Post/Author/DateTime	Post
wjliii3 12-05-07, 09:40 PM	Elder Mage Magic is a powerful force, and many seek to use words of power and mystical gestures to master it. The elder mage chooses instead to draw upon its pure power, using only their own force of will and endurance to direct it. Only those already skilled in the manipulation of their inner magic can use its power, as it draws upon that reservoir of energy to works its art. The elder mage spends a great deal of time and effort studying the inherent nature of magic, and the history of the world, in order to learn even of the existence of the art. Therefore, the come most often from wizards, though the intuitive nature of their powers may attract sorcerers. Hit Die: d6 Requirements To qualify to become an elder mage (Emg), a character must fulfill all the following criteria. Spellcasting: Ability to cast arcane spells. Skills: Spellcraft 10 ranks, Knowledge (arcana) 10 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 10 ranks, Knowledge (the planes) 10 ranks. Feats: Any metamagic feat. Special: Must have had an experience that shatters their preconceptions about the nature of magic (Usually seeing another elder mage use his power). Class Skills The elder mage’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (history) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Knowledge (the planes) (Int), Profession (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int). Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int Mod (Elder Mage) Level BAB Fort Ref Will Special Points 1 +0 +2 +0 +2 Elder magic, robe 9 2 +1 +3 +0 +3 Elder shielding +1, item enchant 25 3 +2 +3 +1 +3 Conical blast, warding sigil 52 4 +3 +4 +1 +4 Elder shielding +2 87 5 +3 +4 +1 +4 Magic focus 132 6 +4 +5 +2 +5 Elder shielding +3, dual blast, greater enchant 189 7 +5 +5 +2 +5 Enhanced robe 255 8 +6 +6 +2 +6 Elder shielding +4, power conversion 331 9 +6 +6 +3 +6 Explosive blast 420 10 +7 +7 +3 +7 Elder shielding +5, master enchant, life fuel 515 Class Features Elder Magic (Su): The main weapon of the elder mage is his magic. It is drawn from his own inner strength, and, by its very nature, requires no components of any kind. It is, therefore, not subject to arcane spell failure from armor. It does not function as arcane or divine magic, but as a separate school, outside and beyond them. It is not subject to spell resistance or immunity, nor can it be dispelled or disjoined. It does not, however, function within the limits of an antimagic field, or pass through the violet layer of a prismatic wall or similar effect. When an elder mage draws on his magic, he releases it as a torrent of destructive energy pouring from his body. Its point of emanation, as well as its color and appearance, are entirely of his choice. His total points are equal to the number on the table plus 10 points per level of the highest-level spell he could cast in his former arcane spellcasting class. To strike a target, the elder mage makes a ranged touch attack with an attack bonus of one-half his elder mage level. If he hits, his target takes an amount of damage equal to the amount of points he spends. Attacking with elder magic is a standard action. In one round, he may spend a maximum either 20 points, or 1/10 of his total, whichever is higher. He may exceed this limit, but doing so is hazardous, as powerful magical energies ravage his body. He takes damage equal to one-half the amount by which he exceeded his limit, rounded up. Neither the damage dealt to him nor the damage dealt to his target is subject to damage reduction. Death from massive damage cannot occur as a result of damage dealt by elder magic. When 90% of an elder mages points for the day are spent, he becomes fatigued, as he has drawn a vast amount of his energy into his magic. Every time an elder mage exceeds his limit of points per round, the amount by which he exceeds it is deducted from this 90% threshold. For example, Tallis, the 6th level wizard/ 4th level elder mage, has 117 points, 87+30 from his 3rd level wizard spells. After using 105 points, he becomes fatigued. If he spends 25 in one round against an enemy goblin, five over his limit, that goblin takes 25 damage. At the same time, Tallis takes 3 damage, and he now becomes fatigued after using only 100 points. If this damage kills him(drops him below –10 hit points), he cannot be restored to life, not even by wish or miracle, as his body has been converted fully into magical energy. If an elder mage spends more than 10 points in one round, the swirling elder magic around his body ravages his possessions, destroying all nonmagical items and forcing magical items to make a Fortitude save, DC 10 + 1/10 points over 10 or be destroyed. This does not affect held items, only those worn on the body. It also does not affect items enchanted by elder magic. Because of the nature of elder magic, it uses the same pool of inner magical energy as arcane spells. Due to this, the two are closely intertwined inside a caster. Total the number of spell levels available to you per day in your casting class, ignoring 0-level spells. Divide your number of points by this number. For every spell level you have of prepared spells each day, you lose that many points. For example, Tallis can cast 4 1st, 4 2nd, and 3 3rd level spells, for a total of 21 levels. Thus, for every spell he has prepared, he loses approximately 5 and a half points (this would be handled by alternating between a 5 and 6 point deduction every other spell). Robe (Su): By bathing a mage robe in elder magic very carefully, the elder mage can render it immune to the force of his powers. A single robe of his choice becomes proof against the destructive force released when more than 10 points are spent, but it retains all previous properties. Anything kept in its pockets are also undamaged. At 7th level, the robe gains, in addition to its other properties, a +3 armor bonus to AC, and grants SR 10. Despite its title, any article of clothing which does not qualify as armor can be chosen for the purposes of this ability. Elder shielding (Su): Beginning at 2nd level, as a swift action, an elder mage can spend 15 points to throw up a field of energy in front of himself, granting a deflection bonus to AC equal to half his class level for 10 turns + 1/class level. At 6th level, it also destroys all non-magical projectiles attempting to pass through it, and at 10th level, it acts as a minor globe of invulnerability, the rampaging tides of magic disrupting any weaker spells that try to pass through. Activating elder shielding destroys worn objects, as if 10 points or more had been spent in one action. Item enchant (Su): At 2nd level, an elder mage can infuse a weapon or armor with raw magic, making it more powerful. He is able to enchant an item with up to +2 enhancement, but must spend the same amount of time and experience as detailed for normal magic items in the Dungeon Master’s Guide. These items cannot be destroyed by the effect of spending more than 10 points. Attempting to enchant a weapon that is already enchanted by normal magic results in an explosion of energy, dealing 1d6 per caster level of the item. Conical blast (Su): At 3rd level, an elder mage can alter the direction of his magical blasts, making his blast into a cone 40 ft. long and 10 feet in diameter at the apex, at the expense of 5 additional points, plus 1 per 5 points spent on damage. Warding sigil (Su): At 3rd level, an elder mage learns to place a particular mark that imbues an object with elder magic, granting it resistance to the destructive effect of spending more than 10 points on an attack. He may spend up to 10 points to grant it a +1 per point bonus to its Fort save against that effect for a day, and may extend the duration by a day/10 additional points. Magic Focus (Ex): At 5th level, the elder mage becomes more skilled in the careful aim of his ability, and gains the feat Weapon Focus (elder magic). If he already has this feat, he gains Greater Weapon Focus (elder magic) instead. Dual blast (Su): At 6th level, the elder mage has developed his art so that he can fire two blasts at once. He can choose two targets to attack, but must make separate attack rolls, with the normal penalty for two weapon fighting. In addition, the limit applies to the total. For example, Tallis, now a 6th level elder mage, has 219 points. He can therefore spend 21 per round without going over his limit. If he does not wish to go over, he must divide up 21 between his two blasts, whether it be 20 and 1, or 10 and 11. Greater enchant (Su): At 6th level, the elder mage’s enchanting ability increases, allowing him to apply a bonus of up to +4, as well as the special ability eldritch, a +4 bonus equivalent, which allows a weapon to bypass damage reduction. Power conversion (Su): At 7th level, the elder mage can draw upon his own lifeforce to grant himself magical power, but only at a terrible cost. He may increase his available points by 50 for one day, but at the cost of a point of temporary constitution damage. A character killed by constitution loss in this way cannot be regenerated by any means, not even wish or miracle, as his body has been converted entirely into magic. If the mage is killed in this way, all of his remaining points explode out of his body, dealing damage to all creatures in 50 ft. equal to the number of remaining points, including those gained in his last power conversion. Explosive blast (Su): At 9th level, the elder mage learns to blast elder magic out of his body in a vast wave, allowing him to deal damage to everything in an area around him. The raduis of the blast is determined by how many points he spends, up to a maximum of 50 ft. for 50 points. In addition, he must spend 2 more for each creature of medium size in the blast radius (or 1 for each small creature, 1 for each two tiny, or 4 for a large creature, 8 for huge, etc.). In addition to those costs, he must spend points equal to the damage he wishes to deal. For example, Tallis is now 10th level, with access to 545 points. He is standing in a room with an adult red dragon and his two ogre lackeys, as well as a human, three kobolds, and 4 stirges. The dragon and the human are 100 feet apart, with him centered in the middle, and the rest of the creatures are within 50 ft in any given direction. He must spend 50 points for the full radius, which then forces him to pay 8 for the dragon, 4 each for the ogres, two for the human, one apiece for the kobolds, and one for every two stirges. This comes out to 73. He must then spend additional points for damage. If he spends 173 points, he deals 100 damage to all of those creatures. He also takes 60 damage, for exceeding his limit by 120. Master enchant (Su): At 10th level, the elder mage perfects his enchanting abilities, and can enchant items with up to a +5 enhancement bonus, as well as the elder enchantment, a +5 bonus equivalent, which makes a weapon strike as a touch attack. Life fuel (Su): At 10th level, the elder mage becomes truly attuned with the power of his magic, and can convert amounts of his own lifeforce completely into magic. He may take two points of permanent ability damage in order to permanently increase his point reservoir by 100. This ability drain cannot be repaired by any means whatsoever. A character killed by constitution loss in this way cannot be regenerated by any means, not even wish or miracle, as his body has been converted entirely into magic. If the mage is killed in this way, all of his remaining points explode out of his body, dealing damage to all creatures in 50 ft. equal to the number of remaining points, including those gained in his last life fuel. I posted this earlier, but forgot to add PEACH. I'm not sure if reposting it is a faux pas or something. Hope not. So, what do you think? Feel free to be as brutally honest as necessary, I'm finding it very hard to balance this, due to its very unorthodox nature. Also, if anyone can come up with a real name for "points," I'd be much appreciated. (Besides Gay Fuel)
Kazorh 12-08-07, 04:34 PM	Can you attack more than once with elder magic if you have the BAB for it or you need to wait for dual blast ? What is the duration of the the elder shielding ? Is it a standard action to activate the elder shielding ?
wjliii3 12-08-07, 10:31 PM	Can you attack more than once with elder magic if you have the BAB for it or you need to wait for dual blast ? What is the duration of the the elder shielding ? Is it a standard action to activate the elder shielding ? No, only one blast per round without dual. Duration...I'm not sure, maybe 10 rounds? Maybe round per level? Move action, I think. Maybe a swift...
Grod_The_Giant 12-10-07, 08:20 PM	heh. I like it- cool idea! However, I feel that the spell resistance may render this a bit overpowered...perhaps have it act as a kind of damage reduction for Elder Magic?
wjliii3 12-23-07, 11:34 AM	Made clarifications to the elder shielding mechanics, added a line to make it clear that you only make one elder magic attack per round. I don't think I'll add that SR fix, cause even if its overpowered, the flavor demands it. Its supposed to be entirely separate from normal magic, not subject to normal limits.