Post/Author/DateTime	Post
JulesCARV 02-08-06, 12:51 AM	Thoughts on this? It's a not-particularly-inspired, fairly obvious culmination of the mystic theurge/cerebremancer/psychic theurge line of prestige classes, but it needs much higher prerequisites. Balanced? Too strong? Too weak? Just plain unnecessary? Interesting? Likely to be massively abused by Op boarders with Ur-Priest/Sublime Chord/Wilder type combos with it if it were ever made official? ---------------- The Artist of the Will studies the supernatural in all its forms. Seeking to understand the links between the disparate forms of occult power, she no longer views psionics, arcane magic,and divine magic as seperate fields, but as seperate aspects of the mysterious interactions between the sentient will and the physical world. Prerequisites: Knowledge (arcana): 13 ranks Knowledge (religion): 13 ranks Knowledge (psionics): 13 ranks Feat: Iron Will Able to cast 2nd level divine and arcane spells Able to manifest 2nd level powers Levels: 10 Hit die: d4 Skill points: 2 + int Class skills: Concentration, Craft, Knowledge (all skills, taken individually), Profession, Psicraft, and Spellcraft. Base Attack Bonus: Worst (+1/2 levels) Fortitude save: Bad (+1/3 levels) Reflex save: Bad (+1/3 levels) Will save: Good (+1/2 levels, +2 at first level) Gain no weapon or armor proficiencies When a character gains a new Artist of the Will level, she gains spells as if she had attained a level in any one divine spellcasting class, any one arcane spellcasting class, AND any one manifesting class. She gains no other benefits (wildshape, psicrystal progression, familiar progression, etc). Table: The Artist of the Will Level BAB Fort Ref Will Spells per Day/Powers Known 1st +0 +0 +0 +2 +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class/+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class/+1 level of existing manifesting class 2nd +1 +0 +0 +3 +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class/+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class/+1 level of existing manifesting class 3rd +1 +1 +1 +3 +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class/+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class/+1 level of existing manifesting class 4th +2 +1 +1 +4 +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class/+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class/+1 level of existing manifesting class 5th +2 +1 +1 +4 +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class/+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class/+1 level of existing manifesting class 6th +3 +2 +2 +5 +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class/+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class/+1 level of existing manifesting class 7th +3 +2 +2 +5 +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class/+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class/+1 level of existing manifesting class 8th +4 +2 +2 +6 +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class/+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class/+1 level of existing manifesting class 9th +4 +3 +3 +6 +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class/+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class/+1 level of existing manifesting class 10th +5 +3 +3 +7 +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class/+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class/+1 level of existing manifesting class
JulesCARV 02-09-06, 01:50 AM	Few truly master the art of the will. There is no school or apprenticeship system for masters of the art. Nonetheless, the idea of a unified system of supernatural influence is appealing to many, especially wizards and psions who seek a more rational way of explaining the bending of reality by the human mind. Archivists also sometimes seek explanation for the similarities between the disturbing occult forces they study. Most curious about a unified theory of supernatural power never become artists of the will. They become, for instance, wizards with ranks in knowledge (arcana), knowledge (religion), and knowledge (psionics), who are fascinated by other sources of magical power, but who are unable to wield them. However, some go beyond their own perspective in magic and not only gain knowledge of other types of magic, but true understanding of them as well, and how to wield them. Although many would regard an artist of the will as a mix of psionicist, arcane spellcaster, and divine spellcaster, that is not how most artists of the will think of themselves: they think of their art as a single, integrated system of supernatural power, of which psionicists, divine, and arcane spellcasters all have fractured pieces.
JulesCARV 02-09-06, 05:21 PM	Some thoughts on potential Artist of the Will combinations: Archivist/Psion/Wizard/Artist of the Will. This is the most obvious combination. All intelligence based casting, and a lot of variety in terms of spells possibly cast. Wilder/Favored Soul/Sorceror/Artist of the Will. Charisma based casting. Fewer spells, but more spontaneous casting Cleric (possibly druid)/Psychic Warrior/???/Artist of the Will: There are no wisdom-based arcane spellcasters that I know of, so this would require a second casting stat. Hmm...
Esponer 02-09-06, 05:30 PM	I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I don't like the concept of a class that advances three separate spellcasting/manifesting progressions simultaneously. It's simultaneously overpowered (in a "This is just... wrong" sense), and extremely underpowered (no Artist of the Will would ever survive). I've considered the concept of what you're going for, though, and while I never built the class I came to the conclusion that it would work better to actually use some imaginative (and heavily playtested) class abilities to merge the spell lists/casting styles together somehow, eventually partially sharing caster level (with a penalty compared to a single-classed caster/manifester, of course). Entry is still extremely difficult, however. One option is to grant one of the progressions inside the class. For instance, require arcane and divine spellcasting, and have the class itself gain some psionic powers, slowly, and then eventually come to merge all three.