Base Class - Savant

[DonQuixote]

Savant
“It is well-known that knowledge is power.  Some think this to mean that specific kinds of knowledge are power.  The truth however, is that all knowledge is power.”
—Tabris Nothart, Savant

While spellsages pursue knowledge of magic, the savant craves all knowledge, regardless of topic.  He is an insatiable scholar, devouring entire libraries in his drive to learn all that there is to know.  A true savant's thirst for knowledge is never slaked, and it does not distinguish between the mundane, the forgotten, and the forbidden.

   Though a savant's studies grant him the ability to shape arcane formulae, the secrets that he learns grant him an additional edge in combat, allowing him to draw on his wealth of knowledge in order to plan an assault against an unusual foe.  Such encounters only intensify a savant's quest for knowledge, as they prove the value of the most esoteric scraps of information.

Making a Savant
The savant is the most academic of all spellshapers, spending much of his time sequestered inside libraries, researching whatever rare pieces of information he can find.  However, that academic bent proves to be a valuable asset to any adventuring party, as a well-learned savant can provide winning tactics in an otherwise hopeless situation.

   Abilities: The most important characteristic for a savant is a keen Intelligence.  A savant's Intelligence determines the highest-level formulae that he can learn, as well as how difficult those formulae are to resist.  A high Dexterity score ensures that his magical attacks will often hit, and a strong Constitution is valuable for dealing with the less savory sides of knowledge-collection.

   Races: Savants, like all spellshapers, can come from any race with the capacity to use magic.  However, the savant's particular brand of obsession means that they most often come from races that highly value learning and knowledge, rather than the more brutish cultures.

   Alignment: Knowledge knows no bounds, and savants can come from any alignment.  However, there is a certain academic detachment that is required to invest oneself as heavily in learning as a savant does.  As a result, savants of a lawful persuasion are quite common.

   Starting Gold: 4d4x10 gp (100 gp).

   Starting Age: As bard.



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

   Weapon and Armor Proficiency: As a savant, you are proficient with simple weapons and light armor, but not with shields.
   As a savant, you can shape formulae while wearing light armor without incurring the normal arcane spell failure chance.  However, like any other arcane spellcaster, you incur a chance of arcane spell failure when wearing medium or heavy armor or when using a shield.  This only applies to the formulae you know as a savant, and you might incur arcane spell failure chance for formulae received from other spellshaper classes.


   Formulae: You begin play with knowledge of six arcane formulae.  You have access to four circles of your choice, which you select at 1st level.

   Once you know a formula, you must prepare it before you can use it (see Formulae Prepared, below).  A formula usable by a savant 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 above in Weapon and Armor Proficiency.  The save DC for a formula that allows a save is 10 + formula level + your Intelligence modifier.

   You learn additional formulae at higher levels, as shown on Table 2-2.  To learn or shape a formula, you must have an Intelligence score equal to at least 10 + the formula level, as well as meeting the formula's prerequisite.  See page 36 of The Codex of Spellshaping: The Twelve Circles to determine the highest-level formulae you can learn.

   Upon reaching 4th level, and at every even-numbered savant level after that (6th, 8th, 10th, and so on), you can choose to learn a new formula in place of one you already know.  In effect, you lose the old formula in exchange for the new one.  You can choose a new formula of any level you like, as long as you observe your restriction on the highest-level formulae you know; you need not replace the old formula with a formula of the same level.  For example, upon reaching 10th level, you could trade in a single 1st-, 2nd-, 3rd-, or 4th-level formula for a formula of 5th level or lower.  You can swap only a single formula at any given level.


   Formulae Prepared: You can only prepare five of your known formulae at 1st level, so you will have to choose which formulae to prepare.  You prepare your formulae by studying for 5 minutes.  The formulae 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 formulae; any time you spend 5 minutes in study, 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 formulae can be used once per encounter (unless you recover them, as described below).

   You can attempt to recover some of your expended formulae by reviewing your arcane knowledge as a standard action that provokes no attacks of opportunity.  In order to review your formulae, you must make a Knowledge (arcana) check with a DC of 5.  On a successful check, you recover a number of expended formulae of your choice equal to your check result divided by 5 (rounded down).  No matter how high your check result, you cannot recover a number of formulae greater than the number of formulae you have expended.

   In addition, once per encounter, you can change your prepared formulae as a swift action.  However, changing your prepared formulae in this way leaves all of your formulae expended--even those that had already been prepared.

   Spellshape Attacks (Sp): Among the first abilities that you learn as a savant are your spellshape attacks.  You learn the four spellshape attacks associated with the circles to which you have access.

   Savant's Knowledge: A number of times per day equal to 3 + your Intelligence modifier, you can draw upon your expansive knowledge to grant you and your allies benefits against the creatures you face.  Doing this counts as a move action.  Savant's knowledge pertains to creatures of all types, and you find new uses for your savant's knowledge as your level increases.

   Using your savant's knowledge requires a Knowledge check of a type appropriate to the creature faced (see page 78 of the Player's Handbook).  The DC of the check is 15.  Most of your savant's knowledge abilities increase in effectiveness if you succeed on your Knowledge check by 10 or more.  Savant's knowledge can only be used once per encounter against any given creature.

   Your savant's knowledge can affect a single creature or all creatures of the same race, depending on the effect used.  A target creature must be within 60 feet, and you must be aware of the creature's presence, although you need not have a line of sight to it.  The effects of your savant's knowledge last for the remainder of the encounter, unless stated otherwise.

   Tactics: You know the general combat behaviors of creatures of that race, granting you and your allies a +1 insight bonus to attack rolls made against them.  For example, a savant confronted by corruption eaters who succeeded on his Knowledge (dungeoneering) check would grant his allies the attack bonus against all the corruption eaters they fought in that encounter.  If you succeed on your Knowledge check by 10 or more, then this bonus increases to +2.  If you succeed on your Knowledge check by 20 or more, then this bonus increases to +3.

   Puissance: Starting at 5th level, you can use your savant's knowledge to help your allies fight off the abilities of other creatures.  You and any allies within 60 feet of you gain a +1 bonus on saving throws against the affected creature's abilities.  If you succeed on your Knowledge check by 10 or more, then this bonus increases to +2.  If you succeed by 20 or more, then this bonus increases to +3.

   Foe: Starting at 8th level, you can direct your allies to attack vital spots of your enemies.  On a successful Knowledge check, you and your allies gain a bonus to damage rolls with weapons and spellshape attacks made against the target creatures equal to 1d6 points of damage.  If you succeed on your Knowledge check by 10 or more, then this bonus increases to 2d6.  If you succeed by 20 or more, then this bonus increases to 3d6.

   Weakening Secrets: Starting at 11th level, you can weaken creatures of a specific race by speaking their secrets aloud.  The target creatures take a –1 penalty on their saving throws against the abilities of you and any allies within 60 feet.  If you succeed on your Knowledge check by 10 or more, then this penalty increases to –2.  If you succeed by 20 or more, then this penalty increases to –3.

   Foreknowledge: Starting at 14th level, you can better prepare your allies for the attacks of the affected creature, making it harder for the creature to land blows and successfully deal damage.  You and all allies within 60 feet of you gain a +1 insight bonus to Armor Class that applies to attacks made by the affected creature only.  If you succeed on your Knowledge check by 10 or more, then this bonus increases to +2.  If you succeed by 20 or more, then this bonus increases to +3.

   Resistance: Starting at 17th level, you know the extent of the creature's offensive abilities, and you know how best to resist them.  You and all allies within 60 feet of you gain spell resistance 10 against the attacks and abilities of the affected creature.  If you succeed on your Knowledge check by 10 or more, then this spell resistance increases to 20.  If you succeed by 20 or more, then this spell resistance increases to 30.

   Clarity: Starting at 20th level, you know all of the weaknesses of your enemies, and you can direct your allies to take advantage of this clarity.  You and all allies within 60 feet of you gain a +2 bonus to caster level for the purpose of overcoming the target creature's spell resistance, and you and your allies ignore 10% of any miss chance you might have on attacks against the target creature.  If you succeed on your Knowledge check by 10 or more, then the bonus against spell resistance increases to +4 and the amount of miss chance that is ignored increases to 20%.  If you succeed on your Knowledge check by 20 or more, then the bonus against spell resistance increases to +6 and the amount of miss chance that is ignored increases to 30%.

   Scholar's Cantrips (Sp): As a savant, you have access to basic spells used by scholars across the world.  You can cast amanuensis (see page 9 of Spell Compendium) and read magic at will.

   Bonus Feat: At 2nd level, you can select a free feat from the following list: Circle Focus, Depth of Knowledge, Enduring Knowledge, Greater Circle Focus, Mastered Formula, Piercing Knowledge, Project Numen, Reshape Formula, Skill Focus (any Knowledge skill), Spellshape Incanter, Studied Tactics, Sudden Recall, or any metashaping feat.  You gain an additional bonus feat at 9th level and again at 16th level.

   Lore Mastery: When you reach 3rd level, you gain an unusual degree of mastery over a specific field of knowledge.  When making checks with any one Knowledge skill of your choice, you may roll twice and take the better result.  Once this choice of Knowledge skill is made, it cannot be changed.  At 7th, 11th, 15th, and 19th level, you can choose an additional Knowledge skill with which to gain this benefit.

   Still Mind (Ex): Starting at 4th level, you gain a +2 bonus on saving throws against spells and effects from the school of enchantment, due to your rigorous focus and intense mental discipline.

   Flash of Insight (Ex): Beginning at 10th level, you can tap into your wealth of knowledge to guide you in battle.  A number of times per day equal to your Intelligence modifier, as an immediate action, you can gain a +5 insight bonus on a single attack, check, or save.

   Gnosis (Ex): Starting at 13th level, you can draw on your vast stores of knowledge to learn what others would need to ascertain through magic.  Once per day, you can gain the effect of a legend lore or an analyze dweomer spell, with a caster level equal to your shaper level.  Though they mimic the effects of powerful divination magic, these effects are extraordinary, not spell-like.


Playing a Savant
Savants are single-minded scholars who are driven to obsessive research and study.  Rather than going on quests for self-fulfillment or in order to satisfy some moral obligation, they travel for a single purpose: knowledge.  While other adventurers might seek knowledge for some purpose or goal, a savant's desire for learning stems only from his desire to know.  He serves no god and champions no cause, obeying only the siren call of tomes unread, libraries unexplored, and secrets undiscovered.

   As a savant, your primary goal is the acquisition of knowledge.  While you gain power more directly from magical scholarship, you eagerly search out all kinds of learning, be they magic or mundane.  You prize books of any sort, from spellbooks to historical chronicles, and will travel far to investigate a rare (or newly discovered) text.  Though your academic drive might cause you to be somewhat detached from the world around you, you are also genuinely interested in whatever knowledge common folk might have.  As such, you are generally not quite so haughty as a wizard, though you are also far from the gregarious nature of a bard.

Religion
Though you may well know much of the gods, your attitude towards them is often closer to academic curiosity than it is to genuine worship.  In the event that you choose to affiliate yourself with a deity, you are likely to choose Boccob, as he rules over both magic and knowledge.  If you are of an evil alignment, the secrets promised by Vecna might also prove to be attractive to you.

Other Classes
Your endless quest for knowledge often places you in the company of wizards, who share your scholarly approach to magical study.  However, this same desire for understanding can lead to friction with more spontaneous classes, such as sorcerers and barbarians.  However, you also tend to get along well with bards, as they often share your interest in old lore and forgotten secrets.  Any class or individual that you have not previously encountered will be a source of interest to you at first, as they represent knowledge that you had not previously possessed.

Combat
Like most spellshapers, you are not suited for the front lines of combat.  You are best served by staying far away from your foes, shaping your formulae from a distance and avoiding the dangers of close-quarters fighting.  You have less stamina than many other spellshapers, so it is even more important that you avoid being struck in combat.

   If the party is likely to face foes who have secret weaknesses, your wealth of knowledge can have an enormous benefit.  In addition to providing combat bonuses through your savant's knowledge, remember that normal knowledge checks can reveal the secrets of your enemies.

Advancement
Unlike many classes, the path of the savant is not one that is simply chosen.  Instead, many who embrace this class are driven to do so by an insatiable craving for learning that borders on obsession.  While some individuals come to this desire for knowledge later in life, it is almost always a matter of mania, not choice.  Indeed, many savants never veer from their course of study; the more knowledge they acquire, the more they are driven to learn more.  While some might dabble in other classes to complement their abilities, doing so often slows them in their quest for knowledge.

   Though you are focused on learning, the broad nature of your studies leaves you only enough time to specialize in four circles.  You would do well to carefully consider your options when selecting formulae, making choices that work well together.  Do not forget to include your savant's knowledge abilities in your decision-making process, as their benefits could be used in tandem with many formulae.

Savants in the World
“While others from the so-called 'civilized world' view us as backwards and below consideration, the man who called himself a savant was different.  He spoke with us not with condescension, but with interest.”
—Sirak Orensh, high shaman

Savants bring with them a powerful academic presence that is normally absent from most campaign worlds.  While wizards often research various areas and bards usually possess odd bits of lore, few other classes are as single-mindedly dedicated to the concept of knowledge itself.  Rather than dwelling secretly in lofty towers, savants move almost constantly through the world--moving from library to library, sometimes stopping to investigate ancient ruins.

   The vast troves of knowledge held by a savant make him a valuable ally, as well as an esteemed personage.  While savants rarely stay in the same place for long, their time in any town or city often finds them working as teachers or librarians, sharing their knowledge with those who seek it.

Daily Life
A savant spends as much time as possible reading.  Whenever he is not otherwise engaged, he often has his nose buried in a book, hungrily devouring its contents with his eyes.  While traveling with an adventuring party, this reading is often accompanied by conversations with other party members, asking them about their origins and what they know about the world.  If he has already gleaned all that he can from his companions and has no new books to read, a savant usually passes the time by writing some work of his own--either a compilation of his knowledge or an original piece of philosophy, analysis, or even fiction.

Notables
Though savants seek knowledge, rather than fame, some of them have gained recognition for their academic achievements.  Hammes Dewpond, for example, was once able to prevent a catastrophic war simply by virtue of what he had learned of both nations and the situation.  However, some savants are remembered not for their deeds, but for the horrifying things they have uncovered.  Tales maintain that a savant whose name has been lost to the ages unwittingly released a horrific beast that wiped out an entire civilization.

Organizations
Though they share a common goal, savants rarely form any sort of cohesive unit.  For them, much of the joy of learning lies in uncovering the facts by oneself--shared knowledge, while still knowledge gained, loses some of its luster.  While some savants are employed by the Tower of the Conclave, most of them view that august body as far too narrow in its focus.  In the event that a savant should feel the need to work for some greater body, he usually seeks out the largest and most influential library in the land, both learning from it and contributing his own findings to its shelves.

NPC Reactions
While the powers of a savant differ only slightly from those of other magic-users, especially other spellshapers, he is almost always greeted enthusiastically by those he encounters.  His willingness to freely share knowledge means that common folk flock to him to learn, while craft experts often consult with him on the finer points of their arts.  Even nobles and local officials have been known to relish the chance to speak with a savant, as his accumulation of knowledge can be quite illuminating to those in a position of power.

Savant Lore
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can research savants to learn more about them.  When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including the information from lower DCs.

   DC 10: Savants are scholarly magic-users who view the accumulation of learning to be just as important, if not more so, than the magic they wield.

   DC 15: Though they study in the same way that a wizard does, savants are actually practitioners of spellshaping.  Though he does not focus his research on magic, a savant's vast troves of knowledge can prove useful to him in other ways.

   DC 20: Not only can a savant shape arcane formulae, he can also use his knowledge to gain a tactical benefit against his foes.  This benefit can range from capitalizing on foes' weaknesses to knowing how to resist their most devastating attacks.

Savants in the Game
The questing nature of the savant means that they are easy enough to introduce to the party.  If the party should come across some ancient relic or the secrets of an ancient mystery, any savant would be happy to share any of his applicable knowledge in exchange for the chance to study the new discovery.  A savant might also hire adventurers to protect him as he explores some long-lost city that he has recently located, paying them handsomely once he has acquired the knowledge he seeks.

Adaptation
An alternative to the savant as a lone scholar would be to present them as members of a large organization.  An example of such an organization could be an interplanar library that fills an entire plane with its information.  In such a case, savants would quest in order to gather information for the archive, gaining access to its more dangerous secrets as their duties granted them greater respect within the library's hierarchy.

[DonQuixote]

Chronarch
Time is the bane of many seekers of knowledge.  Ancient secrets are lost, and only bits of history can be reassembled.  Most resign themselves to searching for scraps of forgotten lore, but some savants refuse to accept such restrictions.  By focusing primarily on the powers of the Eternal Moment, these chronarchs seek to transcend the bonds of time.  Though they may never unlock a way to travel back to the days of yore, these lords of time eventually become undying historians, chronicling all that comes to pass.

   Class: Savant
   Level: 1st
   Cost: You do not choose four circles of formulae to access at 1st level.  In addition, you do not learn a new formula at 2nd level.

   Benefit: You gain access to the Eternal Moment and Unseen Impetus circles, and you learn the temporal blast and kinetic blast spellshape attacks.  In addition, you gain the following class features at the listed class levels.

   Eternal Incantations (Sp): At 1st level, you gain the ability to shape the incantations associated with the Eternal Moment circle.

   Time Step (Su): Starting at 1st level, you can step forward in time as a standard action (always into the future, never into the past).  In effect, you seem to disappear, then reappear a certain number of rounds later, determined when you first use this ability.  You reappear in the same orientation and condition as before.  For you, no time has passed at all.  If the space from which you departed is occupied upon your return to the time stream, you appear in the closest unoccupied space, still in your original orientation.  Determine the closest space randomly if necessary.
   As a part of stepping through time, you can ready a standard, move, swift, or free action to take upon reentering the time stream.  This readied action triggers automatically when you reappear, though you can set other conditions that must also be met.  Unlike a normal readied action, taking this action does not change your place in the initiative order, and you still get your regular action in that round.
   You may use this ability to travel a total number of rounds each day equal to 1/2 your shaper level x your Intelligence modifier.  This amount can be split among many steps through time, and you do not have to use it all at once.

   Fast Movement (Ex): Starting at 3rd level, you gain a +10-foot enhancement bonus to all your speeds.  This bonus increases by 10 feet for every three savant levels you attain thereafter (+20 feet at 6th level, +30 feet at 9th level, +40 feet at 12th level, +50 feet at 15th level, and +60 feet at 18th level).

   Uncanny Dodge (Ex): At 5th level and higher, you retain your Dexterity bonus to AC (if any), even if you are caught flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker.  However, you still lose your Dexterity bonus to AC if you are immobilized.  If you already have uncanny dodge from a different class, you automatically gain improved uncanny dodge (see below) instead.

   Improved Uncanny Dodge (Ex): Starting at 10th level, you can no longer be flanked; you can react to opponents on both sides of you as easily as you can react to a single attacker.  See the barbarian class feature (page 26 of the Player's Handbook) for more information.

   Timeless Body (Ex): Upon attaining 17th level, you no longer take penalties to your ability scores for aging and cannot be magically aged.  Any such penalties that you have already taken, however, remain in place.  Bonuses still accrue, and you still die of old age when your time is up.

   Lord of Time: When you reach 20th level, your connection to time allows you to transcend mortality.  You no longer have a maximum age, and can live indefinitely should you choose to do so.  In addition, even if your current body is abused to the point of death, you can pull a new body from a lost eddy of the time stream.  Whenever you would be killed (that is, reduced to -10 hit points or lower), you may attempt a DC 30 Fortitude save.  Regardless of the outcome of your saving throw, you die normally.  However, on a successful Fortitude save, you return to life in a new body over the next hour, as if affected by the reincarnate spell, except that you suffer no level loss.

[DonQuixote]

Idiosyncratic Shaper
Most spellshapers of a given path tend to draw upon the same sources of power.  Impulse mages rely on the force of their personalities, while spellsages learn their formulae through careful, regimented study.  However, there are idiosyncratic shapers who shape their powers in other ways.  There are tales of elemental adepts who call out to the elements the same way that a cleric calls out to a god, or spellshape champions who study their power in the same way that a wizard does.  Though rare, these shapers are no less powerful than their more conventional brethren.

   Class: Any spellshaper
   Level: 1st
   Cost: The number of formulae you can prepare is reduced by one.  (If you are an impulse mage, the number of formulae that occur to you at the beginning of an encounter is also reduced by one.)

   Benefit: At 1st level, you choose a mental ability score (Charisma, Intelligence, or Wisdom) to use in place of what your class would normally use as its spellshaping ability.  You use this ability score for determining the highest-level formulae that you can learn, and in order to set the save DCs (if any) of formulae that you shape.  For example, an idiosyncratic spellsage who chose to use Charisma as his spellshaping ability modifier would use it in place of his Intelligence score when learning and shaping formulae.
   In addition, if your class has other features that would be modified or determined by what that class normally uses as its spellshaping ability score, those features also use your chosen ability in place of the normal ability score.  However, if your class has features that would be modified or determined by your chosen ability score, those features use the ability that your class would normally use as its spellshaping ability score.

[DonQuixote]

Keeper of Songs
Though ancient secrets might open the doors to forgotten power, most savants view the secrets themselves as of greater importance.  Even as they journey through abandoned crypts or crumbling temples, these scholars are driven by the pursuit of knowledge, not a desire for what that knowledge may unlock.  Some savants, however, recognize that the application of knowledge can prove to be more valuable than its mere accumulation.  Rather than studying ancient lore for its own sake, such savants follow the way of the bard: collecting the songs and legends of the world and using them to rally their allies.  Though they cannot bring their tactical knowledge to bear quite as easily as other savants, the bardic music of these keepers of songs makes them valuable allies.

   Class: Savant
   Level: 1st
   Cost: You do not gain the savant's knowledge class feature.

   Benefit: You add Perform to your list of class skills as a savant.
   In addition, a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Intelligence modifier, you can use your song or poetics to produce almost magical effects on those around you (including yourself, if desired).  While these abilities fall under the category of bardic music and the descriptions discuss singing or playing instruments, they can all be activated by reciting poetry, chanting, singing lyrical songs, singing melodies, whistling, playing an instrument, or playing an instrument in combination with some spoken performance.  Each ability requires both a minimum savant level and a minimum number of ranks in the Perform skill to qualify.  If you do not have the required number of ranks in at least one Perform skill, you do not gain the bardic music ability until you acquire the needed ranks.
   Starting a bardic music effect is a standard action, and you can only maintain an effect for a number of minutes equal to your Constitution modifier (minimum 1).  Some bardic music abilities require concentration, which means that you must take a standard action each round to maintain the ability.  Even while using bardic music that doesn't require concentration, you cannot cast spells with verbal components, activate magic items by spell completion (such as scrolls), spell trigger (such as wands), or command word.  Just as for casting a spell with a verbal component, a deaf savant has a 20% chance to fail when attempting to use bardic music.  If you fail an attempt to use bardic music, the attempt still counts against your daily limit.

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   Fascinate (Sp): If you have 4 or more ranks in a Perform skill, you can use your music or poetics to cause one or more creatures to become fascinated with you.  Each creature to be fascinated must be within 90 feet, be able to see and hear you, and able to pay attention to you.  You must also be able to see the creature.  The distraction of a nearby combat or other dangers prevents the ability from working.  For every three savant levels you attain beyond 1st, you can target one additional creature with a single use of this ability.
   To use the ability, you make a Perform check.  Your check result is the DC for each affected creature's Will save against the effect.  If a creature's saving throw succeeds, you cannot attempt to fascinate that creature again for 24 hours.  If its saving throw fails, the creature sits quietly and listens to the song, taking no other actions, for as long as you continue to play and concentrate (up to a maximum of 1 round per bard level).  While fascinated, a target takes a -4 on skill checks made as reactions, such as Listen and Spot checks.  Any potential threat requires you to make another Perform check and allows the creature a new saving throw against a DC equal to the new Perform check result.
   Any obvious threat, such as someone drawing a weapon, casting a spell, or aiming a ranged weapon at the target, automatically breaks the effect.  Fascinate is an enchantment (compulsion), mind-affecting ability.

   Inspire Courage (Su): If you have 4 or more ranks in a Perform skill, you can us song or poetics to inspire courage in your allies (including yourself), bolstering them against fear and improving their combat abilities.  To be affected, an ally must be able to hear you sing.  The effect lasts for as long as the ally hears you sing and for 5 rounds thereafter.  An affected ally receives a +1 morale bonus on saving throws against charm and fear effects and a +1 morale bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls.  At 7th level, and every six savant levels thereafter, this bonus increases by 1 (+2 at 7th level, +3 at 13th, and +4 at 19th).  Inspire courage is a mind-affecting ability.

   Inspire Competence (Su): Starting at 3rd level, if you have 6 or more ranks in a Perform skill, you can use music or poetics to help an ally succeed at a task.  The ally must be within 30 feet and able to see and hear you.  You must also be able to see the ally.  For every three savant levels you attain beyond 3rd, you can target one additional ally with a single use of this ability (two at 6th level, three at 9th, four at 12th, five at 15th, six at 18th). 
   An affected ally gets a competence bonus on all skill checks and opposed checks made as part of combat maneuvers (such as disarm attempts or grapple checks) equal to your Intelligence modifier for as long as he or she continues to hear your music.  This bonus does not apply to Concentration, Disguise, Hide, Listen, Move Silently, Sense Motive, or Sleight of Hand checks.  The effect lasts for as long as you continue to sing and for 1 round thereafter.  You cannot inspire competence in yourself.  Inspire competence is a mind-affecting ability.

   Suggestion (Sp): At 6th level, if you have 9 or more ranks in a Perform skill, you gain the ability to make a suggestion (as the spell) to a creature you have already fascinated.  Using this ability does not break your concentration on the fascinate effect, nor does it allow a second saving throw against the fascinate effect.
   Making a suggestion doesn't count against your daily limit on bardic music performances.  A Will saving throw (DC 10 + 1/2 your shaper level + your Intelligence modifier) negates the effect.  If you have 9 or more ranks in Knowledge (arcana), this DC increases by 2.  This ability affects only a single creature (but see mass suggestion, below).  Suggestion is an enchantment (compulsion), mind-affecting, language dependent ability.

   Inspire Greatness (Su): At 9th level and higher, if you have 12 or more ranks in a Perform skill, you can use music or poetics to inspire greatness in yourself or a single willing ally within 30 feet, granting him or her extra fighting capability.  For every three savant levels you attain beyond 9th, you can target one additional ally with a single use of this ability (two at 12th level, three at 15th, four at 18th).  To inspire greatness, you must sing and an ally must hear you sing.  The effect lasts for as long as the ally hears you sing and for 5 rounds thereafter.  A creature inspired with greatness gains 2 bonus Hit Dice (d10s), the commensurate number of temporary hit points (apply the target's Constitution modifier, if any, to these bonus Hit Dice), a +2 competence bonus on attack rolls, and a +1 competence bonus on Fortitude saves.  The bonus Hit Dice count as regular Hit Dice for determining the effect of spells that are Hit Dice dependent.  Inspire greatness is a mind-affecting ability.

   Inspire Awe (Su): Starting at 12th level, if you have 15 or more ranks in a Perform skill, you can use music or poetics to create uneasiness, fear, or even terror in your foes.  To be affected, a foe must be within 60 feet of you and be able to hear your.  Foes get a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 your shaper level + your Intelligence modifier) to resist the effect.  If you have 15 or more ranks in Intimidate, this DC increases by 2.  The severity of the effect depends on the difference between your target's Hit Dice and your Hit Dice (including bonus Hit Dice from Inspire Greatness, if applicable).  A foe is paralyzed with fear if it has 10 or more Hit Dice fewer than you, panicked if it has 1 to 9 Hit Dice fewer than you, frightened if it has the same number of Hit Dice as you or up to 5 Hit Dice more than you, and shaken if it has 6 or more Hit Dice more than you.
   This effect lasts for as long as the foe can hear you and for 1 round thereafter.  If a foe's hearing of your song is interrupted, the foe needs to make another saving throw when it hears your song again.  Inspire awe is a fear effect and a mind-affecting ability.

   Inspire Heroics (Su): At 15th level and higher, if you have 18 or more ranks in a Perform skill, you can use music or poetics to inspire tremendous heroism in yourself or a single willing ally within 30 feet.  For every three savant levels you attain beyond 15th, you can inspire heroics in one additional creature.  To inspire heroics, you must sing and an ally must hear you sing for a full round.  A creature so inspired gains a +4 morale bonus on saving throws and a +4 dodge bonus to AC.  The effect lasts for as long as the ally hears you sing and for up to 5 rounds thereafter.  Inspire heroics is a mind-affecting ability.

   Mass Suggestion (Sp): At 18th level, if you have 21 or more ranks in a Perform skill, you gain the ability to make a mass suggestion.  This ability functions like suggestion, above, except that you can make the suggestion simultaneously to any number of creatures that you have already fascinated.  Mass suggestion is an enchantment (compulsion), mind-affecting, language-dependent ability.

[DonQuixote]

Tinkering Savant
While most savants are quiet, bookish types, some simply cannot sit still.  Not content with simply reviewing manuscripts and tomes, these scholars seek out knowledge through experimentation.  Any assumption must be tested, and any "fact" is open to questioning.  Through constant tinkering, this sort of savant constantly expands her understanding of the world and how it works.  The mysterious and arcane items that she creates in her quest for knowledge, while useful, are valued more for their contributions to her knowledge than for their raw power.

   Class: Savant
   Level: 1st
   Cost: You do not gain the scholar's cantrips, still mind, or flash of insight class features.

   Benefit: You add Appraise, Craft, and Use Magic Device to your list of class skills as a savant.  You also add Brew Potion, Craft Construct, Craft Magic Arms and Armor, Craft Rod, Craft Spellshape Items, Craft Staff, Craft Wand, Craft Wondrous Item, Forge Ring, Scribe Scroll, and Scribe Spellshaping Scroll to your list of savant bonus feats.  For the purpose of taking item creation feats with a caster level requirement, you are treated as having a caster level equal to your savant level.
   In addition, you gain the following class features at the listed class levels.

   Item Creation (Ex): Starting at 1st level, you can create magic items and spellshape items even if you do not have access to the spells or formulae that are prerequisites for the items.  You must make a successful Use Magic Device check (DC 20 + caster or shaper level) to emulate each spell or formula normally required to create the item.  Thus, to make a 1st-level wand of magic missile, you would need a Use Magic Device check result of 21 or higher.  To create a bottle of air (caster level 7th), you would need a check result of 27 or higher to emulate the water breathing prerequisite.
   You must make a successful check for each prerequisite for each item you make.  If you fail a check, you can try again each day until the item is complete (see Creating Magic Items, page 282 of the Dungeon Master's Guide).  If you come to the end of the crafting time and you have still not successfully emulated one of the powers, you can make one final check, even if you have already made a check that day.  If that check also fails, then the creation process fails and the time, money, and XP expended to craft the item are lost.
   For the purpose of meeting item prerequisites, your effective caster or shaper level equals your savant level +2.  If the item duplicates a spell effect, however, it uses your actual savant level as its caster level.  Costs are always determined using the item's minimum caster or shaper level or your actual savant level (if it is higher).  Thus, you can make a scroll of fireball at 3rd level, since the minimum caster level for fireball is 5th.  You pay the normal cost for making such a scroll with a caster level of 5th.  But the scroll's actual caster level is only 3rd, and it produces a weak fireball that deals only 3d6 points of damage.
   You can also make Use Magic Device checks to emulate nonspell requirements, including alignment and race, using the normal DCs for the skill.  You cannot emulate skill or feat requirements, however, including item creation feat prerequisites.  You must meet the caster level prerequisite, including the minimum level to cast a spell you store in a potion, wand, or scroll.

   Identification (Sp): At 6th level, you gain the spell-like ability to determine the magical properties of a magic item by handling it for 1 minute and making a successful Spellcraft check (DC 10 + the item's caster level).  You can't take 10 on this check, nor can you retry the check (and thus you can't take 20).  This ability otherwise functions as the identify spell.

   Skill Mastery: At 12th level and higher, you can take 10 when making a Knowledge (architecture and engineering), Spellcraft, or Use Magic Device check, even if stress and distractions would normally prevent you from doing so.  This ability circumvents the normal rule that a character may not take 10 on a Use Magic Device check, and it allows you to take 10 on the Spellcraft check made when using your identification ability.