Author Topic: Base Class - Advaitan  (Read 2662 times)

Offline Bauglir

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Base Class - Advaitan
« on: March 28, 2013, 10:32:29 PM »
Advaitan
“All is one, and I am one. It makes little difference what you think you believe – I see this truth, and through me, so too will you.”
—Darya Rayough, Advaitan

Throughout the multiverse, magical power gives rise to endless philosophical questions. The ability to directly manipulate the world through the power of thought and belief, guiding mystical energy with the mind alone, raises countless questions as to the nature of mortal existence. Advaitans are those who believe that magic is proof that there is no real distinction between the self and the “outside” world, and that the power to shape reality is no different than the power to move an arm.

An advaitan seeks to dissolve the apparent barriers between herself and her environment, learning to control her surroundings rather than to be controlled by them. They blend these teachings with rigorous exercise and martial study, believing that the pursuit of physical strength is, in truth, no different than the pursuit of mental strength. Many believe that conflict is the ultimate crucible in which barriers between the self and the world melt away, leaving only unity, for it is only on the battlefield that the stakes seem so high that intuition and instinct will overwhelm the artificial barriers of the mortal perspective. Each advaitan takes with her a spiritless creature, a vessel to be filled with her spirit and powers as she ascends to greater heights of enlightenment, a functional example of the truth of her beliefs.

Making an Advaitan
The advaitan is most at home in a melee. While her spellshaping attacks might allow her to pick off targets at range, she cannot exercise the bulk of her special abilities at range, and she will quickly exhaust her highest-level formulae. The advaitan is a good choice for a player familiar with spellshaping, who wants a different spin on melee combat than the spellshape champion can provide, or who is interested in a combining mounted combat and spellcasting prowess.

   Abilities: Your Strength and Intelligence scores should be as high as possible, since they're critical to melee combat and your spellshaping, respectively. Constitution will help you survive damage, and Dexterity will help you make the crucial first strikes in combat.

   Races: The combination of martial prowess and intellect that makes for an effective advaitan is rare, but humans are fairly common members of the class, as are members of any race that grants a Strength or Intelligence bonus (especially if it does not penalize the other). Elves make terrible advaitans, because they're too busy causing cancer to learn how to take an axe to the face. Fuck elves.
   Alignment: Advaitans can be of any alignment, but they are typically aggressive in their beliefs. While a good advaitan might be renowned for honor and mercy, she is first and foremost known for her righteous stands against evil. Likewise, evil advaitans are known to slaughter even helpless civilians for sport, unconcerned with their “insignificant” suffering.

   Starting Gold: 6d4x10 gp (150 gp).

   Starting Age: As paladin.

Hit Die: d10
Level   Base Attack Bonus      Fort   Ref   Will   Special
Formulae Known
Formulae Prepared
1st+1+2+0+2Mounted Combat, Favored Mount
4
2
2nd+2+3+0+3Spellstrike Blade
4
2
3rd+3+3+1+3Bonus Feat
5
2
4th+4+4+1+4Extra Circle
8
3
5th+5+4+1+4One Soul as Two I
9
3
6th+6/+1+5+2+5Improved Mounted Combat
9
3
7th+7/+2+5+2+5Cavalry Master
10
4
8th+8/+3+6+2+6Bonus Feat
10
4
9th+9/+4+6+3+6One Soul as Two II
11
4
10th+10/+5+7+3+7Extra Circle
14
5
11th+11/+6/+1+7+3+7--
15
5
12th+12/+7/+2+8+4+8Surefooted Charge
15
5
13th+13/+8/+3+8+4+8Bonus Feat
16
6
14th+14/+9/+4+9+4+9One Soul as Two III
16
6
15th+15/+10/+5+9+5+9--
17
6
16th+16/+11/+6/+1+10+5+10Extra Circle
20
7
17th+17/+12/+7/+2+10+5+10--
21
7
18th+18/+13/+8/+3+11+6+11Bonus Feat
21
7
19th+19/+14/+9/+4+11+6+11--
22
8
20th+20/+15/+10/+5+12+6+12One Soul as Two IV
22
8

Class Skills (2 + Int modifier per level, x4 at 1st level): Concentration (Con), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (history) (Int), Knowledge (nobility and royalty) (Int), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Search (Int), Spellcraft (Int), Survival (Wis), Swim (Str), Use Magic Device (Cha)

Class Features
All the following are class features of the advaitan.

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Favored mount
An advaitan's favored mount is superior to a normal creature of its kind, and gains special powers as described below, as the advaitan expands her spirit and magical powers into the creature. These special powers are based on her shaper level.

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Playing an Advaitan
You are a warrior-philosopher, walking the line between brute force and impotent reasoning. You strive to perfect your martial talents, even as you work to understand why they're necessary and what they can accomplish. Your magical talents are simply an extension of your will, in just the same way as a slash of your sword is an expression of your intent. You see your mount as an extension of yourself, and have a similar view of other creatures you encounter. Though you don't believe yourself omnipotent, you believe that it is only the illusion of perspective that separates you from others.

You are willing to adventure solely for the challenge of combat, and to advance whatever causes you put your  zeal behind. You are as likely to take on peaceful work as not, understanding that a sword is not a universal tool, but you are unlikely to devote yourself to it for long enough to distract you from your training. Warfare is not the only way for you to reach a true understanding of the universe, but it is helpful to your focus, and brings you the material prosperity you need in order to support yourself.

Religion
Religion is likely to play a large role in your life, but you may very well choose not to worship a deity, instead paying respect to the universe at large. Though you recognize deities as mere facets of a greater Truth, you may still pay homage to some as a matter of respect to the aspects of the world they represent. While you might choose any deity for this reason, you are likeliest to chose a deity of warfare and combat, such as Erythnul, Heironeous, Hextor, or St. Cuthbert. Should you choose to follow a god, you likely view that deity as a role model for your own path to enlightenment, and shape both your daily life and your combat style after their teachings.

Other Classes
Because of your focus on warfare, you particularly respect members of other classes devoted to the same ideals. Martial adepts, fighters, and paladins are close friends to you, and you have a special affinity for spellshape champions and duskblades. You share much with anchorites, but your philosophy is focused outward, while theirs is focused inward – this can lead to friction and disagreements, despite your shared perspective of spellshaping as an expression of a philosophy. You are not particularly fond of members of stealthy classes, taking issue with people who work to hide knowledge from others, though you do respect those who reserve force for key moments instead of applying it to all problems.

Combat
As soon as you can, charge to the front lines. Attack as rapidly as you can, discharging as many formulae as you are able – you can recover them quickly, and even adapt to new situations on the fly. You are not built for long, drawn out conflicts in which your opponents can slowly build up an advantage. Take advantage of your mount's offensive capabilities, whatever they might be.

You gain access to more circles as you gain levels, allowing you access to a wider variety of effects, but you should always ensure that you have a focus on damaging formulae. Even so, since you change your prepared formulae so often compared to other spellshapers, it can be worth it to pick up a few unusual formulae, even if you don't expect to use them often. At low levels, focus on minor formulae, since you will likely be busy with melee combat, but keep a few major formulae that modify your spellshape attack on hand in case ranged combat becomes necessary. At higher levels, once you gain the ability to shape formulae through your mount, try to keep a balance of minor and major formulae available, so that you exhaust both at the same time and do not have to waste a round on one or the other.

Advancement
You likely were a member of a monastic order of spellshapers who taught you both your philosophy and your magical techniques. You might also have been expelled from a less martially-oriented order, or have discovered this path for yourself. Whatever the case, you're a member of this class because you seek enlightenment through the focus and struggle of conflict. Whether you're following orders or striking out on your own, you're aiming to be the best you can.

As an advaitan, your advancement is fairly straightforward. Choose bonus feats that reflect your personal style of combat. If you decide to multiclass, you should consider options that enhance your melee capabilities. Although you cannot use the spellshape channeling ability of some classes in conjunction with your most powerful abilities, other class features synergize well with your own skills, allowing you to make attacks of opportunity with formulae or to improve your defenses.

Advaitans in the World
“I heard she was some kind of monk. I don't know what church teaches you to ride a giant spider and start throwing acid, and I'm not sure I want to. The cleanup still isn't finished, but at least the bandits are gone.”
—Radmor Chaling, Tavern Proprietor

Advaitans are usually relatively unknown, confused with members of other classes that have companion creatures, or with wizards accompanied by their bizarre creations. If they are well known, it is likely as a large organization of warrior-monks, which might have any number of political ties. At any rate, because a disproportionate number of advaitans are likely to spend time as adventurers, whatever reputation they do have likely involves wandering heroes or villains, bringing change in their wake.

Whatever the case, the example these characters set is likely to inspire others. Whether they inspire fear and hatred for the crimes they use their abilities to commit, or admiration and respect for the work they do for others, they often make an impression on others. While the class itself may be rarely known, individuals are likely to be well-known, and their personal philosophies to impact their surroundings.

Daily Life
An advaitan typically has a strict training regimen of exercises that keep her in peak physical condition. When not maintaining her body, she is likely to spend time taking care of her mount or her mind. It's rare for her to have an idle moment – the most relaxing time of day for her is when she prepares her formulae for the day, taking a few minutes to calm herself and bring forth the knowledge she needs.

Notables
Advaitans' pursuit of battle ensures that many find places of recognition among militaries the world over. General Seraia Kineld is known for her honesty and straightforward actions when it comes to dealing with enemies, but its rumored that she secretly subverts orders from her superiors that she believes to be underhanded or cruel. On the other hand, Kelwor Echar is universally reviled among the common soldiers of his army for his senseless fits of anger and his tendency to order warriors to their deaths. There's debate on whether he's incompetent, or weakening his position on the battlefield so that his later victory seems all the more miraculous in the Imperial Court. The truth is that he simply doesn't care for their lives, and finds the sight of blood incredibly relaxing.

Organizations
Advaitans as a whole do not always have united organizations. Rather, they tend to pledge their allegiances to wider military organizations or to particular monasteries that share their views, serving as a warrior or defender. In a military, they typically enjoy a higher status than the common soldier, whether they have noble blood or not. In some settings, advaitans may be essentially unique to a single nation, but even in this case they owe their allegiance to that nation, rather than to some order dedicated to warriors like themselves.

NPC Reactions
In a world that contains advaitans, they tend to be one of the most obvious classes when encountered. A man on a shining horse might be a paladin, or, more likely, just take very good care of his animal, but when somebody rides into town on a giant, steam-powered machine, it's undeniable that somebody unusual has arrived. They will likely be treated with suspicion or respect, depending on a particular locale's reactions to strangers.

Advaitan Lore
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can research advaitans to learn more about them.  When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including the information from lower DCs.
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Advaitans in the Game
Advaitans are best suited to heroic games in which acts of bravery and valor are reliable solutions to the problems the characters face. Their defining class feature makes them ineffective at stealth, and they have no particular ability to deal with social situations. They work well in a party, and will often work hard to earn the approval of their fellow adventurers. Alternatively, as an NPC, they may request the party's aid in winning some battle that they feel is beyond their ability alone.

Adaptation
Advaitans are limited to mindless mounts as currently written, but this need not necessarily be so. Alternative choices could be written for other types of mount, such as magical beasts or aberrations. Such an alternative would need to include variants for each level of One Soul as Two, and a particular choice of spellshaping circle associated with that type of mount.
« Last Edit: August 10, 2013, 12:03:30 PM by Bauglir »

Offline Bauglir

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Advaitan Basic Mounts
« Reply #1 on: March 28, 2013, 10:33:37 PM »
CLOCKWORK STEED
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CARRIER OOZE
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SPROUTBEAST
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SKELETAL STEED
(click to show/hide)

DOMESTICATED SPIDER
(click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: April 13, 2013, 03:41:30 AM by Bauglir »

Offline Bauglir

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Alternate Class Feature - Spelleater
« Reply #2 on: April 11, 2013, 04:55:52 PM »
Spelleater
Most advaitans look outward in their quest to expand the domain of their mind to encompass all reality. It is, after all, the natural path to tread on this journey. But some believe that they must look inward, to understand their own apparent mind, with all its flaws and presumptions, in order to overcome them. It is the mind that produces the illusions that hide enlightenment, and it is in the realm of the mind, not the body, that advancement takes place. This sort of advaitan practices deep meditation and seeks to blend her spirit with the flow of magic itself, instead of with material objects and creatures. Though it is rare for them to call themselves spelleaters, many who witness their powers over raw magical energy insist that this is exactly what they are.

   Class: Advaitan
   Level: 1st
   Cost: You do not gain mounted combat as a bonus feat, a favored mount, or the one soul as two, cavalry master, or surefooted charge class features.

   Benefit: You add Autohypnosis to your list of class skills as an advaitan.  You also add to your list of advaitan bonus feats every feat noted as a Fighter bonus feat, except for those that require a certain number of Fighter levels.
   In addition, you gain the following class features at the listed class levels.

   Spell Resistance (Su): Starting at 1st level, your meditation on the nature of magic grants you a measure of reactive control over its flow. You gain spell resistance equal to 5 + your shaper level. At 7th level, and again at 12th level, the spell resistance you gain from this class feature increases by 5.

   Arcane Dabbler: At 1st level, you gain Arcane Dabbler as a bonus feat, due to your intuitive understanding of magic's flow.

   Meditative Aspect (Su): You gain the meditative aspect ability of an anchorite, except that your martial studies put you on a slower path to a similar type of magical dominion. You do not improve these abilities at 8th and 15th levels, as an anchorite does. Instead, at 9th level, your meditative aspects improve in the same way as an anchorite's ability improves at 8th level. At 20th level, your aspects improve in the same way as an anchorite's improve at 15th level. You never gain the ability to adopt more than one aspect at a time. In all ways other than noted here, this ability functions as though you were an anchorite of a level equal to your advaitan level.

   Perfect Spellstrike (Su): At 5th level, you gain a more nuanced understanding of magic's flow than a typical advaitan. When you shape a major formula, you may treat your melee attacks as though they were the spellshape attack associated with that formula's circle for the purposes of interacting with that formula. You do not provoke an attack of opportunity for shaping a formula in this way. This otherwise functions just as your spellstrike blade ability. For instance, if you shaped the ignite formula, you could strike a foe with a normal melee attack instead of a fireblast; that foe would then need to make a Reflex save to avoid catching fire. The attack would not deal any fire damage of its own, or any extra damage.

   Spell Knowledge (Ex): At 9th level, your study of magical phenomena makes you a more reliable source on the subject than most. Once per day, you can reroll a failed Knowledge (arcana) or Spellcraft check.

   Absorb Magic (Su): At 14th level, you overcome the boundary between another's spellcasting and your own. Whenever a spell fails to overcome your spell resistance, you may use its energy to refresh your own powers. You may either refresh an expended formula of your choice, or heal 1d8 hit points per level of the spell that failed to overcome your spell resistance.

   Perfect Union (Su): At 20th level, you overcome the arbitrary boundaries between manipulations of magical energy. Any spell, whether it ordinarily allows spell resistance or not, is subject to your spell resistance.
   Supernatural abilities are also subject to your spell resistance. If the ability is dependent on some function of class levels, such as a shaper level, Binder level, meldshaper level, and so on, use that level as if it were the ability's caster level. Otherwise, the power of a source of magic is directly tied to its importance to the universe. Use the CR of whatever produced the effect as if it were that effect's caster level. In any case, the effective spell level of such an effect is equal to 1/2 its caster level, rounded down.
« Last Edit: June 05, 2013, 02:24:54 AM by Bauglir »