One of my players wanted to have some magic-y class that is primarily a fighter. I gave it some thought and patched up this. I'd like it to be evaluated.
The FrostbladeThe Frostblades are those martial adepts who choose to enhance their fighting abilities with frost-based magic, eventually changing into creatures of frost themselves.
BECOMING A FROSTBLADE To become a frostblade, one typically seeks out either a high enough level member of this class to infuse themselves with that frostblade's body, or an elemental creature to take a part of their body instead. Infusing requires a special, obscure ritual.
Entry Requirements Skills: Knowledge (arcana) 4 ranks, Martial Lore 8 ranks
Maneuvers: Ability to initiate 3rd level maneuvers, must know at least one 3rd level maneuver.
Special: Must have contacted an outsider with cold subtype and bound a part of their body within self.
Class SkillsThe Frostblade's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are: Climb(Str), Concentration(Con), Craft(Int), Handle Animal(Cha), Intimidate(Cha), Jump(Str), Knowledge (arcana)(Int), Ride(Dex), Spellcraft(Int), Swim(Str), Martial Lore (Int), Intimidate (Cha)
Skills Points at Each Level 4 + int
Hit Dice: d10
Level | BAB | Fort Save | Ref Save | Will Save | Special
| M. Known | M. Readied | Stances | F. Readied | F. Known
|
1st | +1 | +2 | +0 | +2 | Spellshape Channel, Frostblade, Icy Skin (+1) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
2nd | +2 | +3 | +0 | +3 | Icy Glare, Frozen Step | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
3rd | +3 | +4 | +1 | +3 | Hoarfrost Stance | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 5 |
4th | +4 | +4 | +1 | +4 | Icy Skin (+2), Crystallize | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 6 |
5th | +5 | +4 | +1 | +4 | Body Of Frost | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 7 |
6th | +6 | +5 | +2 | +5 | Piercing Chill | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 8 |
7th | +7 | +5 | +2 | +5 | icy Skin (+3) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 9 |
8th | +8 | +6 | +2 | +6 | Residual Cold | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
9th | +9 | +6 | +3 | +6 | Numbing Cold | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 11 |
10th | +10 | +7 | +3 | +7 | One With The Cold, Icy Skin (+4) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 12 |
Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: A Frostblade gains no weapon or armor proficiencies. You can shape formulae while wearing any armor or while carrying a shield without incurring the normal arcane spell failure chance. This only applies to the formulae you know as a Frostblade, and you might incur arcane spell failure chance for formulae received from other spellshaper classes.
Maneuvers and stances: Every odd level you learn a maneuver from the following disciplines:
Frozen Zephyr, Iron Heart,
Bitter Edge.
On levels 3, 6 and 9 you gain new maneuver readied. On 5th and 10th you gain a new stance, which must be chosen from the disciplines available to you.
Spellshape Channel(Sp): You learn the Frostray spellshape attack. However, you cannot use it to blast from afar. Instead, you may channel it through your unarmed strikes, natural attacks or melee weapons as a free action. If you do so, all the damage they deal becomes cold damage. For all purposes (including shaping formulae and qualifying for feats), this is treated as a spellshape attack ability.
Frostblade (Su): At 1st level, you learn your signature skill. You gain the ability to channel your cold energies into the form of a weapon. As a move action, you can conjure a blade composed of swirling ice crystals. You wield this blade as a scimitar made for your size, and it deals damage equal to that dealt by your frostray attack on a successful melee attack (including extra damage or effects from class features or feats), though it is not subject to spell resistance. In addition, you can treat your frostblade as your frostray attack for the purpose of shaping major and minor arcane formulae, and it counts as a Frozen Zephyr weapon. A formula shaped with a frostblade attack does not provoke attacks of opportunity, and you are immune to the harmful effects of formulae that you shape with your frostblade.
A frostblade is treated as a magic weapon, and it has an enhancement bonus on attack rolls equal to ¼ your shaper level.
The moment you relinquish your grip on your frostblade, it dissipates.
Once per round, as a free action you may choose to solidify your blade into a crystalline ice or have it reassume it's original fluid, gaseous form.
The attacks you make with the solid Frostblade are normal melee attacks and you add your strength bonus to them.
The solid blade can be broken (it has hardness 10 and 10 hit points); however, you can simply create another on your next move action.
You can use feats such as Power Attack or Combat Expertise in conjunction with the solid frostblade just as if it were a normal weapon. You treat it as a scimitar for feats requiring a specific weapon choice, such as Weapon Specialization. You can use weapon-enhancing spells on it, but you cannot enchant it permanently.
The attacks with the fluid frostblade are treated as melee touch attacks. It has a reach of 10ft. You do not add your strength bonus to damage and cannot use Power Attack or similar feats in conjunction with it. If a weapon-enhancing spell is cast on it, it works only with the solid form.
Half damage it deals is piercing, the other half cold.
Even in places where magical effects do not function, you can attempt to sustain your blade by making a DC 20 Will save. On a successful save, you maintain it for a number of rounds equal to your shaper level. On an unsuccessful attempt, the weapon vanishes. As a move action on your next turn, you can attempt a new Will save to rematerialize it while you remain within the magic-negating effect.
Formulae: Upon entering this class, you gain knowledge of three Perfect Freeze formulae and as you advance in this class, you learn more.
Once you know a formula, you must prepare it before you can use it (see Formulae Prepared below) A formula usable by a frostblade is considered a spell-like ability unless otherwise noted in its description. Unlike most other spell-like abilities, arcane formulae are subject to arcane spell failure chance, as described in Weapon and Armor Proficiency above. The save DC for a formula that allows a save is 10 + formula level + your Charisma modifier.
To shape a formula, you must have a Constitution score equal to at least 10 + the formula level.
Your Shaper level in this class equals your Initiator level.
Formulae Prepared: You can prepare four of your formulae at 1st level, and as you advance in level and learn more formulae, you are able to prepare more. You prepare your formulae by meditating for 5 minutes. The formulae that you choose remain prepared until you decide to meditate again and change them. You need not sleep or rest for any long period of time to prepare your abilities: any time you spend 5 minutes in meditation, you can change your prepared formulae.
You begin an encounter with all your prepared formulae unexpended, regardless of how many times you might have already used them since you chose them. When you shape a formula, you expend it for the current encounter, so each of your prepared abilities can be used once per encounter (unless you recover them, as described below).
Whenever you initiate a maneuver, you can choose one expended formula to recover, which is then available for use in a subsequent round. However, whenever you make a full attack, you may choose two expended abilities to recover.
In addition, once per encounter, you can change your prepared formulae as a swift action. However, changing your prepared abilities in this way leaves all of your formulae expended--even those that had already been prepared.
Icy Skin(Ex): Your body becomes more like ice. Your skin turns whiter and colder to the touch as the permanent layer of frost grows deeper. You gain a natural armor increase on 1st, 4th, 7th and 10th level. In warm temperatures, the frost continually evaporates and replenishes itself, enshrouding you in a wispy vapor.
Frozen Step(Su): At 2nd level you learn the Perfect Freeze Numen. It's always active for you.
Icy Glare(Ex): Beginning at 2nd level, your unnatural and cold stare makes people around you uneasy. You add ½ your level (rounded down) to your Intimidate and Sense Motive checks.
Hoarfrost Stance: At 3rd level you learn the Hoarfrost stance. As a swift action, you can forgo the benefits of your current stance to enter the Soaring Frost Stance. While in it, the area under your feet and in squares adjacent to you is covered by a thin layer of ice. It functions as a Grease spell cast by you. It dissipates and crystallizes aroun you as soon as you move. You are immune to the Grease effect yourself.
Furthermore, upon entering the stance, you may choose to forgo one of your prepared Perfect Freeze formulae to gain ability to gracefully skate along the ground, turn, or stop suddenly as desired. Your land speed increases by 10ft per level of the formula expended (This is an untyped bonus). You cannot refresh or change this formula as long as you remain in this stance.
This is a supernatural ability.
Crystallize(Su): Beginning at 4th level, as an immediate action you may choose to expend a Perfect Freeze formula to gain DR/piercing AND magic equal to twice the formula level until the beginning of your next turn.
Body of Ice(Ex): Upon reaching fifth level, it becomes apparent that you have become something more than before. You gain the cold subtype, granting you immunity to cold. Your oneness with cold, however, makes you more susceptible to flame. Just like any other creature with the cold subtype, you gain vulnerability to fire, which means you take half again as much (+50%) damage as normal from fire, regardless of whether or not a saving throw is allowed, or if the save is a success or a failure.
Piercing Chill(Ex): The understanding of nature of the cold allows you to deepen its intensivity highly. Beginning at 6th level you ignore cold resistance up to twice your class level and deal half the normal cold damage to the creatures immune.
Creatures with the cold subtype can tell that this is colder than normal, but they remain undamaged by the attack.
Creatures with the fire subtype damaged by you take double normal cold damage instead of the usual +50%.
Residual Cold(Ex): At 8th level your ability to channel your frost abilities allows you to do so with more ferocity. Whenever you deal cold damage with a formula or a spellshape attack, the target is dealt ½ the damage next round.
Numbing Cold(Su):Beginning at 9th level, whenever you deal cold damage with a formula or maneuver, your target must make a fortitude save equal to 15+your constitution modifier or be slowed for a round.
One with the Cold (Ex): At 10th level, your body has become perfectly fused with the elemental essence inside him. Your type changes to elemental with cold subtype. You no longer need to eat, sleep, or breathe. You gain an elemental creature’s immunity to stunning, and you no longer are subject to extra damage from critical hits or flanking. You no longer age.
Unlike a normal elemental, you retain a soul separate from her body. You can be raised from the dead as normal for a creature of your previous type.
Furthermore, for every 2 points of cold damage that would have otherwise been dealt to you, you heal 1 point of damage.