The Obrimos [Evocation/Authority-Based Spellcaster]

[Amechra]

THE OBRIMOS

Magic is authority; the fire outside burns so brightly because the fires within me burn so much brighter.

Magic is a form of authority; not over men, or gods, but the very fabric of this world. This is what the Obrimos would tell you, working their will on the world like a king ruling over their subjects.

Nonsense, cries the Wizard, magic is a result of study! Nonsense, cries the Sorcerer, magic is a birthright! Nonsense, cries the Cleric, magic is a gift from the gods!

They are correct, in a way; however, as a wise man once said, 'And yet it moves.'

And so the Obrimos, the will-workers, impress their rulership on the cosmos.

Adventures: The Obrimos adventure to build their prestige and to experience the world; it is a poor king who does not know his subjects.
Characteristics: The Obrimos are spellcasters extraordinaire, able to bring the wrath of the heavens down upon any poor fool who goes against their dictates.
Alignment: An Obrimos is never Chaotic; you cannot be a ruler if there is no hierarchy to be on top of, after all.
Religion: The Obrimos may be of any faith that will take them; the only constant being that they are, one and all, passionate about their beliefs. Even if they have doubts, they have those doubts passionately.
Background: Obrimos come from all walks of life; princes and paupers alike can be struck by the 'divine lightning' and etch their name upon the Golden Key.
Races: The Obrimos come predominantly from Human, Half-Elf, and Half-Orc populations; they have an element of struggle, of striving to better themselves, that is somewhat less present in other, longer-lived races. And that spark is what ignites the 'divine lightning'.
Other Classes: Most non-magic users see the Obrimos as no different than any other spellcaster that wants authority; however, when it comes to other spellcasters... reactions are mixed. Wizards see them as a particularly bizarre form of Sorcerer, while Sorcerers and Obrimos spit at each other from a safe distance. As for Clerics, and other miracle workers, the Obrimos are fine by them as long as they are part of the faith. Otherwise, they are vocal heretics, and should be reprimanded as such.
Adaption: The Obrimos is heavily based around the concept of Rightful Authority As Magic (I.e., Right makes Might); if this is inappropriate to your campaign (or you don't want to deal with PCs in positions of authority in your setting), the Obrimos may be adapted as per any of the Alternate Class Features that modify their Crown of Keys class feature.

Game Rule Information
Obrimos have the following in-game statistics:
Abilities: Charisma is important for the Obrimos' spellcasting; other than that, Dexterity and Constitution are important, since they improve armor class and hit-points.
Alignment: Any Non-Chaotic
Hit Die: 1d8
Starting Age: As Sorcerer
Starting Gold: As Sorcerer

Class Skills:
An Obrimos' class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Gather Information (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (Arcana)(Int), Knowledge (History)(Int), Knowledge (Nobility and royalty)(Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Speak Language (-), Spellcraft (Int)

Skill Points at First Level: 4 * (4 + Int)
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int

Base	~~~Spells Per Day~~~
Level	Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special	0th	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th
1st	+0	+0	+0	+2	Crown of Keys, The Name of the King (One), Trappings of Authority	5	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2nd	+1	+0	+0	+3	Command the Elements (One)	6	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
3rd	+1	+1	+1	+3	The Name of the King (One, +2)	6	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4th	+2	+1	+1	+4	Veil of the Master	6	6	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5th	+2	+1	+1	+4	The Name of the King (Two, +2)	6	6	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
6th	+3	+2	+2	+5	Command the Elements (Two)	6	6	5	3	-	-	-	-	-	-
7th	+3	+2	+2	+5	The Name of the King (Two, +4)	6	6	6	4	-	-	-	-	-	-
8th	+4	+2	+2	+6	6	6	6	5	3	-	-	-	-	-
9th	+4	+3	+3	+6	The Name of the King (Three, +4)	6	6	6	6	4	-	-	-	-	-
10th	+5	+3	+3	+7	Command the Elements (Three)	6	6	6	6	5	3	-	-	-	-
11th	+5	+3	+3	+7	The Name of the King (Three, +6)	6	6	6	6	6	4	-	-	-	-
12th	+6/+1	+4	+4	+8	6	6	6	6	6	5	3	-	-	-
13th	+6/+1	+4	+4	+8	The Name of the King (Four, +6)	6	6	6	6	6	6	4	-	-	-
14th	+7/+2	+4	+4	+9	Command the Elements (Four)	6	6	6	6	6	6	5	3	-	-
15th	+7/+2	+5	+5	+9	The Name of the King (Four, +8)	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	4	-	-
16th	+8/+3	+5	+5	+10	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	5	3	-
17th	+8/+3	+5	+5	+10	The Name of the King (Five, +8)	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	4	-
18th	+9/+4	+6	+6	+11	Command the Elements (Five)	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	5	3
19th	+9/+4	+6	+6	+11	The Name of the King (Five, +10)	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	4
20th	+10/+5	+6	+6	+12	The Eternal King	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	5

Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: An Obrimos is proficient in all simple weapons, and no armor.

Spellcasting: An Obrimos casts arcane spells, which are drawn from the Evocation spell list, as well as the Arcane Mark, Detect Magic, Ray of Frost, and Read Magic cantrips. When they gain access to a new level of spells, they automatically know all the spells of that level on their spell list. They can cast any spell they know without preparing it ahead of time. Essentially, their spell list is the same as their spells known list.

To cast an Obrimos spell, an Obrimos must have an Charisma score of 10 + the spell’s level (Cha 10 for 0-level spells, Cha 11 for 1st-level spells, and so forth). The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a Obrimos’ spell is 10 + the spell’s level + the Obrimos’ Cha modifier.

Like other spellcasters, an Obrimos can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. An Obrimos does not need to prepare spells in advance. They can cast any spell they know at any time, assuming they have not yet used up their spells per day for that spell level.

Crown of Keys (Ex): To be one of the Obrimos is to be destined to rule. Therefore, it is only just that they receive a talent for doing so.

At 1st level, any group that an Obrimos has legitimate authority over receives a +2 Insight bonus on all Craft, Perform, and Profession checks. This bonus also applies to any Gather Information or Sense Motive check made in the pursuit of law enforcement, as well as any Heal check performed on a member of the group. In addition, any member of the group adds the bonus to any check they make to determine whether or not a creature is part of the group.

However, any skill check or attack roll made as part of a violation of the rules and statues of the group by one of the Obrimos' subjects against another subject takes a -2 penalty.

Finally, the Obrimos adds this Insight bonus to any Charisma check or Charisma skill check made against one of their subjects, or when dealing with another creature with legitimate authority.

Sidebar - Legitimate Authority

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Several Obrimos class features deal with the concept of legitimate authority. To have legitimate authority over a group, you must be the rightful leader of the group, and must be recognized as such by the majority of the group. Your authority may be temporal or spiritual, but it must be actual authority, and it must be legitimate; you are not considered to have authority over a group if the majority of the group would simply ignore your dictates, just as you would not be considered to have authority if you usurped that authority.

Importantly, authority is something that is bestowed, not taken; a creature is never considered to be a legitimate authority if they used excessive magical or underhanded methods to take power; what is considered to be excessive varies from group to group. As a general rule of thumb, if the methods you use to gain authority would be nothing out of the ordinary (for example, killing the last chieftain in an Orc tribe, or being adopted by the king due to your great deeds), it is legitimate authority, whereas bizarre or unnatural methods (such as ruling through the threat of murdering the land's children or mind-controlling the king) are not.

Creatures under your command are referred to as subjects; you may be another creature's subject while still having legitimate authority over a different group (or a subgroup within the other leader's group.)

Notes:

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By default, you have Legitimate Authority over stuff like the creatures obtained through the Leadership feat; however, I wish to go on record to say that I don't think that's sporting. The skill bonuses are so that you being in charge is legitimately a good thing for whatever group you are in charge of. You enhance craftsmanship, boost law enforcement, and grant better medical care. Also, anyone who you have authority over takes a penalty if they try to swindle or steal from another one of your subjects.

Trappings of Royalty (Ex and Su): To be a king, one must dress like one; to be a lord, one must act lordly.
At 1st level, an Obrimos gains the ability to adopt Regalia, a mode of dress that is considered appropriate for the leader of their group; this may be anything, as long as it is a uniform of some sort. The term 'Regalia' refers to a specific instance of that type of item, gained upon adopting legitimate authority over a group; there are many crowns, but there is only one Crown of The Autumn Kingdom.

An Obrimos may have multiple Regalia, drawn from different groups; however, they may only benefit from one Regalia at a time. The Obrimos may alter Regalia in one of four ways:

• If they gain legitimate authority over a group that does not already have a form of Regalia, they may define the Regalia for that group, drawing from the group's general aesthetic.
• If two or more groups they have legitimate authority over merge, they must redefine the Regalia, taking elements from the Regalia of either group.
• If a group they have legitimate authority over suffers an internal schism or otherwise drastically alters its nature (such as going from a street gang to the military of a kingdom), they must redefine the Regalia to take into account the changed nature of their group.
• If the Regalia is destroyed, the Obrimos may choose to redefine the Regalia; if they simply wish to replace the Regalia, the costs to instate the new copy of the Regalia is halved.

If the group doesn't already have Regalia, or changes Regalia, the Obrimos must pay 50gp (if clothing) or an additional 150gp (if armor) to fully instill the Regalia with their authority.

If the Regalia is an article of Clothing, it is considered a Masterwork tool for one Obrimos' class skill of their choice, and they are not subject to circumstantial penalties to their Charisma checks due to appearance. If the Regalia is a piece of armor, they are proficient with it, consider it to be Masterwork, and reduce any Arcane Spell Failure chance they take by 5%.

Regardless of the form the Regalia takes, the Obrimos adds their Charisma modifier as an Insight bonus to their AC, as well as their Will saves against Charms and Compulsions, while wearing it.
Notes:

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Magical Pope Hats! Get Yer Magical Pope Hats Here! Or Bunny Slippers of Authority; now with added benefit of being able to wear them anywhere and still be recognized as rather kingly!

The Name of the King (Su):
"And he spake unto them, and lo, they knew the name of the king."
At 1st level, the Obrimos selects a number of Emblems equal to their Charisma modifeir, drawn from the list below; unless otherwise stated, they receive the bonuses of that Emblem only while wearing the Regalia the Emblem is assigned to, and the bonuses stack with any other Insight bonuses granted by Obrimos class features. They may have a maximum number of Emblems, divided among all of their Regalia, equal to their Charisma modifier; they may only assign up to 1 Emblem to a single Regalia.

The Obrimos considers their Regalia to have an Enhancement bonus equal to the number of Emblems attached to it. They may assign (or reassign) their Emblems between their Regalia as part of a ritual lasting one hour, which requires the Regalia in question to be present. If the Obrimos does not currently have access to a Regalia, they cannot reassign the Emblems attached that Regalia, unless it is currently destroyed.

At 5th level, and every 4 levels thereafter, the number of Emblems that may assigned to a single Regalia is increased by 1.

At 3rd level, an Obrimos' subjects gain a +2 Insight bonus to AC and saving throws; this bonus only applies against spells the Obrimos casts. The Obrimos may withhold this protection as a free action, allowing their just wrath to rain down on impertinent fools; however, they cannot be magically compelled to do so. At 7th level, and every 4 levels thereafter, this bonus increases by 2.

Notes:

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Let's your magical pope hat actually be a bit magical. At first glance, this is a pretty broken class feature; however, recall that you have only one Regalia for each distinct group you have authority over, and they do not stack. The second bit is to give you a little bit more freedom when laying down the magical smack; you have to be slightly less worried about your spells accidentally blowing up one of your subjects.

Command the Elements (Ex): You were handpicked to employ your magic towards the noble end of ruling and ordering the energies of this fallen world.
At 2nd level, an Obrimos may select a single Edict that they qualify for; Edicts may only be applied to Obrimos' spells. Unless the Obrimos wishes it, the Edict-granted effects of spells cast upon their subjects or the public edifaces belonging to their group are not applies; an Energy Sphere (Fire) will still deal Fire damage, but it will not set fire to the people that they rule.

To apply an Edict, the Obrimos must add a verbal componant to (or modify the existing verbal component of) the spell they are enhancing, which is audible with a DC -15 Listen check; if they muffle or otherwise silence the Edict, the spell simply fails, its power quenched by the stifling of their thaum-given privilege. This verbal component consists of loudly proclaiming their command to the universe and those subject to the spell in question; for example, 'By my authority, be burned!' is valid, 'Chill out, coppers!' is not.

Edicts all have a property called Hierarchy; while this has no effect in and of itself, certain other abilities and effects may have additional effects based off the Hierarchy of an Edict.

At 6th level, and every 4 levels thereafter, the Obrimos selects an additional Edict that they qualify for.

Veil of the Master (Ex): A King should be able to evade the silly flailing of their ignorant subjects; they must also show restraint when reprimanding those subjects.

An Obrimos of at least 4th level improves any energy resistances they might have by 5; if they do not already have Acid Resistance, Cold Resistance, Electricity Resistance, Fire Resistance, or Sonic Resistance, they are considered to have a resistance to that energy type of 0 prior to applying this class feature.

Whenever the Obrimos casts an Obrimos spell with an Energy descriptor, their Resistance to that Energy type improves by 5 for one round. If they have an Edict applied to that spell, their Resistance increases by 10 instead. The benefits of this class feature extend to any creature currently protected by The Name of the King.

The Eternal King (Ex): A king must be there for their subjects; they are one and the same, once you understand the hierarchy of the world.

As long as an Obrimos of at least 20th level has legitimate authority over at least one group, they do not age. In addition, the Obrimos may choose to exempt their square from the effects of any Evocation spell that would normally affect their square, regardless of who it was cast by, and they may choose whether they are a valid target for Evocation spells as a non-action.[/table2]

[Amechra]

 Emblems
An Obrimos selects their emblems from the following; again, unless otherwise stated, these benefits stack with themselves and other Obrimos class features. They may have multiple copies of each Emblem:

• Energy resistance 5 (acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic).
• +1 insight bonus on saving throws.
• +1 insight bonus to Armor Class.
• +1 insight bonus on attack rolls made as part of a spell.
• +1 insight bonus per die on damage rolls made as part of an Obrimos spell; this Emblem may only be chosen a maximum of three times.
• +2 insight bonus on initiative checks.
• +2 Insight bonus to all Charisma-based skill checks.

Edicts
An Obrimos selects their Edicts from the following list; unless otherwise stated, only one Edict may be used in conjunction with a spell.
If an Edict has a Conjunction line, they may be used in combination with the Edicts listed as if they were one Edict.

Edict of CorrosionHierarchy: Least
Restriction: Must be placed on a spell with the [Acid] descriptor.
Benefit: Damage dealt by the spell ignores one-half of an object's hardness; in addition, if the target of the spell takes even one point of damage from the spell, they take Acid damage equal to your class level one round later.

Edict of Flames
Hierarchy: Least
Restriction: Must be placed on a spell with the [Fire] descriptor.
Benefit: Damage dealt by the spell improves by one die size, to a maximum of d12 (for example, a Fire Missile spell would deal 1d6 damage per caster level).Edict of Ice
Hierarchy: Least
Restriction: Must be placed on a spell with the [Cold] descriptor.
Benefit: Damage dealt by the spell improves by one die size, to a maximum of d12 (for example, a Cold Missile spell would deal 1d6 damage per caster level); in addition, if the spell allows you to choose between requiring a Reflex save or a Fortitude save, exchange the benefits and penalties taken for choosing a given type.

Edict of LightningHierarchy: Least
Restriction: Must be placed on a spell with the [Electricity] descriptor.
Benefit: The spell gains a +2 Insight bonus when determining whether or not it bypasses spell resistance. In addition, if the target is wearing metal armor, they take a -3 penalty to AC and a -2 penalty to Saves with regards to the spell improved by this Edict.

Edict of Thunder
Hierarchy: Least[/size]
Restriction: Must be placed on a spell with the [Sonic] descriptor.
Benefit: Damage dealt by the spell ignores Hardness.

Law of Alkahest
Hierarchy: Lesser
Restriction: Must be placed on a spell with the [Acid] descriptor.
Prerequisites: Edict of Corrosion
Benefits: Creatures or objects who took any amount of Acid damage from the spell are sickened for 1d4 rounds.
Conjunction: Edict of Corrosion.

Law of Combustion
Hierarchy: Lesser
Restriction: Must be placed on a spell with the [Fire] descriptor.
Prerequisites: Edict of Flames
Benefits: Creatures or objects that took any amount of Fire damage from the spell and fail their save are set on fire; if the spell does not have a save, they receive a Reflex save against the Spell's save DC to avoid being set aflame. Once on fire, they take 2d6 Fire damage for 1d4 rounds, and then 1d6 Fire damage until they put out the flames. They receive an additional Reflex save at the beginning of each round to see if the flames have burnt out; success indicates that they have put out the flames. In all other ways, this Edict follows the normal rules for being on fire.
Conjunction: Edict of Flames

Law of Frost
Hierarchy: Lesser
Restriction: Must be placed on a spell with the [Cold] descriptor.
Prerequisites: Edict of Ice
Benefits: Creatures or objects that took any amount of Cold damage from the spell are Slowed for 1 round.
Conjunction: Edict of Ice

Law of Screams
Hierarchy: Lesser
Restriction: Must be placed on a spell with the [Sonic] descriptor.
Prerequisite: Edict of Thunder
Benefits: Creatures or objects that took any amount of Sonic damage from the spell are Deafened for 1 round.
Conjunction: Edict of Thunder

Law of Storms
Hierarchy: Lesser
Restriction: Must be placed on a spell with the [Electricity] descriptor.
Prerequisite: Edict of Lightning
Benefits: Creatures that took any amount of Electricity damage from the spell take a -2 penalty to their Dexterity for 1d4 rounds.
Conjunction: Edict of Lightning

[Amechra]

Reserved for Feats and ACFs.

You may post, if you wish.

[Gazzien]

Link for the Evocation list is broken; sends you to "%22http//www." instead of to "http://www." It also only sends you to the top post, instead of the full thread (so though it gives the list of spells, it describes none of the new ones... which is almost all of them)

Reading the spell list & edicts now.

There's a few formatting errors in the list of Edicts (mainly missing line breaks, and a couple extra [/size] tags)

An Obrimos of at least 4th level improves any energy resistances they might have by 5; if they do not already have Acid Resistance, Cold Resistance, Electricity Resistance, Fire Resistance, or Sonic Resistance, they are considered to have a resistance to that energy type of 0.

So at fourth level (assuming they have no resistance from anything else), do they have Resist 5, or Resist 0?

You've got a few spaces where there are two spaces next to each other (like  this, instead of like this). It's minor, but it bugs me while I'm reading it.

Might want to make it more explicit that the Obrimos can change the regalia without needing to have it destroyed / have the group change. Took me a couple close readings to figure out if you could or not. Though I'm also tired, so it might just be me missing things.

I like the class a lot, to be honest. It's really interesting from a flavor standpoint, and I think it can stand up to anything it needs to; it has the impact of a Wizard without the unavoidable game-breakingness that comes with a Core Wizard. Also fits the image of a (traditional) spellcaster much better in my mind; less subtle magics, more fireball.

[Nanshork]

Interesting.  From a quick lookover I like it, I don't have time to give it a thorough go through right now.

[Garryl]

From the way the class is described and your other homebrew, I'm surprised the Crown of X line of spells isn't on their list.

[Amechra]

Alright, feedback! Sweet.

The people over on the GitP thread are commenting that d4 HD without armor proficiencies and Abjuration is... a little harsh. I was thinking of bumping them up to d8s, and giving them Charisma to AC while wearing Regalia. Sound fair?

(There will be an ACF that replaces access to Emblems with the ability to permanently enchant a Regalia with the benefits of one of the Crown of X spells, with scaling.)

[Gazzien]

Alright, feedback! Sweet.

The people over on the GitP thread are commenting that d4 HD without armor proficiencies and Abjuration is... a little harsh. I was thinking of bumping them up to d8s, and giving them Charisma to AC while wearing Regalia. Sound fair?

(There will be an ACF that replaces access to Emblems with the ability to permanently enchant a Regalia with the benefits of one of the Crown of X spells, with scaling.)

CHA to AC, d8 HP... sounds like what a King would have. I like it.

Also, sounds good. Crown of [X] is a nice line to add.

[Amechra]

Good news! I made the changes to the post.

Bad news! It fucked up the formatting but good. I'll have to go through it and remake everything.

EDIT: Alright, I fixed the darn thing. Oh, and I increased their spell list by 44, count 'em, FOURFIVE cantrips.

EDIT EDIT: Apparently I'm bad at math. Five cantrips.

[Gazzien]

Good news! I made the changes to the post.

Bad news! It fucked up the formatting but good. I'll have to go through it and remake everything.

EDIT: Alright, I fixed the darn thing. Oh, and I increased their spell list by 44, count 'em, FOURFIVE cantrips.

EDIT EDIT: Apparently I'm bad at math. Five cantrips.

"Arcane Mark, Detect Magic, Ray of Frost, and Read Magic cantrips. "
One, two, three, and four.
Where's the fifth one?

[Amechra]

I'll... go fix the fact that I left out Prestidigitation.

Also, some images:

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From the left:
Acanthus: Masters of Fate and Time; prophets and seers extraordinaire.
Thyrsus: Masters of Life and Spirit; Healers, and Shamans who will fuck you up if you mess with them.
Obrimos: Masters of Forces and Symbolism; Mage-Kings and general zealots.
Moros: Masters of Death and Matter; Alchemists and Necromancers who know Entropy a little too well.
Mastigos: Masters of Mind and Space; these guys are a head trip, no pun intended.

Yes, I'm planning to eventually make all the different Paths from Mage: The Awakening as base classes, with the Orders as PrCs of some description.

And maybe Seers of the Throne:

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And Banishers:
(Actually, I couldn't find any good pictures for these guys; they're basically Mages that messed up when they got their magic, so it hurts and is wrong an everything magic must be killed.)

And, oh, I still have to do the different Watchtowers as Planar Locations/Demiplanes that let you trade in levels to get levels in the appropriate base class...

I have not bitten off more than I can chew, thank you very much!

[Gazzien]

HOW DID I NOT NOTICE THE M:tA REFERENCE
AAAARGH 

[Amechra]

I don't know; I wasn't exactly hiding what I was doing.

 

(I'm excited for Mage Second Edition)