New PrC, Mage herald

This is our groups 1st shot at making PrC. Please critique.


MAGE HERALD

"These are the terms..."

The Mage Herald is the trusted and dedicated servant
of a powerful arcane spellcaster.
He is skilled in the arts of war and magic as well as
subtler forms of persuasion.
At times the Mage Herald may be found protecting his
master in battle, seeking out rare elements
and components for arcane research or representing his
liege in formal negotiations.

Though his primary objective is to serve his mage the
life of the Mage Herald need not be dull or solitary.
Those wizards given to long hours of study may use
their Heralds as the proxies of their earthy
experience,
discovering and reporting on the wide world. Another
mage may dispatch his Herald to the capital
cities of the realm, thus extending his influence
beyond the wall of his fortress.













HIT DIE: d6


REQUIREMENTS
Base Attack Bonus: +3

Arcane Spell Ability

Spellcraft 3 Ranks
Knowledge(Arcane) 3 Ranks
Knowledge(Heraldry) 3 Ranks
Diplomacy 3 Ranks
Appraisal 3 Ranks

Feats: Any feat from the fighter bonus feat list or wizard metamagic/ item creation feat
SPecial: THe mage herald must have recieved a gift from his master. The master will be able to communicate with the herald telepathically as long as that gift is on the herald's person.


SKILL POINTS: 4 + Int Modifier


THE MAGE HERALD

Class Level Att. Bonus Fort Ref Will Special

1st +0 +0 +0 +2 Spell Failure Reduction(5%), Fell Voice, Communicate with Master

2nd +1 +0 +0 +3 +1 caster level
3rd +2 +1 +1 +3 Superior Negotiator

4th +3 +1 +1 +4 Channel Master's Spell, +1 caster level

5th +3 +1 +1 +4 Spell Failure Reduction(10%),

6th +4 +2 +2 +5 Improved Fell Voice

7th +5 +2 +2 +5 Supreme Negotiator,
8th +6 +2 +2 +6 +1 Spellcaster
9th +6 +3 +3 +6 Fell voice 2/day

10th +7 +3 +3 +7 , Spell Failure Reduction (15%), + 1caster level



Class Features:


Fell Voice (su): At first level, Mage Heralds
gain the ability channel his master's power through
his voice one per day. Enemies within 30 feet must make a
Will save (DC 10 + Mage Herald level + Cha modifier)
or suffer -2 to hit and -2 to saves (SHAKEN) until they leave
the presence of the Herald. At Sixth level creatures
creatures under 6 HD hearing the voice they will stop
everything and flee in terror for 1d6 rounds (PANICKED). At ninth level the mage herald can do this twice per day.


Communicate with MAster (Su): Once per day the herald can attempt to ask the master a question telepathically. the HErald must pass a diplomacy check of 15 to use this ability.

Arcane Spell Failure Reduction (ex): A Mage Herald is
able to ignore the adverse affects of armor when
casting arcane spells.



Superior Negotiator: +2 to Bluff, Gather Information,
Diplomacy and Sense Motive check

Supreme Negotiator: +4 to Bluff, Gather Information,
Diplomacy and Sense Motive check

Channel Master's Spell : THe mage herald gains the ability to commune with his master an ask for a spell to be cast through him once per day. The herald must spend one round in a trance like state to establish a mental link with his/her master. The herald then must make a diplomacy check (15+ spell level) to persuade the master to cast the spell through the herald. The herald can only cast spells that are equal to or less than 1/2 the mage heralds PrC level + his/her Chr modifier. The master can only cast spells that he has prepared that day or are on his spell list if a spontaneous caster. If the herald asks for a spell the caster cannot cast, he must spend another round communicating with his master to see which spells are available.

Hmmm, I certainly like the concept here... although the class seems a bit underpowered to me.

Suggestions...

* bump the HD to 1d8

* I would allow them to use the telepathic communication with their master more often, class level + Cha mod maybe? Possibly allowing the master a true sensory link with the herald so that he can experience the world vicariously through his servant..

* "Channel Master's Spell" is a really kewl ability, but if the best you can ever get from it is a 5th level spell it is going to end up being a wasted effort in many combat situations. So I would change the limit on the highest level spell the herald can channel from his master to twice the level of the highest level spell the herald is personally capable of casting (max 9th of course).

Re: Re: New PrC, Mage herald

drowdude said:

Suggestions...

* bump the HD to 1d8

* I would allow them to use the telepathic communication with their master more often, class level + Cha mod maybe? Possibly allowing the master a true sensory link with the herald so that he can experience the world vicariously through his servant..

* "Channel Master's Spell" is a really kewl ability, but if the best you can ever get from it is a 5th level spell it is going to end up being a wasted effort in many combat situations. So I would change the limit on the highest level spell the herald can channel from his master to twice the level of the highest level spell the herald is personally capable of casting (max 9th of course).

Click to expand...

1) I didn't change the HD yet but I might, still thinking.

2) Changed the telepathic communication to once per day, I don't want there to be a dedicated phone line to the Herald's head but it did need more than once per week.

3) Changed the max level to 1/2 PrC levels + Chr modifier.

Thanks for the help!

The diplomacy check dosn't really make sense for speak with master. Who is he negoitiating with? Is he trying to convince someone very interested in his success to help him succeed? Just get rid of it. Also I think that channel master's spell seems a bit off, it agin depends on motivations and not on what spells their master has memorised/can cast. Instead I'd let them reserve one spell for their master to memorise (or spell slot) when they memorise spells.

Also do mean there to be a +1 lvl at 6th lvl for a total of 5 or do you want the wierd progression. If so then the class seems balanced, and could be quite interesting.

I'd like to know what happens to the herald if his mage dies or his service is somehow else ended. I'd suggest he loses some experiance (maybe as if he had lost a familiar) and cannot use either fell voice or chanel master's spell unless he finds a new master.

Thank You All For Replying!

My roommate published this edited version of the Mage Herald class at the same time I was reworking it for mass consumption!

My original version was somewhat more powerful but was routinely rejected by 3/5 of our committee.

I will post a final version under Final Mage Herald shortly.

Thanks again for the good feedback...


bassar

Re: Thank You All For Replying!

Bassar said:

My roommate published this edited version of the Mage Herald class at the same time I was reworking it for mass consumption!

Click to expand...

Sorry Harvey! Oops I forgot we shouldn't use our real names on here.

CHeck out the Lawful bard thread out in the rules forum.

Still needs some work but your on the right track.