

Breadth of Knowledge is useless unless you're aiming to use two dark knowledge effects at once. Dark knowledge already has no per-encounter limitation; instead it can only be used once per creature.

Clearly, this is what I get for trying to come up with things without the rules in front of me. I'll change that, thanks.
periscope
04-26-07, 07:27 PM These are cool, I like the flavor they present.

One question though:

On the one you have them give up potentally everything except of the expanded cleric list and the knowledge domain. Shouldnt he have the magic domain as well? I would think it would make sense.

Also, you may want to put in a quote that they are or are not cut off from the druid list of spells if they take that option.
Pazu
04-27-07, 12:26 AM These are cool, I like the flavor they present.

Thank you! It's always nice to have your work appreciated. :)

One question though:

On the one you have them give up potentally everything except of the expanded cleric list and the knowledge domain. Shouldnt he have the magic domain as well? I would think it would make sense.

Also, you may want to put in a quote that they are or are not cut off from the druid list of spells if they take that option.

Well, you know, I actually tossed in Seeker of Truth as a bit of an afterthought, since those were the house rules we used for the archivist I was playing (and hope to return to soon). Having access to the Magic domain spells would be reasonable (I should have thought of that when I was discussing the character with my DM!) I'll make some notes above.

Thanks for the feedback!
Pazu
04-28-07, 02:59 PM ...bump for more critiques (hopefully)...

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Pazu 04-26-07, 03:46 AM	In this thread (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?p=12218968#post12218968), there was a call for more archivist support. To be honest, I'm not particularly optimistic about Complete Champion in this regard, so I thought I would try my hand at filling the gaps. My goal in this project was to come up with interesting, flavorful, and thematic abilities that wouldn't be overpowering. Comments and constructive criticism are welcome, and additional ideas are encouraged! :) THE ARCHIVIST Alternative class features: Seeker of Truth Technically, an archivist can learn any divine spell she can find. Some DMs, however, may prefer to keep domain spells the exclusive province of clerics, representing their special connection to the deity they serve, while encouraging archivists to learn spells more in keeping with their role as lorekeepers. (This may work better as a campaign house rule rather than a class variant.) Level: 1st Replaces: If you select this class feature, you are prohibited from learning clerical domain spells (other than the Knowledge and Magic domains) that do not otherwise appear on the cleric spell list. Other “special” spells, such as the spells of specific shugenja orders, may also be prohibited, at the DM’s discretion. Benefit: You may select your spells from the cloistered cleric variant spell list (see Unearthed Arcana). You may also learn the spells from the Knowledge and Magic domain spell lists. Your ability to learn other non-clerical divine spells (e.g. druid, adept, paladin, ranger) remains unchanged. Lore Collector While many archivists tend to specialize in certain fields of research, others tend towards a more eclectic approach. With volumes of ancient scripture at their fingertips, they amass a wide range of interesting facts without any particular systematic organization. Level: 2nd Replaces: If you select this class feature, you do not gain the Lore Mastery ability (or its additional bonuses at 7th, 13th, and 17th level). Benefit: Beginning at 2nd level, you gain the ability to know legends or information regarding various topics, just as a bard can with bardic knowledge. The archivist adds her level and her Intelligence modifier to the lore check. In addition, she gains a +2 synergy bonus to the check if she has at least 5 ranks in any relevant Knowledge skill. Feats: Academic Minor [General] In addition to your studies of supernatural beings, you have spent some of your free time researching more mundane creatures as well. Prerequisites: Dark knowledge ability, appropriate Knowledge skill(s) 5 ranks (see below). Benefit: Select one of the following pairs of creature categories: plants and oozes, animals and vermin, humanoids and monstrous humanoids. You may use your dark knowledge abilities against the creatures you selected; Knowledge (nature) covers plants, animals, vermin, and monstrous humanoids, while Knowledge (dungeoneering) applies to oozes, and Knowledge (local) pertains to humanoids. Special: You may select this feat only once, as the majority of your studies are devoted to more unusual foes. Breadth of Knowledge [General] You have achieved sufficient mastery of your subject matter that you can make startling mental connections with respect to your foes. Prerequisites: Dark knowledge ability, Knowledge (arcana, dungeoneering, religion, or the planes) 9 ranks. Benefits: You can combine two dark knowledge effects against the same target(s). Each effect costs one of your daily uses of dark knowledge. You may not use the same dark knowledge effect twice on the same target. Depth of Knowledge [General] Your understanding of your foes is remarkable indeed. Prerequisites: Dark knowledge ability, Knowledge (arcana, dungeoneering, religion, or the planes) 12 ranks. Benefits: For every 10 that you exceed the DC of your dark knowledge check, your bonuses increase by +1 or +1d6, as applicable. Normal: The maximum bonus from a dark knowledge check is +3 or +3d6 (DC+20 effect). Enhanced Knowledge [Reserve] Your skill with ancient divine magic can enhance or alter your dark knowledge bonuses. Prerequisites: Dark knowledge ability, able to cast certain spells (see below). Benefits: You may modify your dark knowledge bonuses as noted below. - Enhanced Tactics: As long as you have a divination spell of 2nd level or higher available to cast, you may forgo the bonus to hit and instead reduce your allies’ miss chances due to incorporeality, displacement, blur, or similar effects. The miss chance is reduced by 15% for every +1 you would have gained from the normal use of the tactics ability. - Improved Puissance: As long as you have a conjuration (healing) spell of 3rd level or higher available to cast, you may forgo the saving throw bonus and instead produce an effect identical to remove blindness/deafness, remove disease, remove curse, remove paralysis, or neutralize poison, with a caster level equal to your archivist level. You may affect a number of allies equal to the saving throw bonus you would have gained from a normal use of the puissance ability, and the same effect must apply to each ally. In addition, you must be treating the same malady in each ally; thus, if your party fought a mixed group of mummies and ghouls, you could choose to treat any allies afflicted with ghoul paralysis or mummy rot, but not both (but see Breadth of Knowledge above). - Sworn Foe: As long as you have a transmutation spell of 4th level or higher available to cast, you may forgo the damage bonus and instead allow your allies to bypass a creature’s DR. Your allies may ignore 4 points of DR for every +1d6 damage bonus you would have gained by a normal use of the foe ability. - Deeper Secret: As long as you have an evocation spell of 5th level or higher available to cast, you may target one additional creature (of the same type) with your dread secret ability. - Divine Foreknowledge: As long as you have an abjuration spell of 6th level or higher available to cast, you may forgo the AC bonus and instead cause the target creature(s) to suffer a miss chance on their attacks against your allies. The target creatures' attacks take a 20% chance of missing for every +1 AC you would have gained from a normal use of the foreknowledge ability. Erudite Under Pressure [General] Your confidence in your knowledge is unshakeable. Prerequisite: Master of Knowledge. Benefit: You may take 10 on any Knowledge check, even when being rushed or threatened. Indefatigable Knowledge [General] You are an inexhaustable source of information, and you are willing to share it whenever possible. Prerequisite: Dark knowledge ability. Benefit: You gain 2 additional daily uses of your dark knowledge ability. Special: You may take this feat multiple times. Its effects stack. Any other ideas? Let’s have fun with this! :)
NoldorForce 04-26-07, 01:44 PM	Master of Knowledge (a prerequisite for Erudite under Pressure) does not exist. Depth of Knowledge needs to be able to improve the dread secret ability of dark knowledge. Breadth of Knowledge is useless unless you're aiming to use two dark knowledge effects at once. Dark knowledge already has no per-encounter limitation; instead it can only be used once per creature.
Pazu 04-26-07, 02:10 PM	Master of Knowledge (a prerequisite for Erudite under Pressure) does not exist. Am I misremembering the name? It's the feat in Heroes of Horror that gives a +1 to all Knowledge skills. Edit: No, here it is: Master of Knowledge; Heroes of Horror page 123. Depth of Knowledge needs to be able to improve the dread secret ability of dark knowledge. You're right, I hadn't yet come up with a good way of improving dread secret. Got any ideas? :) Breadth of Knowledge is useless unless you're aiming to use two dark knowledge effects at once. Dark knowledge already has no per-encounter limitation; instead it can only be used once per creature. Clearly, this is what I get for trying to come up with things without the rules in front of me. I'll change that, thanks.
periscope 04-26-07, 07:27 PM	These are cool, I like the flavor they present. One question though: On the one you have them give up potentally everything except of the expanded cleric list and the knowledge domain. Shouldnt he have the magic domain as well? I would think it would make sense. Also, you may want to put in a quote that they are or are not cut off from the druid list of spells if they take that option.
Pazu 04-27-07, 12:26 AM	These are cool, I like the flavor they present. Thank you! It's always nice to have your work appreciated. :) One question though: On the one you have them give up potentally everything except of the expanded cleric list and the knowledge domain. Shouldnt he have the magic domain as well? I would think it would make sense. Also, you may want to put in a quote that they are or are not cut off from the druid list of spells if they take that option. Well, you know, I actually tossed in Seeker of Truth as a bit of an afterthought, since those were the house rules we used for the archivist I was playing (and hope to return to soon). Having access to the Magic domain spells would be reasonable (I should have thought of that when I was discussing the character with my DM!) I'll make some notes above. Thanks for the feedback!
Pazu 04-28-07, 02:59 PM	...bump for more critiques (hopefully)...