Post/Author/DateTime	Post
fissionessence 04-05-08, 06:33 AM	I was inspired to create this class when I converted Magic: the Gathering's flamekin race to D&D. This class is intended for flamekin only, to represent the progression of their inherent abilities all the way to 20th level. However, as a major proponent of variability and options, I think this class could also be accessible to fire mephits and genasi, as well as any off-chance of fire elemental or magma paraelemental PCs, some crazy guy with the half-fire elemental template, or who knows how many other possible fits. Also, I created the Firezeal Spirit feat that unlocks this class to any character of any race who can get the feat. I'll post the flamekin racial writeup and some bonuses (such as the feat, some new spells for use as brightsoul surges, and new materials useful to flamekin) in subsequent posts. Adventurers: A flamekin brightsoul is a pilgrim, searching the world for clues to his elemental heritage. He journeys far and wide, while simultaneously searching deep inside himself to unlock the secrets and power of his own fiery spirit. Characteristics: The brightsoul's power emanates from him so viscerally that flames can easily be seen flickering from his body. It is this innate power of the flamekin race that fuels the brightsoul's powers. He may shape it into powerful blasts or the ability to manipulate fire around him, or he may use the power of his surges to grant him intense fire for supernatural martial maneuvers involving his body's natural heat and flame. Alignment: Flamekin are passionate individuals, and so tend toward extreme alignments; however, the brightsoul seeks power within himself and does not necessarily focus his attention on matters external to himself and his own pilgrimage, which can result in neutrality. This contrast can result in any sort of alignment for the flamekin brightsoul, depending on whether the character's natural charisma and passion wins out over his inner journey. Religion: Some brightsouls may pay patronage to gods of elemental fire or earth, or sometimes to deities that represent the flamekin's own desires and goals, but many forgo such worship and stay focused on themeselves and the elemental power they seek, not attributing it to any supreme being. Background: A young flamekin with a strong dose of zeal and wanderlust may quickly find himself persuaded by his family and friends to undertake the pilgrimage journey of the brightsoul. Such a journey is popular and encouraged by the flamekin, and a flamekin returning home after said pilgrimage is complete is welcomed, heralded, and begged to share his newfound wisdom. Races: Because the natural power of the class is drawn from the fiery elemental heritage of the flamekin, only flamekin can take levels in the brightsoul class. (At GM discretion, other races with fiery backgrounds may take levels as a brightsoul, although certain abilities and aspects of the flavor may not fit and could require a bit of alterations. Some alternate race examples: a PC fire elemental or magma paraelemental, fire mephit or genasi, or a character with the half-fire elemental template. Also, see the Firezeal Spirit feat.) Other Classes: Most brightsoul's will encounter other adventurers while on their journeys, and are glad to travel with these newfound friends. However, the brightsoul tends to stay focused on his own goals and intentions, all the while, and he is generally not concerned with the class of any companions, just as long as they remain amenable and their alignments remain unopposed. Role: The brightsoul's role may vary depending on his surge selection, but it will generally rely on the character dealing significant amounts of fire damage to the opponents of the party. A brightsoul with a focus on spell surges may spend much of his time at range, blasting fire at the enemies, while a brightsoul with more maneuver surges will go into melee more often, taking advantage of his natural armor, inner-flame nova ability and racial natural fire damage. GAME RULE INFORMATION Brightsouls have the following game statistics. Abilities: Charisma determines the level of surges available to the brightsoul along with their save DCs, while also having a great impact on the damage of his inner-flame nova class ability. Constitution affects the save DC of the inner-flame nova ability, and Strength is a great asset to any brightsoul who will often find himself swinging a weapon. Alignment: Any Hit Die: d8 Class Skills: The brightsoul's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Diplomacy (Cha), Gather Information (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (geography) (Int), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), Tumble (Dex). Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) x 4. Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier. Brightsoul BaseAtk Fort Dex Will —————————— Surges —————————— Level Bonus Save Save Save Special 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 +0 +2 +0 +0 2 1 - - - - - - 2 +1 +3 +0 +0 Rocky Form +1 3 1 - - - - - - 3 +2 +3 +1 +1 3 2 - - - - - - 4 +3 +4 +1 +1 Inner-flame Nova 3 2 - - - - - - 5 +3 +4 +1 +1 Rocky Form +2 3 2 1 - - - - - 6 +4 +5 +2 +2 3 2 1 - - - - - 7 +5 +5 +2 +2 Heated Body 4 2 1 1 - - - - 8 +6 +6 +2 +2 Rocky Form +3 4 2 1 1 - - - - 9 +6 +6 +3 +3 4 3 2 1 - - - - 10 +7 +7 +3 +3 Rocky Form +4 4 3 2 1 1 - - - 11 +8 +7 +3 +3 Expanded Flame 10ft 4 3 2 2 1 - - - 12 +9 +8 +4 +4 4 3 2 2 1 - - - 13 +9 +8 +4 +4 Rocky form +5 5 3 2 2 1 1 - - 14 +10 +9 +4 +4 5 3 3 2 2 1 - - 15 +11 +9 +5 +5 Rocky form +6 5 3 3 2 2 1 1 - 16 +12 +10 +5 +5 Expanded Flame 15ft 5 3 3 2 2 1 1 - 17 +12 +10 +5 +5 5 3 3 2 2 2 1 - 18 +13 +11 +6 +6 Rocky Form +7 5 3 3 2 2 2 1 1 19 +14 +11 +6 +6 5 3 3 2 2 2 2 1 20 +15 +12 +6 +6 Expanded Flame 25ft 5 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 Class Features: All the following are class features of the brightsoul. Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Brightsouls are proficient with all simple weapons, the scimitar, light pick, falchion, spear and short sword. They are also proficient with all light armor, but not with shields. However, a brightsoul must be careful because armor with an arcane spell failure chance can disrupt any of his surges used as spells or spell-like abilities. Also, the flamekin must take special care not to burn any flammable materials on his person (such as padded armor or fragile gear) when allowing his flame to become hot, such as with the inner-flame nova ability. Surges: The brightsoul learns fiery abilities called surges, allowing him to shape the raw elemental fire within him. Depending on the level of the flamekin and the nature and level of the surge, the specific surge may be usable at will, per encounter, or once per day. To use a surge, the brightsoul must have a Charisma score of at least 10 + the surge's level. If a surge allows a saving throw, its DC is 10 + the surge's level + the brightsoul's Cha modifier. Surges may come from one of two different sources: spells or maneuvers. (For information on maneuvers, see the Tome of Battle: Book of the Nine Swords.) Any spell with the [Fire] descriptor that does not require an XP cost or costly material component or focus may be made into a brightsoul's surge. Its surge level is equal to its spell level. If it has a different level depending on class (such as "Drd1 or Src/Wiz 2"), use the lower of the two numbers. Additionally, the DM may determine that certain spells with the [Light] or other descriptors are appropriate for the fiery flamekin brightsoul. In addition to spells, any maneuver (including stances) from the Desert Wind school may be made into a surge. The maneuver's surge level is equal to the swordsage level required to aquire the maneuver. (So, if a maneuver requires "Swordsage 2", then it is a level 2 surge.) The brightsoul learns surges according to the table above. The table represents the total number of surges known of each level for each level in the class. Upon reaching 5th level, and at every odd numbered brightsoul level after that, a brightsoul can choose to learn a new surge in place of one he already knows. In effect, the brightsoul "loses" the old surge in exchange for the new one. The new surge's level must be the same as that of the surge being exchanged, and it must be at least two levels lower than the highest-level surge the brightsoul can use. Maneuver surges are extraordinary abilities unless otherwise noted in the maneuver description, and they are usable once per encounter, or as normal for stances. The brightsoul's initator level is equal to his class level, but since brightsoul is not a martial adept class, this does not stack with any other martial adept class levels for purposes of brightsoul initiator level or maneuvers available in an actual martial adept class. Surges made from spells are either supernatural, spell-like, or used as spells, and are usable at-will, per-encounter, or 1/day respectively, based on the brightsoul class level and the level of the spell surge. Refer to the tables below. Level 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |Type Usage 1 (Sp) Spell |Spell 1/day 5 (Sp) (Sp) Spell |(Sp) per encounter 7 (Sp) (Sp) Spell Spell |(Su) at-will 10 (Sp) (Sp) (Sp) Spell Spell | 13 (Su) (Sp) (Sp) (Sp) Spell Spell | 15 (Su) (Sp) (Sp) (Sp) (Sp) Spell Spell | 18 (Su) (Su) (Sp) (Sp) (Sp) (Sp) Spell Spell | 20 (Su) (Su) (Su) (Sp) (Sp) (Sp) (Sp) Spell | Surges used as spells are subject to most of the same rules as arcane spells, including arcane spell failure chance, somatic and vocal components, provoking attacks of opportunity and being disrupted on a failed Concentration check. They may be cast defensively and resisted by spell resistance, do not function in an anti-magic field, and so on. A surge that mimics a spell which would require a material component or focus is exempt from these requirements as the material or focus is considered to be within the elemental body of the flamekin; however, this does not apply to costly material components or foci because a brightsoul cannot make a surge from a spell with such requirements. A surge used as a spell-like ability follows the normal rules for spell-like abilities except that it is subject to arcane spell failure chance. Surges used as a supernatural ability follows those appropriate rules. Any spell surge (a surge created from a spell, as opposed to one created from a maneuver) may be dispelled by the brightsoul as a standard action, and uses the brightsoul's class level as the caster level. Many of the brightsoul's surges are usable at-will or per encounter, and thus the brightsoul need not rest to regain them. However, in order to regain his daily surges, the brightsoul must meditate for 15 minutes after sleeping for eight hours. Rocky Form (Ex): The flamekin's rocky body grants him a +1 natural armor bonus beginning at level 2. This natural armor improves to +2 at 5th level, +3 at 10th, +4 at 14th and +5 at 18th. If the flamekin gains natural armor from another source, use the higher of the two bonuses. Inner-flame Nova (Su): As a standard action, the flamekin brightsoul of at least 4th level can flare up his inner flame, expanding it to a burst 5 ft. around him. The inner-flame nova deals damage to each creature in the area equal to the brightsoul's fire damage bonus, multiplied by the brightsoul's Cha modifier. A successful Reflex save at DC 10 + 1/2 class level + Con modifier halves the damage. Once used, inner-flame nova cannot be used again for 1d4 rounds. Heated Body (Ex): Beginning at 7th level, increase the flamekin's racial fire resistance as if he had five more hit dice than he actually has. Thus, a flamekin brightsoul 7 would be treated as if it were level 12 for the purposes of determining its flamekin racial fire resistance. Expanded Flame: Starting at level 11, the brightsoul may increase the burst area of his inner-flame nova ability from 5ft. to 10ft. Additionally, he may exclude any square from the burst area as he uses the ability (for example, in order to protect an ally from the blast). For each square excluded, increase the number of rounds before he can use the ability again by 1. (So, if he excluded 2 squares from the blast, he must wait 1d4+2 rounds before using the ability again.) At 16th level, the brightsoul's inner-flame nova may have up to a 15ft. burst, and a 25ft. burst at 20th level. ~ fissionessence
fissionessence 04-05-08, 07:04 AM	Here is the flamekin race writeup: FLAMEKIN Flamekin are beings of fire and mutable stone whose strong, intense passions drive them to wander the world. The flame of their bodies burns magically cool, but they can choose to burn hot at will. Other races are wary of flamekin and their fickle, fiery natures, a reputation that a group of flamekin called the Brighthearth are working to change. The Brighthearth serve as emissaries of flamekin goodwill to other races, performing useful tasks that require fire, such as smithing. On the other hand, some flamekin look to inspire rebellion among their race. These upstarts seek to overthrow tyrrany and destroy violently any person or organization that does not meet their standards. Flamekin have an almost spiritual connection to the more mysterious greater elementals of the planes. Flamekin regard them as totems or demigods that inspire their creative impulses—or frustrate their understanding. Personality: The fire of a flamekin is paralleled by her passion and zeal. Flamekin tend to always seek change, movement and adventure. They will proclaim their beliefs loudly and fight vigorously for any charge they may take. A flamekin is also very curious about the world, especially its primal elements. Seeking to understand the nature of the planes and themselves, flamekin employ their passions in pursuit of this quest. Physical Description: Flamekin average 5.5 to 6.5 feet: generally only slightly taller than an average human, although sometimes shorter. Their bodies consist of elemental stone with elemental fire burning from within them. Despite the thick appearance of their rocky bodies, though, the stone tends to be much sparser than the light flames that mainly composes a flamekin, and so they can weigh between 250 to 350 pounds. The rocky aspects of a flamekin's form tend to be shaped in places a human may wear armor, but this pattern varies in order to make each flamekin distinct. In addition, a unique faceplate of mutable stone composes the flamekin's face. Behind the flamekin's face and stony 'armor' is his ever-blazing fire that flickers up, throughout, and around him. The color of these flames can vary from flamekin to flamekin, usually appearing a red-orange hue, but with the potential to be closer to yellow or even pink. For a flamekin that learns to burn hotter and brighter, the color may change during times of intense flame to blue, purple and white. Relations: Most flamekin are happy to be friends with members from any race, but this perspective is not always reciprocated. Many other races are untrustworthy of the intimidating and threatening visage of a flamekin, and may tolerate such beings only grudgingly. Others have better reason not to trust flamekin, for they have encountered one or more of the rare group of flamekin that distrust other races just as much as they are distrusted, and therefore react violently to any non-flamekin. Alignment: Flamekin's powerful zeal tend to push them toward more extreme alignments, but the deeper a flamekin looks inside himself toward his path for enlightenment, the closer to gets to neutrality. Flamekin Lands: Very few flamekin live amongst other races, but seemling as few live in large flamekin cities or towns. Most flamekin dwell in mountains, especially near volcanos or in hot regions, comprising small villages. Probably as many flamekin as are stationary are individual nomads, wandering the land as they see fit. Despite this nomadic nature, though, there are very few flamekin tribes that travel together. Instead, once a group has settled it tends to stay put, providing a never-changing point for a wandering flamekin to return to, no matter how long his journey takes. Apart from towns, some flamekin landmarks are sorcerous schools or monastaries, providing more utility than simple dwellings. Such locations are rarely located any nearby flamekin towns, as flamekin are subconsciously averse to putting too many ties to a single area. Some flamekin have also long dwelled in the elemental plane of fire, but such flamekin tend to be socially different from those born on the material plane, and flamekin cities on the elemental plane tend to sprawl throughout the otherwise desolate reaches of the plane. They stay relatively close to the City of Brass, and provide 'shelter' to other denizens of the plane, although the city grants no special protection from the plane itself. Some sparse flamekin groups may also live on the elemental plane of earth. Religion: Flamekin may revere deities that favor travelers, wild spirits, or any cause or belief to which the flamekin's zeal causes him to adhere. Also, flamekin often have an attraction to deities that represent the flamekin's own fiery or earthy origin. A flamekin who truly embraces the pilgrim's journey and searches himself for his own true nature is likely to avoid any and all relations with the gods, instead focusing on his own soul and the mystery of the elements. Language: Flamekin speak their own language, which is a distant offshoot of Ignan. It therefore shares some words and phrases, but is generally unintelligible to an Ignan-speaking creature, and vice-versa. Most flamekin will also speak Common, however, as their travels and relations can take them in contact with many other races. They may also speak the language of any race that lives in the mountains nearby, such as Dwarves, giants, Orcs, etc. Names: When a flamekin names another, newly forged, flamekin, he will take one of two general directions. The first option is to grant a name in the flamekin tongue, many times highly reminiscent of Ignan in its sounds. Such names may or may not have meaning in the language, and most are compilations of sounds with no meaning. A flamekin will rarely grant a name to another flamekin if she is aware of any other being with the same name. The second option occurs when the flamekin that is granting the name is more aware of the surrounding Common-speaking communities. In these cases, some flamekin find it exciting to grant names that they know to have fire-related meaning in the Common tongue. To the flamekin, such names have an exotic yet familiar feel. On rare occasions, a flamekin on a journey will suffer such a revelation that he finds it necessary to rename himself. In addition, a community may make such a decision for a flamekin who has returned from a pilgrimage if the memebers of the community feel that the pilgrim has changed significantly. If the returning pilgrim does not wish to change his name, however, the issue is not pressed. Alternatively, it has become a trend for the more audacious, violent and wayward flamekin that they should rename themselves at their whim. Such renamings are almost never bound by the two traditions listed above, and instead are intended to convey something ferocious or intimidating about the flamekin who is changing his name. Flamekin only ever have one name; they do not take surnames or clan names. Male Names: Vessifrus Burner Kindle Korian Female Names: Ashling Illulia Flickeryn Slahra Adventurers: At least two-thirds of the flamekin race have, at some point in their lives, been adventurers. Some adventure for little more than a few months, simply seeing sights and experiencing new things, where many others may trek the world, never knowing exactly what it is they hope to find. Very few flamekin adventurers seek wealth or power; their goals are generally either to unlock wisdom of their own nature, or to enforce and propogate their beliefs. Flamekin Racial Traits • +2 Charisma, -2 Intelligence: Flamekin fire is paralleled by their passion, but their lack of structured society prevents any formal learning. • Medium: As Medium creatures, humans have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size. • Flamekin base lands speed 30 feet. • Immunity to most poison. The elemental-like body of a flamekin is not subject to most types of poison that would affect a normal fleshy creature. At DM discretion, certain types of poison, or especially potent poisons, may affect a flamekin as normal. • Fire Resistance 5; This resistance increases to 10 at character level 7, FR15 at level 14, and immunity to fire at level 20. • Vulnerability to Cold: The flamekin's fiery body is susceptible to cold, and he takes half again as much damage (+50%) from cold. • Weakness to Water: In addition to cold, a flamekin is especially at risk near water. Any water-based attack that deals damage to the flamekin deals half again as much untyped damage to the flamekin. In addition, simply touching water deals 1 damage, while a bucket of water dumped on the flamekin deals 1d6 damage. A flamekin's fiery body evaporates the water immediately, preventing any additional damage. A flamekin exposed to rain takes 1d6 damage each round, although a drizzle may deal only 1 damage per round instead. A completely submerged flamekin takes 2d6 damage each round and must make a Fort save to remain conscious. • Body of the Flame: Flamekin's bodies burn with a supernatural elemental-like fire. It is normally cool to the touch, but a flamekin can make his flame become hot with a free action. He may make only certain parts of his fire become hot, causing his hands to become warm while his torso remains cool, for example. This heat can light a torch or campfire, etc., or keep warm a cup of tea. When a flamekin commands his flames to become hot, however, he cannot protect any gear or clothing he may be wearing and thus must be careful which portions of him he 'ignites'. This is important for using the Heat of the Flames flamekin racial ability, and especially important for a flamekin brightsoul using the inner-flame nova class feature. • Glow of the Flames: A flamekin's body glows with hot coals and fire, granting torchlike illumination and giving a -6 on hide checks. A flamekin may concentrate while standing still to supress this glow (along with the penalty). • Heat of the Flames: A flamekin's body gives off fierce heat from its fires. Each unarmed strike from the flamekin deals additional fire damage and any opponent grappling the flamekin takes the damage each round as well. This damage does not apply to an opponent striking the flamekin, even with an unarmed attack or natural weapon. The amount of damage is based on the flamekin's hit dice; see the table below. The flamekin may also choose for his flame to remain cool during a fight, preventing all damage from this ability. (The flamekin's ability to deal additional fire damage with unarmed strikes does not mean he automatically has the Improved Unarmed Strike feat, nor does it make his normal unarmed strike damage lethal; only the added fire damage is lethal for a flamekin with a basic unarmed attack.) • Automatic languages: Common and flamekin. Bonus languages: Ignan, Terran, or the languages of creatures nearby the flamekin's home. • Favored Class: Brightsoul, Fighter, or Sorcerer. ~ fissionessence
fissionessence 04-05-08, 07:05 AM	Here are some bonus goodies: the feat mentioned in the brightsoul 'Races' entry, which allows non-flamekin to take levels as a brightsoul. Also, a couple new 0-level wizard/sorcerer spells for the brightsoul to make into surges, and a short list of non-fire subtype spells that the brightsoul coul potentially use (at DM discretion). I couldn't actually find any 0-level fire spells, so I'm totally open to suggestions on giving the brightsoul more 0-level surge options! New Feat: Firezeal Spirit A powerful passion burns within you so strongly that actual flames tend to leap from within your body. Prerequisite: Cha 15, Character Level 1st, Non-Flamekin Benefit: You gain the Heat of the Flames flamekin racial ability. See the flamekin race description for details. Special: You may take levels in the brightsoul class as if you were of the flamekin race. Normal: Only flamekin may take levels in the brightsoul class. New Spells: FIRE SHOT Evocation [Fire] Level: Sorcerer/wizard 0 Component: V,S Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels) Effect: Ray Duration: Instantaneous Saving Throw: None Spell Resistance: Yes A flicker of flame fires from your finger like a bullet from a sling. You must succeed on a ranged touch attack with the ray to strike a target. The spell deals 1d3 points of fire damage. BURNING COALS Evocation [Fire] Level: Sorcerer/wizard 0 This spell functions as the caltrops spell (Spell Compendium 42), except that it is an evocation spell with the fire subtype, and it generates hot coals and cinders that deal fire damage instead of caltrops. Spell Surge Selection from non-Fire subtypes: Dancing Lights [0, Light, PHB] Flare [0, Light, PHB] Luminous Gaze [1, Light, Spell Compendium] New Materials: Lavarock: Flamekin craft weapons from porous pumice they call lavarock. The common form of this material has a lower hardness than a weapon crafted from usual materials because of its brittle nature, and it is impossible to create a sharp edge from it, and so all weapons of the cheap lavarock must be bludgeoning weapons. Additionally, because of its lack of durability and refinement, masterwork versions of these weapons cannot be created. A stronger version of this material also exists, though, and it is as tough as and can be as sharp as steel. This material can be made into masterwork weapons, but is much more expensive than the cheaper version because of the rarity of the material and the difficulty of working with it. The benefit of both these materials is its porous nature and fiery origin; a flamekin wielding a weapon of lavarock can suffuse the stone with fire from his own racial ability, adding fire damage to attacks with the weapon as if it were an unarmed strike. OTHER DETAILS TO BE DETERMINED Fireproof Cloth: (Better name forthcoming.) This cloth can be used to make stuff that doesn't burn up . . . backpacks of this material can protect what's inside them if constructed properly and the pack is packed properly. OTHER DETAILS TO BE DETERMINED ~