Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Daidalos 06-09-07, 12:05 PM	Author's note: Greetings. This is a class I constructed by bringing various class features together, pilfered from other prestige classes such as the mindspy from complete warrior and mindbender from complete arcane, mixed with some original thought. When I first saw the mindspy class, I found it incredibly cool, however I was dismayed that it seemed designed for monsters that could use detect thoughts at will. Then, I saw the mindbender class, and again I found the concept fascinating, but the class itself I considered weak and rather uninspired. You lose a considerable amount of spellcasting ability, and most - if not all - of its special abilities can be perfectly emulated by spells. This class started out as a revamped mindbender (as artefacts such as the Skill Boost ability attest), however I soon shifted focus from that effort to adapting the mindspy class for spellcasters. I would appreciate critique of any kind, be it constructive or otherwise. I think the class is fairly balanced, considering the restrictive prerequisites and loss of higher level spells. The ability of which I am most uncertain is Insightful Manipulation. I will be grateful for any comments. MINDSHATTERER “When a mind is shattered, its beautiful fragments collect and reform on their own, becoming something even more brilliant and breathtaking. In fact, what we regard as our consciousness is really a continuing process of destruction and regeneration, of death and rebirth." — Stoickes Mirar, a Mindshatterer http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/xph_gallery/80456.jpg Mindshatterers are mages who make the mind their primary area of study. By giving up some of their spellcasting abilities, Mindshatterers gain spectacular powers to read and manipulate the thoughts of other creatures. They can inerrably navigate the labyrinthine layers of memory and identity that surround our souls. Unconcerned with dichotomies of any kind, the Mindshatterer instead focuses on mastering all aspects of mentalism, no matter if they apply to understanding, deception, persuasion or even coercion. Consequently, they seek to complement their magical abilities by becoming adept with the ancillary aspects of their focus and so endeavour to study non-magical approaches to understanding the mind. Magic is only one path, and an incomplete and sometimes crooked path at that. On occasion, a single word or well-constructed sentence can hold more sway than a dominate person spell, and an insightful thought-experiment could yield a greater understanding than any divination. BECOMING A MINDSHATTERER The prerequisites veritably demand that one possesses levels in the sorcerer or wizard classes prior to becoming a Mindshatterer. Characters who are destined to become Mindshatterers often find that they are drawn to magic that somehow influences the mind. They find the notion of knowing another person’s thoughts intoxicating, and realise that such a knowledge is a foundation upon which they can build grand allegorical empires of deception, manipulation, or understanding, or all at once. They find that they are attracted to Divination for delectable spells such as detect thoughts and probe thoughts, and Enchantment for providing magic that offers a more tangible ability to control the mind, and even Illusion for its remarkable phantasms. Sorcerers are most often drawn to this class since their naturally high Charisma empowers many of the prestige class’s key skills. The archetype of the megalomaniacally controlling sorcerer, obsessed with his own innate power, fits the character profile of many Mindshatterers well. Wizards with moderate to good Charisma scores can also benefit immensely from this prestige class, considering that they have access to a plethora of spells from which the sorcerer can only pick a few. Furthermore, the detached wizard, clinically observant of detail, is another valid roleplaying approach to playing a Mindshatterer. REQUIREMENTS To qualify to become a Mindshatterer, a character must fulfil all the following criteria. Alignment: Any non-good Skills: Bluff 4 ranks, Diplomacy 4 ranks, Intimidate 4 ranks, Sense Motive 6 ranks. Feats: Skill Focus (Sense Motive), Spell Focus (Divination), Spell Focus (Enchantment or Illusion). Spellcasting: Ability to cast 4th-level arcane spells, one of which must have the [charm], [compulsion], [pattern] or [phantasm] descriptor. Must be able to cast detect thoughts. GAME RULE INFORMATION Base Attack Bonus: ½ (as the Loremaster) Saves: Good Will Class Skills: The Mindshatterer's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Diplomacy (Cha), Gather Information (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (all skills, taken individually) (Int), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int). See Player's Handbook, Chapter 4: Skills for skill descriptions. Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier. Hit Die: d4. Base Fort Ref Will Level Attack Bonus Save Save Save Special Spellcasting 1 +0 +0 +0 +2 Insightful manipulation +2, mindscan 2/day, telepathy - 2 +1 +0 +0 +3 Skill boost, spherical detect thoughts +1 Caster level 3 +1 +1 +1 +3 Dig deeper 1/day, effortless mindscan, multiple surface thoughts (two) +1 Caster level 4 +2 +1 +1 +4 Mindscan 3/day - 5 +2 +1 +1 +4 Close mind 1/day, faster mindscan +1 Caster level 6 +3 +2 +2 +5 Dig deeper 2/day, multiple surface thoughts (three) +1 Caster level 7 +3 +2 +2 +5 Insightful manipulation +4, mindscan 4/day - 8 +4 +2 +2 +6 Close mind 2/day, instant mindscan +1 Caster level 9 +4 +3 +3 +6 Dig deeper 3/day, multiple surface thoughts (four) +1 Caster level 10 +5 +3 +3 +7 Mindscan at will, shatter mind - CLASS FEATURES Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Mindshatterers gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor. Spells Per Day: At every level except 1st, 4th, 7th and 10th the character gains a level of whatever arcane spellcaster class he belonged to before he added the prestige class. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would gain (familiar progression, bonus metamagic feats et cetera). This essentially means that he adds the level of Mindshatterer to whatever other arcane spellcaster class the character has, then determines spells per day and caster level accordingly. If a character has more than one arcane spellcasting class before he became a Mindshatterer, he must decide to which class he adds each caster level of Mindshatterer for the purpose of determining spells per day. Insightful Manipulation (Ex): To the Mindshatterer the mind is a transient and pliable mental construct – its mechanisms can be reduced to complex series of causes and effects. From his insight into the workings of the mind, the Mindshatterer learns how to manipulate it more expertly. When using a charm, compulsion, pattern or phantasm effect against a target whose mind the Mindshatterer has recently read (no more than 5 rounds must have passed), the DC to resist the effect and the effective caster level for the purposes of determining level-dependent spell variables and for caster level checks are increased by 2. This increases to 4 at level 7. This stacks with the benefits from feats such as Spell Focus and Spell Penetration. Mindscan (Sp): The Mindshatterer can read the surface thoughts of a living creature as per the spell detect thoughts as if cast by a sorcerer of the Mindshatterer’s caster level. The target is allowed a new Will save (DC 12 + Primary spellcasting ability modifier) to resist the effect. (Primary spellcasting ability is Intelligence for wizards, Charisma for sorcerers and warlocks, Wisdom for clerics, and so forth.) At level 1, this ability can be used twice per day. This increases to three times per day at 4th level and four times per day at 7th-level. At level 10, the Mindshatterer may use this ability at will. This ability will only function if the Mindshatterer has detect thoughts prepared. Telepathy (Su): The Mindshatterer gains the ability to communicate telepathically with any living creature within 100 ft. that has a language. Skill Boost (Ex): The Mindshatterer has an instinctive grasp of psychology and manipulation. Beginning at 2nd level, he can add ½ his class level as a competence bonus on Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate and Sense Motive checks. Spherical Detect Thoughts (Su): A Mindshatterer can widen the area of his mindscan ability or detect thoughts spell into a sphere centrered on him, rather than a cone. The radius of the sphere is equal to the length of the cone. Dig Deeper (Su): By maintaining concentration on a target whose surface thoughts he has recently read (no more than 5 rounds must have passed), the Mindshatterer can dig deeper into that target’s psyche and find the answers to any of his questions. The target is allowed a new Will save (DC 16 + Primary spellcasting ability modifier) to resist the effect. If the save fails, this ability functions as a probe thoughts spell (Spell Compendium, page 162) as if cast by a sorcerer of the Mindshatterer’s caster level. At level 3, the Mindshatterer can use this ability once per day. This increases to twice per day at 6th level and three times per day at 9th-level. Effortless Mindscan (Su): Reading the thoughts and minds of others becomes second nature to the Mindshatterer. He can maintain his concentration of his mindscan ability or detect thoughts spell as a free action. Multiple Surface Thoughts (Su): A Mindshatterer of 3rd level or higher can simultaneously detect the surface thoughts of any two creatures who fail their Will saves. Once per round as a free action, he can choose new minds to listen in on. At 6th level, a Mindshatterer can simultaneously detect the surface thoughts of three creatures and on level 9 this increases to four creatures. Close Mind (Sp): Our bodies are puppets to our consciousness, which in turn are puppets to our perceptions. The world might not exlusively exist in our minds, but it is only that world we can respond to. At 5th level, the Mindshatterer can once per day close off the world completely from one subject for a short time, as per the spell solipsism (Spell Compendium, page 194) as if cast by a sorcerer of the Mindshatterer’s caster level. A successful Will save (DC 17 + Primary spellcasting ability modifier) negates this effect. At level 8, this ability can be used twice per day. Faster Mindscan (Su): At 5th level, the Mindshatter has become skilled at tuning into others’ thoughts quickly. In the round when he activates his mindscan ability or detect thoughts spell, he detects the presence or absence of thoughts and the Intelligence score of each thinking mind in the area. In the next round, he detects the surface thoughts of any one mind in the area. Instant Mindscan (Su): At 8th level and higher, the Mindshatter can read the surface thougts of others with disturbing alacrity. He gains all the information from the mindscan ability or the detect thoughts spell (presence or absence of minds, Intelligence scores, and surface thoughts) in the same round he actives the ability or the spell. The Mindshatterer’s enemies still get Will saves to keep their surface thoughts hidden. Shatter Mind (Sp): At level 10, the Mindshatter gains the chilling ability to enter a creature’s mind once per day and hollow it out completely, reshaping it as he sees fit, as per the spell programmed amnesia (Spell Compendium, page 162) as if cast by sorcerer of the Mindshatterer’s caster level. A successful Will save (DC 19 + Primary spellcasting ability modifier) negates the effect. No material component has to be provided, and the casting time is one standard action. PLAYING A MINDSHATTERER Most of the spells and abilities at your disposal are subtle and invisible to the untrained eye, so most people will not take notice of you. And that works fabulously well for you, considering the invasive nature of your powers. You work well from the shadows, quietly observing the thoughts and behaviours of others, patiently waiting for your chance to exploit what you have learned. Your pathological desire for knowledge compels you to seek out interesting minds that you can plunder for information. Mindshatterers have no official organisation of their own, but they have no trouble finding their niche within other groups. What magistrate could not need an officer with the ability to read a suspect’s mind? Combat Your role in combat is to discern your enemies’ tactics and use them to your advantage. You can derive from your insights effective ways to control your enemies. The combinatorial philosophy behind your spellcasting should be exploited to its fullest. Your enchantments and illusions will be more effective if your can tailor them to your enemies’ personalities by reading their thought prior to the casting. Ultimately, your power is knowledge of what your enemies intend to do, and you can respond to that in kind. Advancement You have always been fascinated with the mind and its endless potential and have laboured to unlock its secrets for many years. Upon gaining your first level in this prestige class, you have begun to master the finer points of mind reading, but it is a long and arduous path to complete understanding. You dwell upon the nuances of your skills, how to apply them more effectively and spend many hours each day contemplating the behaviour of the people close to you, attempting to deduce their motivations. Consider allocating more ranks to skills such as Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate and Sense Motive to capitalise on the abilities of the prestige class. Gather Information should also be an option, if you want to be able to acquire information in another way than reading a person’s mind. Spell Focus feats are good choices, since many Enchantments and Illusions offer a saving throw. Ability Focus in one of your special abilities could also be an alternative. If you wish to get more mileage out of your spells the feat Practised Spellcaster is a must. Resources Mindshatterers belonging to guilds or organisations will have access to whatever those entities afford their members. MINDSHATTERERS IN THE WORLD “The mind’s sovereignity must be respected. The core and essence of our souls should be accessible only to ourselves. Those who seek to undermine that arrangement violate one of the holiest of trusts.” – Visando Bromo, monk of the Enlightened Way Mindshatterers make terrific adversaries for PCs who have a couple of secrets they would rather keep to themselves. A Mindshatterer could be a draconic judge who rips the memories out of their skulls and twists them to suit her evil purposes. Alternatively, a Mindshatterer could be a fairly good guy (as good as they can be) who seeks to unravel a deadly conspiracy and enlists the PCs to help him. Organisation There are no known organisations for Mindshatterers, but it is a great fear among many knowledgeable that lawfully-inclined Mindshatterers could form intelligence-gathering guilds of unprecedented efficacy. Mindshatterers would walk among regular people and live normal lives, but they would all be telepathically connected. They quietly investigate the people they meet and discuss among themselves what action needs to be taken should they encounter something… disagreeable. In such an organisation, most Mindshatterers would function as spies. Some would have the power and authority to act on the information and mete out justice. NPC Reactions Most people have no idea what a Mindshatterer is capable of doing, and therefore treat them with indifference. Since many Mindshatterers are slightly introverted, they usually don’t go out of their way to draw attention to themselves. Those who know what kind of mages Mindshatterers are are immediately cautious, if not outright hostile, towards them. MINDSHATTERER LORE Character with ranks in Knowledge (local) can research Mindshatterers to learn more about them. When a character succeeds on a skill check, the following lore is revealed, including the information from lower DCs. DC 10: Some mages can read other peoples’ thoughts. DC 15: A Mindshatterer is a specialist in the magic that affects the mind. DC 20: Mindshatterers can read minds as easily as they can read a book. DC 25: The most powerful of Mindshatterers can isolate you from the world and rewrite your personality. They can learn all of your secrets, and all of your fears. DC 30: Characters who achieve this level of success can learn important details about specific Mindshatterers in your campaign, including a notable individual and the title he goes by, the area in which he operates, and some of the people he has enslaved. Mindshatterers are extraordinarily difficult to find. PCs must trace their steps through the crimical underworld, the magic colleges, and the courts of kings and emperors. Should the PCs prove tenacious and interesting, the Mindshatterer might contact them, otherwise he will continue to elude them. MINDSHATTERERS IN THE GAME Mindshatterers can be incorporated in a game fairly easily. Most of them appear to be ordinary people, so the inclusion of Mindshatterers in any given game should not require much retconning. Players who like playing characters without scruples and who have no notion of personal integrity would probably enjoy playing Mindshatterers. It is also a viable option for players who like to be scouts or planners, as this prestige class offers a new spin on those roles. Mindshatters fulfil the function of a diplomat in a party and are very valuable in any social setting. If you have a Mindshatterer among your PCs make sure to take time to think of what thoughts occupy your NPCs, your player will want to hear them. Adaptation A straightforward adaptation is to simply make it psionic. Change the requirements to reflect a psionic setting and modify the special abilities and skills accordingly. Sample Encounter The PCs might come into contact with a Mindshatterer if they get involved with people who deal with information. A benevolent politician might be blackmailed by a Mindshatterer, and the PCs are hired to locate whoever it is who spreads all the vile rumours. Alternatively, the Mindshatterer could contact the PCs, informing them that he found something strange in the minds of the Imperial Advisors and asks of the PCs to investigate. EL 12: Auga Illisir is an Inquisitor belonging to a secret order of mages within Aswan. They spy on the populace to find if any seditious or blasphemous thoughts occupy their minds. She reports all suspicious behaviour, and her superior in turn catalogue all of her observations. At the moment, Auga is looking for traces of a rogue cult of a foreign faith that has spread dangerous ideas to the people. Augur is a short woman with a grim demeanour to her. She does not speak much, but her large brown eyes have an eerily penetrating quality to them, giving the impression that she is more knowledgeable than she appears to be. Auga is dressed inconspicuously in green and grey clothes, and she carries no weapons. Should she be forced into a confrontation, however, she has the power to turn her enemies into friends and kill with fears made real. AUGA ILLISIR Human sorcerer 10/mindshatterer 2 LN Medium humanoid Init +0; Senses Listen +4, Spot +9 Languages: Common, Dwarven, Elven, Halfling ________________________________________ _____________ AC 12, touch 12, flat-footed 12 (+0 Dex, +0 armour, +2 deflection, +0 natural) hp 42 (12 HD) Fort +7, Ref +6, Will +15 ________________________________________ _____________ Speed 30 ft Melee unarmed +4 (1d3-2, nonlethal damage) Ranged – Base Atk +4; Grp +4 Atk Options spells Special Actions Insightful manipulation +2, mindscan 2/day Combat Gear 3 potions of cure moderate wounds Sorcerer Spells Known (CL 11): 5th (4/day) – dominate person (DC 20), hold monster (DC 20) 4th (7/day) – charm monster (DC 19), locate creature, phantasmal killer (DC 19) 3rd (7/day) – arcane sight, clairaudience/clairvoyance, nondetection, suggestion (DC 18) 2nd (7/day) – chain of eyes* (DC 17), darkvision, detect thoughts (DC 17), hallucinatory pattern (DC 17), see invisibility 1st (7/day) – disguise self, distract* (DC 16), expeditious retreat, ray of enfeeblement, shield 0 (6/day) – arcane mark, dancing lights, daze (DC 15), detect magic, detect poison, ghost sound, light, prestidigitation, read magic *Spell Compendium ________________________________________ _____________ Abilities Str 7, Dex 10, Con 12, Int 18, Wis 14, Cha 19 SQ Skill boost, spherical detect thoughts, telepathy 100ft. Feats Alertness, Skill Focus (Sense Motive), Spell Focus (Divination), Spell Focus (Enchantment), Spell Focus (Illusion), Versatile (Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, Sense Motive) Skills Bluff +20, Concentration +16, Diplomacy +24, Intimidate +22, Listen +4, Search +8, Sense Motive +18, Spellcraft +19, Spot +9 Possessions combat gear plus boots of teleportation, headband of intellect +2, robe of resistance +3, ring of mental shielding, ring of protection +2, spectacles of detection Hook: “I know you better than you know yourself.”
Geraturatu 06-09-07, 02:40 PM	You realize that you've pretty much just made the Mindspy completely useless. You can just take this class and ignore mindspy, a mindspy would, in fact, whither and die at the foot of this class. Meanwhile this class walks off unscathed. A class shouldn't overshadow another class like this. The Mindspy was supposed to be unique, yet this class stripes away it's speciality and leaves it fidgeting in the dirt. All of these are my way of saying, take away the abilities granted by mindspy since all mindspy has is what you've taken.
teshen 06-09-07, 07:31 PM	You realize that you've pretty much just made the Mindspy completely useless. You can just take this class and ignore mindspy, a mindspy would, in fact, whither and die at the foot of this class. Meanwhile this class walks off unscathed. A class shouldn't overshadow another class like this. The Mindspy was supposed to be unique, yet this class stripes away it's speciality and leaves it fidgeting in the dirt. All of these are my way of saying, take away the abilities granted by mindspy since all mindspy has is what you've taken. The mindspy was already pretty useless. Entry into the PrC required weakening your fighter-type or it gimped your spellcasting... take your pick. It's five level, good will, good fort, bad skill points, and the ability to gain bonuses when you read an opponent(s)'s mind(s). There are a lot of mindless creatures in dnd and the save against detect thoughts is pretty easy with magic items even if you don't have a good will save. I loved the idea but only considered using Mind spy in conjunction with a changeling rogue/cabinet trickster. I'm not sure of balance, but I think this idea has merit... And I'd think that you've really geared it toward charisma casters with all the spell-like abilities being keyed to charisma... except that since sorcerers are already a spell level behind wizards, the 6/10 casting would hurt... but it's still better than the dip class that mindbender is.
Daidalos 06-10-07, 03:57 AM	You realize that you've pretty much just made the Mindspy completely useless. You can just take this class and ignore mindspy, a mindspy would, in fact, whither and die at the foot of this class. Meanwhile this class walks off unscathed. A class shouldn't overshadow another class like this. The Mindspy was supposed to be unique, yet this class stripes away it's speciality and leaves it fidgeting in the dirt. All of these are my way of saying, take away the abilities granted by mindspy since all mindspy has is what you've taken. Well, I guess it depends how you see it. The Mindspy was geared towards fighters primarily, and that is reflected by their greater base attack bonus and hit die. Also, they gain Anticipate, which this prestige class does not get. So, for a chracter that inclines towards melee combat, my prestige class is pretty useless, while the mindspy (which is far more focused, being only a 5-level prestigeclass) is a far better alternative. The reason why I made this prestige class so similar to the mindspy was because I considered the mindspy designed for doppelgangers and such creatures, since to be really effective, you would need to be able to use detect thoughts quite often, making it fairly difficult for a fighter/sorcerer to pursue.
Daidalos 06-10-07, 03:59 AM	The mindspy was already pretty I'm not sure of balance, but I think this idea has merit... And I'd think that you've really geared it toward charisma casters with all the spell-like abilities being keyed to charisma... except that since sorcerers are already a spell level behind wizards, the 6/10 casting would hurt... but it's still better than the dip class that mindbender is. It can be easily remedied by substituting "Primary spellcasting ability" for Cha. Not very pretty though. I'll do it, regardless. Thank you both for your comments.