GlyphwalkerAlignment: Any.
HD: d6
Races: Any.
Abilities: Wisdom determines how many rituals you can charge and how difficult they are to resist, as well as how well you can guide your glyphs; a high Constitution is helpful for everyone.
Level | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Rituals Known | Rituals Charged | Special |
1 | +0 | +0 | +2 | +2 | 4 | 0* | Ritual casting (minor), bonded glyph |
2 | +1 | +0 | +3 | +3 | 5 | 0* | Bonus feat |
3 | +2 | +1 | +3 | +3 | 6 | 0* | Animate glyph (minor), glyphic empathy |
4 | +3 | +1 | +4 | +4 | 7 | 0* | Adaptive learning |
5 | +3 | +1 | +4 | +4 | 8 | 2 | Ritual casting (least) |
6 | +4 | +2 | +5 | +5 | 9 | 3 | Ritual Shorthand, runic senses |
7 | +5 | +2 | +5 | +5 | 10 | 4 | Animate glyph (least) |
8 | +6/+1 | +2 | +6 | +6 | 11 | 4 | Adaptive learning, runic versatility |
9 | +6/+1 | +3 | +6 | +6 | 12 | 5 | Ritual casting (lesser) |
10 | +7/+2 | +3 | +7 | +7 | 13 | 6 | Bonus feat |
11 | +8/+3 | +3 | +7 | +7 | 14 | 7 | Animate glyph (lesser) |
12 | +9/+4 | +4 | +8 | +8 | 15 | 8 | Adaptive learning |
13 | +9/+4 | +4 | +8 | +8 | 16 | 9 | Ritual casting (greater) |
14 | +10/+5 | +4 | +9 | +9 | 18 | 10 | Greater runic versatility |
15 | +11/+6/+1 | +5 | +9 | +9 | 20 | 10 | Animate glyph (greater) |
16 | +12/+7/+2 | +5 | +10 | +10 | 22 | 11 | Adaptive learning |
17 | +12/+7/+2 | +5 | +10 | +10 | 24 | 12 | Ritual casting (advanced) |
18 | +13/+8/+3 | +6 | +11 | +11 | 26 | 13 | Bonus feat |
19 | +14/+9/+4 | +6 | +11 | +11 | 28 | 14 | Animate glyph (advanced) |
20 | +15/+10/+5 | +6 | +12 | +12 | 30 | 15 | Adaptive learning, runic mastery |
Class Skills (4+Int modifier per level, x4 at 1st level): Concentration, Craft, Decipher Script, Knowledge (all skills, taken individually), Listen, Profession, Search, Spellcraft, Spot, and Use Magic Device.
Class Features Weapon and Armor Proficiency: You are proficient with all simple weapons and one martial weapon of your choice, light armor, and shields (but not tower shields).
Ritual Casting: You gain the ability to cast rituals, which are magical effects similar to a spells. You can cast a ritual at any time, any number of times per day; after casting, the ritual remains "charged" until you decide to discharge it with an act of will (as a free action, unless otherwise specified), at which point the ritual takes effect. In this way, a you can store up ritual charges until they are needed. A ritual that is not discharged within 24 hours of its casting fades away with no effect. The duration of your ritual effects is equal to 1 round plus 1 round per class level, and the caster level of your rituals is equal to your class level.
Rituals come in five flavors: minor, least, lesser, greater, and advanced. Casting any ritual requires you to draw a diagram on a flat, solid surface with a piece of chalk or charcoal; it also requires a drop of your blood (which deals 1 point of damage for any ritual stronger than a minor ritual), and chanted words (a ritual cannot be cast while under the effect of a silence spell, for example). The length of time it takes to cast a ritual depends on its strength: a minor ritual takes 1 minute, a least ritual takes 5 minutes, a lesser ritual takes 10 minutes, a greater ritual takes 15 minutes, and an advanced ritual takes 30 minutes to cast. Rituals cannot be counterspelled, and you may charge the same ritual more than once. The DC to resist the effect of any of your rituals is equal to your 10 + your Wisdom modifier + a number depending on the strength of the ritual: 0 for minor, 2 for least, 4 for lesser, 6 for greater, and 8 for advanced.
You begin by knowing four minor rituals from any list (including class lists). You can have a number of minor rituals equal to your Wisdom modifier charged at any one time. At 5th level, you learn how to cast least rituals, at 9th level you learn to cast lesser rituals, at 13th level you learn to cast greater rituals, and at 17th level you learn to cast advanced rituals. As you increase in level, you learn more rituals as shown in the table above, again from any list; you can only learn rituals of a level you are able to cast.
For rituals stronger than minor, you can have a number of them charged at any time as shown on the table above, and you gain bonus charges equal to half your Wisdom modifier, rounded down. When you reach 9th level and gain access to lesser rituals, you cannot cast a lesser ritual unless you have at least one more least ritual than lesser rituals already charged. For example, a 9th-level glyphwalker with one least ritual and one lesser ritual charged must cast a second least ritual before casting a second lesser ritual. At 13th level, when you learn how to cast greater rituals, you cannot cast a greater ritual unless you have at least one more least ritual and one more lesser ritual than greater rituals already charged. For example, a 13th-level glyphwalker with one each least, lesser, and greater rituals charged could not cast another greater ritual until she had at least one more least and one more lesser ritual charged. When you reach 17th level and are able to cast advanced rituals, you cannot cast an advanced ritual unless you have at least one more each least ritual, lesser ritual, and greater ritual than advanced rituals already charged. For example, a 17th-level glyphwalker with one each least, lesser, greater, and advanced rituals charged could not cast another advanced ritual until she cast at least one more least, lesser, and greater ritual each.
Bonded glyph: You tattoo a special glyph onto your skin, which takes on a form of sentience. Your bonded glyph is similar to a wizard's familiar, but is not a creature in the traditional sense. It grants you certain abilities, and gains in power as you increase in level, as detailed below.
Bonus feat: At 2nd level, and again at 10th and 18th level, you gain a bonus ritual or metaritual feat for which you meet the prerequisites.
Animate glyph (Su): When you reach 3rd level, you gain the ability to animate a glyph for a ritual that you know. You cast the ritual as normal, but instead of becoming charged, the result is a crawling glyph associated with the ritual you cast. The crawling glyph lasts for 1 hour per class level or until destroyed; you have no special control over the glyph except by using your glyphic empathy ability. When you animate the glyph, you can make a Spellcraft check to have the crawling glyph know one trick of your choice; the DC of the Spellcraft check is the DC to train a non-animal creature that trick. You can use this ability once per day per three class levels, rounded down. At 3rd level, you can animate minor rituals, at 7th level you can animate least rituals, at 11th you can animate lesser rituals, at 15th level you can animate greater rituals, and at 19th level you can animate advanced rituals. You cannot have more than one crawling glyph of the same strength animated at a time.
Glyphic empathy (Ex): Beginning at 3rd level, you can attempt to control crawling glyphs (either those you create or ones you encounter). This works like a Handle Animal check, except that your bonus on the check is equal to your class level plus your Wisdom modifier, and the DC is equal to 5 + the crawling glyph's hit dice.
Adaptive learning: At 4th level, and every four levels after, you may learn a new ritual in place of a ritual you already know; the new ritual must be chosen from the list of general rituals.
Ritual Shorthand: At 6th level, you gain Ritual Shorthand as a bonus feat. You must meet the prerequisites.
Runic senses (Su): Beginning at 6th level, you gain the trapfinding special ability; however, you can only use it for magical traps, and you use Spellcraft to disable them instead of Disable Device.
Runic versatility (Sp): At 8th level, you gain the ability to cast the following spells as spell-like abilities at a caster level equal to your class level:
ghoul glyph, glyph of warding, and
explosive runes. You can use this ability a total number of times per day equal to your Wisdom modifier, but can only cast each individual spell a maximum of twice per day.
Greater runic versatility: Beginning at 14th level, you add the following spells to the list of spells to choose from when using your runic versatility class feature:
evacuation rune, greater glyph of warding, symbol of fear, symbol of pain, symbol of persuasion, symbol of sleep, symbol of spell loss, and
symbol of thirst Runic mastery: At 20th level, you add the following spells to the list of spells to choose from when using your runic versatility class feature:
symbol of death, symbol of insanity, symbol of stunning, and
symbol of weakness. In addition, the number of times you can use the ability increases to twice your Wisdom modifier, though you can still only cast each individual SLA a maximum of twice per day.
Bonded GlyphA glyphwalker's bonded glyph is a magical tattoo has rudimentary sentience. It grants the glyphwalker certain abilities based on the glyphwalker's class level, as shown in the table below.
BasicsUse the basic statistics for a crawling glyph of the appropriate strength, but make the following changes:
- Hit Dice -- For the purpose of effects related to number of Hit Dice, use the glyphwalker's character level or the glyph's normal HD total, whichever is higher.
- Hit Points -- The bonded glyph has one-half the glyphwalker's total hit points (not including temporary hit points), rounded down, regardless of its actual Hit Dice.
- Saving Throws -- For each saving throw, use either the glyph's base save bonus or the glyphwalker's (as calculated from all her classes), whichever is better. The glyph uses its own ability modifiers to saves, and it doesn’t share any of the other bonuses that the glyphwalker might have on saves.
Glyphwalker Level | Ability Bonus | Int | Special |
1st-2nd | +0 | 4 | Alertness, ritual affinity (minor) |
3rd-5th | +2 | 5 | Spell defense |
6th-9th | +2 | 6 | Ritual immersion, ritual affinity (least) |
10th-13th | +4 | 7 | Locomotion, ritual affinity (lesser), telepathy |
14th-17th | +4 | 8 | Spell resistance, ritual affinity (greater) |
18th-20th | +6 | 9 | Spell boost, ritual affinity (advanced) |
Bonded Glyph Ability DescriptionsEvery glyph has special abilities (or imparts abilities to their glyphwalker) depending on the glyphwalker's class level, as shown on the table above. The abilities given on the table are cumulative.
- Ability Bonus -- The glyphwalker gains a bonus to her Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution score, choosing which ability score is affected after 24 hours or 8 hours of rest.
- Int -- The glyph's Intelligence score.
- Alertness (Ex) -- While the glyph is scribed on the glyphwalker's skin (see Locomotion below), the glyphwalker gains the benefit of the Alertness feat.
- Ritual Affinity (Su) -- At 1st level, the glyphwalker chooses one minor ritual she knows to associate her bonded glyph with. Every time she gains a level she can change the associated ritual to another ritual she knows; starting at 6th level, she can choose a least ritual, at 10th she can choose a lesser ritual, at 14th she can choose a greater ritual, and at 18th level she can choose an advanced ritual. As long as the bonded glyph is scribed on the glyphwalker's skin (see Locomotion below), whenever the glyphwalker casts the associate ritual, the duration is doubled, the caster level increases by 2, the save DC (if any) increases by 1, and the ritual is 25% faster to cast.
- Spell defense (Su) -- Starting at 3rd level, as long as the glyph is scribed on the glyphwalker's skin, she gains a +3 bonus on saves vs spells and spell-like abilities.
- Ritual immersion (Su) -- If the glyphwalker is 6th level or higher, she gains the benefit of the bonded glyph's associated ritual as long as the glyph is scribed on her skin.
- Telepathy (Ex) -- Beginning at 10th level, the glyphwalker has a telepathic link with the bonded glyph out to a distance of 1 mile. The glyphwalker cannot see through the glyph's eyes, because it doesn't have any; however, because of this telepathic link, the glyphwalker has the same connection to an item or place that her bonded glyph does.
- Locomotion (Ex) -- When the glyphwalker reaches 10th level, the bonded glyph can crawl off of her skin and move around on its own. When the glyph does so, it becomes a normal crawling glyph of the associated ritual, except with the increased intelligence and telepathy. If the bonded glyph is destroyed while detached, the glyphwalker loses 200 xp per class level (DC 15 Fortitude save to reduce xp loss by half), and can be replaced after 1 week of special ceremonies.
- Spell Resistance (Ex) -- At 14th level, the magic of the bonded glyph protects the glyphwalker even more effectively from other spell effects. As long as the glyph is scribed on the glyphwalker's skin, the glyphwalker gains spell resistance equal to 11 + her class level.
- Spell Boost (Su) -- Starting at 18th level, whenever the glyphwalker resists a spell due to the spell resistance granted by the bonded glyph, she gains 5 temporary hit points per level of the spell, as the glyph's own magical energy absorbs the spell.