This Prestige class is greatly inspired by a previous Prestige class I submitted two years ago. It has been improved by two years of actually playing the class in a campaign!
The keywords for this class are:
Not much of a surprise, as they are the essence of Chronepsis.
JUDGE OF CHRONEPSIS
"The sand in this hourglass is what you still have to live. You decide if you want to waste it fighting the inevitable, or if you are wise enough to enjoy it."-Eon, judge of Chronepsis
The Judge of Chronepsis is an extension of her god in the realm of mortals. She is calm and dispassionate, and her task is to accompany the dragons in their last moments and to guide their souls to the realm of Chronepsis. When a dragon sees a Judge of Chronepsis appear it usually knows that its time is near. The judge symbolizes death. Yet her role does not consist only of bringing death to dragons : Judges of Chronepsis are always linked in some way to Time Dragons. This means that they also inherit their legacy and are in charge of protecting the timeline. It is therefore not uncommon to see a Judge of Chronepsis protecting a dragon when its time has not come.
BECOMING A JUDGE OF CHRONEPSIS Judges of Chronepsis all have a part of Time Dragon blood in their veins, meaning that not anyone can become a judge. But even if the Time Dragons are the protectors of the timeline, it does not make them judges of Chronepsis. To be a Judge one must go further than this and be dedicated to the cause of Chronepsis. Chronepsis will then choose those he considers the most apt to objectively judge things as they are as his judges.
ENTRY REQUIREMENTSClass: Sorcerer
Skills: Knowledge (arcana) 8 ranks, Spellcraft 8 ranks
Feats: Draconic heritage (time dragon)
Languages: Draconic
Alignment: True Neutral
Class SkillsThe judge of Chronepsis's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are are Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Intimidate (Str), Knowledge (all) (Int), Profession (Wis), Sense motive (Wis), Speak language (Int), Spellcraft (Int) and Spot (Wis)
Skills Points at Each Level 2 + int
Hit Dice: d4
Level | Base
Attack Bonus | Fort
Save | Ref
Save | Will
Save |
Special |
Spellcasting |
| 1st | +0 | +0 | +0 | +2 | Container(0), familiar abilities, infinite knowledge | +1 level of sorcerer |
| 2nd | +1 | +0 | +0 | +3 | Container (1), travel, hourglass perception | +1 level of sorcerer |
| 3rd | +1 | +1 | +1 | +3 | Container (2), Serenity | +1 level of sorcerer |
| 4th | +2 | +1 | +1 | +4 | Container (3), prescience (1/day) | +1 level of sorcerer |
| 5th | +2 | +1 | +1 | +4 | Container (4), anticipation | +1 level of sorcerer |
| 6th | +3 | +2 | +2 | +5 | Container (5), discern lies | +1 level of sorcerer |
| 7th | +3 | +2 | +2 | +5 | Container (6), travel (improved), soul extraction, eye of the judge | +1 level of sorcerer |
| 8th | +4 | +2 | +2 | +6 | Container (7), soul materialization | +1 level of sorcerer |
| 9th | +4 | +3 | +3 | +6 | Container (8), touch of the ages, hourglass perception (improved) | +1 level of sorcerer |
| 10th | +5 | +3 | +3 | +7 | Container (9), time mastery, memory of the hourglass | +1 level of sorcerer |
Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: Judges of Chronepsis gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.
Spells per Day/Spells Known: When a new judge of Chronepsis level is gained, the character gains new spells per day and spells known as if she had also gained a sorcerer level.
Container: The power bestowed by Chronepsis is a heavy burden for a mortal soul, and a judge of Chronepsis has to sacrifice a parcel of her power to be able to benefit from Chronepsis'.
The consequence is that any time the judge of Chronepsis gains a new level in her class, she needs to permanently sacrifice a sorcerer spell slot from her spells cast per day allotment. The level of the sacrificed spell slot is equal to the number specified in parenthesis.
The sacrificed spell slot is permanent, there is absolutely no way to gain it back. This means that upon reaching level 10, a sorcerer has sacrificed one spell slot of every level.
In order to gain a judge of Chronepsis level, a charac-ter must actually have a sorcerer spell slot of the appropriate level to give up (it can be given up after including the slots gained from levelling up - a Sorcerer (6) / Judge of Chronepsis (7) can progress to Judge of Chronepsis for instance, as that level allows her to cast 7th level spells).
Familiar abilities: Levels of judge of Chronepsis stack with levels of sorcerer when determining the familiars natural armor, HD, hit points, Intelligence and special abilities. This ability does not grant a judge of Chronepsis a familiar if she does not already have one.
Infinite knowledge (Ext): At 1st level, a judge of Chronepsis is bestowed a small part of the knowledge of her god, and this part grows with time. She considers every Knowledge skill as a class skill and adds her class level as an insight bonus to them.
Travel (Su): At 2nd level, a judge of Chronepsis can concentrate for a full minute to be able to disappear from reality and reappear in the Mausoleum of Chronepsis. She can use that ability again to go back to her original spot.
At 7th level, the powers of the judge have grown and her Travel spell now allows her to go wherever she wishes in the plane she currently is. She can also bring one other living creature by class level with her. That creature must remain in contact during the whole incantation time.
This ability does not allow the judge to change plane, except for the plane of the Concordant Opposition to join back the Mausoleum. In that plane, there is only one place she can go to: the Mausoleum of Chronepsis. She can then go back wherever she wants on her original plane.
Hourglass perception (Su): At 2nd level, a judge of Chronepsis can touch one of the Hourglass of the dragons in the Mausoleum of Chronepsis to briefly visualize the dragon it belongs to and the place in which it is.
At 9th level, the judge of Chronepsis has enough experience to be able to locate any dragon. When she touches an hourglass in the Mausoleum of Chronepsis, she can locate any dragon as with the Discern location spell. She can also materialize next to that dragon using her Travel ability.
Serenity (Su): As her god, a judge of Chronepsis is a watcher and an objective and dispassionate judge before anything. She irradiates an aura of neutrality that soothes creatures around her.
At 3rd level, a judge of Chronepsis adds her class level as a competence bonus to Bluff, Diplomacy and Intimidate skill checks. Any creature attempting to attack her while she does not display any sign of hostility should also pass a Will check (DC 10 + class level + Cha-risma modifier). If the creature fails the save, she loses any hostile intention towards the judge.
The judge can also use that ability to calm any creature with an unprovoked aggressive attitude, or a creature under stress or any kind of non-magical agitation.
Creatures with more HD than the judge are immune to that effect.
Prescience (Su): At 4th level, a judge of Chronepsis gains the ability to know how the near future will unfold. She gains a limited ability to discern a successful path for her actions as well as the consequences her actions may have. Once per day, for a number of rounds equal to her judge level, any time she rolls a dice, she may roll twice and select which die roll to use. Activating this ability is a free action.
Anticipation (Ex): At 5th level, a judge of Chronepsis can anticipate the near future. She cannot be caught flat-footed anymore, and adds half her class level as an insight bonus to Armor Class, Initiative and Reflex saves. She loses that bonus anytime she would lose her Dexter-ity bonus.
Discern lies (Ex): At 6th level, a judge of Chronepsis knows when anyone (other than a deity) is deliberately lying. This ability is like the discern lies spell, except that it works continuously and applies to any creature the judge can perceive (no saving throw is allowed).
Soul extraction (Su): At 7th level, a judge of Chronepsis can directly act on the souls of dragons. She can extract the souls of dragons that have been dead for less than 2 hours by class level. The soul then comes out of the dragons body in the shape of smoke and materializes as an orb of force in the palm of the judge. Once the ritual is complete, the orb floats around her until she decides to release it. Her mission is to guide that soul to the realm of Chronepsis.
The ritual to extract the soul of a dragon's body takes 10 minutes of incantations and requires a 10 minutes hourglass to be used to perform it.
Eye of the judge (Su): At 7th level, a judge of Chronepsis can see illusions, transmuted creatures and objects, and disguised creatures and objects for what they really are, provided they are within 30 feet of the judge. This ability is similar to the true seeing spell.
Soul materialization (Su): At 8th level, the judge of Chronepsis can temporarily give its shape back to a soul that accompanies her. The orb then takes the form of a force creature with the shape and all of the abilities it previously had when it was alive. It can stay so for as long as the judge stays focused. Focusing on this ability requires a full-round action and to pass a Concentration check (DC 10 + 1/2 the creature's HD). Only willing creatures and those with less HD than the judges' can be materialized in this manner.
Touch of the ages (Su): At 9th level, a judge of Chronepsis can spend a standard action to call on the powers granted by Chronepsis. With a touch attack, she can age a creature or object she touches by 2d6 years (no touch attack is required if no effort is required to touch the target). She can use this ability at will.
This ability can also be used to rejuvenate objects. Touched objects are rejuvenated by 2d6 years every round the judge touches them. They cannot be rejuvenated to before they were manufactured.
Objects and creatures can be aged beyond their death or destruction though.
The judge cannot age herself.
Time mastery (Ex): At 10th level, a judge of Chronepsis has complete mastery over the powers that were granted to her. She no longer ages and no longer gains any penalty due to aging. She cannot be magically aged and no longer dies of age. She also becomes im-mune to any harmful effect linked to time (she can act freely when an opponent casts time stop, she is immune to slow, attacks that provoke aging, Temporal stasis, and any other spell or effect that the GM judges consistent).
She can also stop time as with the spell Time stop except that the time remains stopped for as long as the judge passes a Concentration check (DC 20 + number of rounds the time has been stopped). She cannot interact with other creatures or object worn by other creatures while the time is stopped, or the effect stops immediately.
Memory of the hourglass (Su): At 10th level, a judge of Chronepsis can memorize engrave the image of a soul in her hourglass, whether the creature is willing or not. She can then use Soul materialization on her hourglass, manifesting a copy of the creature her hourglass memorized as if the soul was accompanying her and willing.
She can only store one soul memory in her hour-glass. Should she choose to add another one, the previ-ous one is lost.
PLAYING A JUDGE OF CHRONEPSISAs a judge of Chronepsis, you are dedicated to guiding the souls of dragons and protecting the timeline of the multiverse. While this may seem like a huge task, and it is, remember that you are not alone, and creatures a lot more powerful than you are here to do the same things (Time dragons and Chronepsis himself).
Keep in mind that, despite how most dragons see you, you are not only the bringer of death. You also act in matters that are not going according to the timeline, and as such, you are often a tool for Chronepsis, a mean to set things right when others try to disrupt the flow of events.
Judges of Chronepsis are sorcerers, and they should be played as such (whatever the role you want to fill in the party). Their extra abilities will grant them a bit more versatility, and they are meant to step in when it comes to dragons and time matters. They are meant to use these abilities to support the group, both out and in combat, and some of their abilities are entirely story-based.
Combat: Judges of Chronepsis are sorcerers, and as such they can cover various roles in combat, buffing the party, debuffing the enemies, and dealing damage. The judge's specific abilities will kick in in specific cases, mostly out of combat. The soul materialization will come as an impressive way to fight your enemies though, if you manage to find and control one that fits.
Advancement: Judges of Chronepsis are dedicated spellcasters and will always try to improve their arcane spellcasting abilities and have an affinity with dragons. They usually take draconic or metamagic feats.
Resources: Judges of Chronepsis usually don't get more resources than they had at their disposal previous to becoming a guardian. Some dragons or NPCs might recognize the judge for what he is and may be willing to offer more services than they would usually do as they have heard of legends about judges or because they want to gain the favors or the dragon of Fate.
JUDGES OF CHRONEPSIS IN THE WORLD"Call me mad if you will but... It was not natural... Not natural, trust me... It was like... Like he knew what was going to happen! He was calm as still water and turned around exactly when Brumford jumped on him... He... He... He touched Brumford and then... Then Brumford turned older and older, until he died! As with the rest of the gang. Dry like piles of wood they were. Then he turned to where I was hiding... He knew I was there, I tell you... He knew... Don't send me back to him, please. Don't..."-Larnar, thief
Only a few judges of Chronepsis have ever existed. Chronepsis usually pays no attention to the world of mortals, and he therefore tries to keep his influence to a minimum. as for the time dragons, most people don't know they exist, but they remain the guardians of the timeline.
Dragons know who they are. They usually respect them, and often also fear them. Not because of their powers, as dragons know that there is no match for them in the mortal world. But because of the meaning of their visit. When a dragon sees a judge of Chronepsis, he knows what it usually means.
