Post/Author/DateTime

Post

aelryinth 01-01-05, 04:36 AM

http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=357877 This is a class I posted up on the Prestige Class board. It's technically part of my Haxan campaign, but I thought I'd post it here, since Eberron is so perfect for this class type. I'm kinda suprised more people didn't jump on the detail in the Chameleon class where the source of the class is actually a monastic master killed for his knowledge...meaning that an amoral Chameleon isn't the only way this system can be applied. keith said the Chameleon was perfect for an Eberron campaign. I adopted this as an idea for my Eberron story submission (I wonder how those are coming?), because one of the protaganists is Lady Silk, a Changeling Paladin/Rogue...and the Chameleon was just too perfect to not be tacked on. (3/2/7 Pal/Rogue/Chameleon at the end of the story). To wit, she is a follower of the Silver Flame, but fed up with the zeal, 'black flame' corruption, and beauacracy of the Church, she starts up her own philosophy on how to apply the Lessons of the Silver Flame, looking at the highest ideals of other churches and how those beliefs can be applied, and comes to the understanding that the strength of the Flame is not what burns the brightest, but the depth of the source upon which it draws. Like an Ocean, of Silver Waters. She has set up shop in Sharn, to get away from the core of zealotry in Thrain, and to showcase what being a member of the Silver Waters means by building a good and lawful community that understands that the power of the Flame is the souls of the people, not the zealotry of just one person. Quiet faith and devotion can move mountains, and screaming your faith to all who would hear it is not what the ideal of the Flame is about. She is finding fertile soil among the faithful who are sick of the corruption of the church, and set up shop in the area of the Temple Fortress, whose truly faithful head priest is pleased indeed to have her and her followers...and the domino effect they bring in. Lady Silk's wide array of abilities from her Chameleon class make for enormous flexibility and helpfulness, and her air of charity and support is much loved by those who follow her. Those who have made the mistake of thinking someone of her beauty and diplomatic skills cannot do battle have been reminded that she IS a paladin, and she has more then a few followers willing to do battle with her in the name of the Flame...even as she builds up the Silver Waters that support it. She also has a unique feat. She is presumed dead by the Chameleon masters during the Mourning, and makes full use of that fact. Face of the Soul (General, Shapeshifter) You have a unique form that none can duplicate. Requirements: Wis 13+, Cha 13+ ; or Shapechanger subtype. Benefits: If you do not have the ability to alter form, this feat makes your form uncopyable. Anyone who has seen you will not mistake you for anyone else. Anyone attempting to pass themselves off as you suffers a penalty equal to 3x your character level to do so, and this is only possible if you are not present. In the middle of a thousand dopplegangers who look like you, anyone can pick you out instantly. This feat can manifest as a runic tattoo that is actually seen with the soul instead of the eyes (it will not, for instance, reflect in a mirror). If you somehow change shape, the rune stays, identifying you to those who know it. If you are a shapechanger, taking this feat grants you a unique form that no one else can duplicate. This form reflects your alignment and inner beliefs on a physical level...if you are Evil, you look sinister and wicked (although you may still be beautiful or handsome). Strong personal characteristics will be reflected in your appearence (greed, paranoia, shiftiness, etc). While in this form, it is your True Form. Even True Seeing will not see a different one. If you shift out of this form, your original true form may become visible to magical discernment. You can keep this form effortlessly, and you cannot be compelled or forced out of it, even by death or strong magic (although mental domination might do the trick). If your Face resembles that of another race, you suffer no penalties whatsoever to pass your Face off as a member of that race...in effect, if you look like a human, it is because your soul is like that of a human. While in the Face of Your Soul, you do not radiate the Shapechanger subtype. Actually, you do not meet any normal subtype at all, unless it would apply to all your forms (such as, say, the Fire subtype, if you were a native of a fiery realm). Attempts by others to shapechange into the Face of Your Soul fail...they may look similar, but they will never be identical, and no amount of Disguise can pass them off as you. Adherents of True Formlessness never take this feat, as it effectively gives them a permanent form. Such shapechangers consider those who do take it as betraying their own origins and race by imposing a limit on themselves. Individuals who have this feat will instantly recognize someone else who has it...you are wearing your soul on your skin, such as it is. There tends to be a strong streak of proud independence and acknowledgement between such people, who are so sure of who they are that everyone else is, too. ================= Lady Silk's Face is that of a beautiful half-elven woman, a child of two worlds, with a serene beauty that makes the heart faint, clear blue eyes that see all the world and read the hearts of those who meet them, and long silken white hair that reflects the purity of her faith. She bears a long scar down the side of her neck that shows her acknowledgement that the world is not pure and perfect, but her smile is open, welcome, and understanding. She has a gentle but firm voice of surpassing smoothness and precision, speaks four languages with a variety of accents as charming as they are real, and has much of the elite of Sharn utterly charmed with her prescence...save, of course, the established powers of her own faith there, which both loathe and fear her. She's a 12th level character with maxed out ranks in Diplomacy, Sense Motive, Bluff, and Disguise, an effective 26 Charisma most of the time (which she can pop to 30 if she needs to). She hasn't used her birth form in years and truthfully doesn't even remember it very well. She employs her shapechanging power irregularly, more to set up a subtle information gathering network then for any other reason...and to move about the city unseen. With her Chameleon abilities, she has little problem portraying a variety of characters and classes if the need arises, and is extremely aware of the prescence of the Tyrants in Sharn, who would be extremely suprised to find out she is still alive. As Lady Silk, however, she is not a shapechanger and cannot be detected as a changeling, and even the most astute members of the nobility have no idea that she is not truly a half-elfin paladin of a remarkably pleasant branch of the Church of the Silver Flame. She has no true henchman as yet, but has a large number of followers who form the core of a rapidly increasing number of Silver Water adherents. Her philosophy is taking root remarkably well among those tired of war, especially the core beliefs of community support, and remarkably among the Karrns in the area, who find the ideal of becoming part of the Flame almost laughable, but the idea of being part of the Waters something easy to believe and to do. She is especially extending her hand to Cyrans who have lost their faith and belief, giving them something to believe in...and, of course, running up against those who are preying on those who have left such faith behind... ===Aelryinth