Ok,
Here's the basic outline and raw mechanics, I'll work on better verbiage and description later.
Tui Na Masseuse/ Shiatsupractor (v0.2a)
A Tui Na masseuse is a professional massage artist familiar with the healthful flow of chi in the bodies of living creatures. Her hands are well able to restore the balance of elements in the body through massage, herbal therapy, and acupuncture. She is an expert at brewing lotions, creams and tinctures to apply magical effects to living beings for maximum effect. So too are Tui Na Masseuses masters of gossip and small talk, at once able to glean important information. Under her care, clients are made more pliable and easily influenced.
Their intimate knowledge of the ways of the body can also be put to more sinister uses also, and are sometimes used as assassins.
Adaption: Most of the benefits of the class lie in its massage techniques enabling "boosters" to normal spellcasting, hidden by the traditional massage technique. You could focus the class more on an aspect of disrupting the 8 principles of harmony.
These are:
• Yin or Yang (yin-yang)
• Superficial or internal (li-biao)
• Cold or hot (han-re)
• Deficient or Replete (xu-shi)
Perhaps someone could work with this? It may make the class a bit "Monk-like", however. Perhaps potential for another PrCl, there.
Hit Die: d6
Formerly d4
Requirements
To qualify to become a Tui Na Masseuse, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.
Skills: Craft (Alchemy) 8 ranks, Diplomacy 5 ranks, Gather Information 5 ranks, Heal 5 ranks, Profession (Masseuse) 8 ranks, Spellcraft 5 ranks
Spells: Ability to cast 2nd-level spells without preparation
I initially had the requirement of Bardic Music or Geisha Performance, but I wanted to leave it open to more classes (despite being aimed at Geisha).
Are 2nd-level spells too high a requirement? It is easily achievable by a higher-level or multiclassed sorcerer or favoured soul. Bards and Geisha can meet it by 6th level.
Class Skills
A masseuse’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are : Appraise (Int), Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Craft (all appropriate craft skills, taken individually) (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Gather Information (Cha), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (all skills, taken individually) (Int), Listen (Wis), Perform (all, taken individually) (Cha), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Speak Language (None), Spellcraft (Int), and Use Rope (Dex).
Skill Points at Each Level: 8 + Int modifier
I considered lowering this to 6 + Int modifier skill points to help balance the other options. Reduced the Skill palette, as I don't imagine masseuses being tumbling, silent moving acrobatic folk. I feel it also nicely focuses the class (the way PrCls should)
Code:
Level BAB F/ R/ W Spells Special
1 +0 +2 +0 +2 - Gentle Touch, Performance, Gossip, Massage Casting
- - - Tui Na Technique: Daze, Fatigue, Healing Adept
2 +1 +3 +0 +3 +1 SC Level Brew Lotions, Curative Focus
3 +1 +3 +1 +3 +1 SC Level Tui Na Technique: Blind, Deafen
4 +2 +4 +1 +4 - Expert Brewer +50%, Touch Focus
5 +2 +4 +1 +4 +1 SC Level Tui Na Technique: Sicken
6 +3 +5 +2 +5 +1 SC Level Create Aromatic Oils, Touch Specialisation
7 +3 +5 +3 +5 +1 SC Level Tui Na Technique: Stun, Exhaust
8 +4 +6 +3 +6 - Expert Brewer +100%, Improved Critical
9 +4 +6 +3 +6 +1 SC Level Tui Na Technique: Paralyse, Unconsciousness
10 +5 +7 +4 +7 +1 SC Level Touch Mastery, Tui Na Technique: Break Enchantment
I reduced the spellcasting progression because of the cool abilities and expanded options on the spell list, which I think more than balance it out. Kept the BAB same as Geisha. I don't see anything particularly dextrous about masseuses, so I don't think they need a good reflex save. The class has a Good Fortitude save,since they know about healthiness and correcting the imbalances of the body.
Class Abilities
All of the following are class features of the Tui Na Masseuse prestige class.
Weapon and Armour Proficiency: A Masseuse gains no proficiency with any weapon or armour.
Gossip (Geisha Lore/ Bardic Knowledge) (Ex): As per the class feature. Tui Na Masseuse class levels stack with other classes that have either of these abilities.
Performance (Geisha Performance/ Bardic Music) (Ex): The Tui Na Masseuse continues to improve her effective level for her existing skills, but does not gain further performance styles or uses per day. She may, however, use her uses per day of Geisha Performance or Bardic Music to power her Tui Na massage techniques (see below). She may not use Tui Na technique abilities to power Performance or Bardic Music abilities.
Curative Focus: A masseuse adds the following spells to her class list. The spells are not automatically known and must be added to the masseuse’s spells known as normal.
1st: Sanctuary
2nd: Lesser Restoration, Remove Paralysis, Delay Poison
3rd: Remove Disease
4th: Neutralise Poison, Poison, Restoration
5th: -
6th: Heal
Healing Adept (Ex): A Tui Na Masseuse adds her class level to her patients' effective class level when determining hit points recovered while under Long-term care. (See the Heal skill, page 75 in the player's handbook).
Example: A 5th-level Tui-na Masseuse is providing long-term care for her 10th-level Samurai ally who was sorely wounded in battle. After a day of long-term care, he heals 60 hit points as a result of her healing skills (4 hp/ level for a full day of care, 10th level + 5 effective levels from Healing Adept). If the samurai had only rested for 8 hours under her care, he would have only healed 30 hp (2 hp/effective level).
Possible addition to the above mechanic: At 5th level, add 1 to the recovered Ability score points for 8 hours of rest, +2 for a full day. At 10th level, this increases to +2 and +4, respectively.
Possible expansion to Heal: increase the amount of people you can have under your long-term care. Possibly equals your class level, so this class feature wouldn't have any effect until 7th level since the normal maximum is 6.
Tui Na Techniques (Su):
A Tui Na Masseuse can interfere with an opponent’s chi and disrupt their natural functions once per day per class level. Her expertise at these techniques requires a certain amount of expertise in the field of massage and healing. A 1st level masseuse with 6 ranks in Heal can cause a target to be dazed for 1 round. Alternatively, she may cause her opponent to become fatigued. A 3rd level Tui Na Masseuse with 9 ranks in Heal can cause her opponent to become blind or deaf. At 5th level, she can induce sickness if she has 12 ranks in Heal. A 7th level masseuse with 14 ranks in Heal may cause Stunning or Exhaustion. At 9th level, a Tui Na Masseuse can cause Paralysis or Unconsciousness in her opponent if she has 16 ranks in Heal. A 10th level Tui Na Masseuse with 18 ranks may also emulate the effects of Break Enchantment by expending three uses of her Techniques.
Code:
Ability Level Heal ranks
Daze or Fatigue 1 6
Blind or Deaf 3 9
Sickness 5 12
Exhaust or Stun 7 14
Paralysis/ Unconsc. 9 16
Break Enchantment 10 18
All techniques require a melee touch attack to activate, and (except for Daze) have a duration of 1 round + the Masseuse’s Charisma modifier. The Fortitude save DC to resist a Tui Na Technique is 10 + ½ the masseuse’s ranks in Profession (Masseuse).
In addition to inflicting these conditions, a Tui Na Masseuse may use her techniques to remove the above afflictions from their allies. Each effect requires one use of the Tui Na Technique ability. This technique may only permanently remove magically inflicted forms of Blindness and Deafness. For natural forms of blindness and deafness, this ability has a duration of 1 round + the masseuse’s charisma modifier.
If the masseuse possesses the Stunning Fist feat, she may add her uses per day of Stunning fist to her Tui Na Technique uses per day, and adds +2 to the DC to resist her Tui Na Techniques.
Old Text: Once per day per masseuse level, a masseuse can remove one the following effects: Fatigued, Nauseated, or Sickened. She may also cause Exhausted characters to become Fatigued instead. Using a Tui Na Technique takes 10 minutes, and is considered one use of your Geisha Performance or Bardic Music ability. You may continue the massage to remove additional effects, costing additional uses of Geisha Performance, Tui Na Technique, or Bardic Music.
At 5th level, A Masseuse can use her Massage ability to Break Enchantment, as the spell. This spell-like ability has a caster level equal to your character level.Changed to reflect concentrated focus
Massage Casting (Su): Expert masseuses have a great amount of expertise in the flow of chi in the body of humanoids. A masseuse may incorporate spell casting into her massages, increasing the casting time and changing a spell's range to touch, but also increasing the effectiveness of the spell without increasing its spell level. Only spells with a Target entry may be cast in this fashion (Area spells are not permissable).
A Tui Na Masseuse using Massage Casting may add one or more of the following Metamagic effects to spells she casts using this technique: Empower Spell, Extend Spell, Fortify Spell*, Heighten Spell*, or Maximise Spell.
I had also considered making it possible to use a Delay Spell-like effect as well, delaying the onset of the spell for a certain amount of time (1/2 hour per class level? 10 minutes?)
Fortify Spell is from Complete Arcane
Massage Casting takes 10 minutes, plus 10 minutes per effective level increase. Spells used with Massage Casting have only Somatic and Focus components (a focus need only be on the masseuse's person). Expensive Material components, if ordinarily needed for the spell, are also necessary. The masseuse need not know the Metamagic Feat in order to use this ability. A masseuse cannot use Massage Casting if the spell would normally use a spell slot of a level the masseuse could not normally cast.
If more than one Masseuse is participating in a Massage Casting, they may pool their efforts, as if using the Co-operative Spell Metamagic Feat (complete Arcane). You can have no more than three contributing casters for this purpose.
You may not apply the effects of the Quicken Spell or Sudden Quicken spell metamagic feats to a spell modified with Massage Casting.
*A Heightened or Fortified spell’s level is not reduced, and operates normally, just increasing the casting time. This ability is used to make it more difficult for the target to resist, and to make the effect more difficult to dispel.
Example Spells: Charm Person, Detect thoughts, Cure Serious Wounds, Hold Monster, or Geas.
A Tui Na Masseuse can convert non-area based touch spells into touch range spells.
In addition to the above effects, a Tui Na Masseuse adds +1 to her caster level when using a touch range spell, including spells altered with this class ability.
This is the main point of this class. I think it's a nifty idea, being able to cause various effects in between using special Lotions, Aromatherapy and spellcasting during a massage (discretely, of course). Masseuses using this ability could be great spies (detect Thoughts and its bigger cousing Probe Thoughts). Considering the new ritual aspect the Massage Casting, is it too flexible? Should the metamagic feats be possessed by the character?
Gentle Touch (Ex): The touch of a masseuse is calming. At 1st level, she learns to calm her clients with a caress that is soothing but not intrusive. Whenever a masseuse can make physical contact with a creature of Intelligence 3 or higher, the masseuse doubles her Charisma bonus when making Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, and Perform checks against that creature. She also gains a +2 bonus on sleight of hand checks made against a creature she is touching.
Concoct Lotion: At 2nd level, a masseuse gains the ability to make magical massage oils and lotions that contain spell effects. A Lotion may be contain any personal or touch range spell of 3rd level or lower that targets one or more creature. Concocting a Lotion takes one day. When you create a Lotion, you set the caster level, which must be sufficient to cast the spell in question and no higher than your own level. The base price of a lotion is its spell level x its caster level x 50gp. To concoct a Lotion, you must spend 1/25 of this base price in XP and use up raw materials costing one-half this base price.
When you create a Lotion, you make any choices that you would normally make when casting the spell. The target is the creature you apply the Lotion to. Lotions take one minute to apply to the body.
Any Lotion that stores a spell with a costly material component or an XP cost also carries a commensurate cost. In addition to the costs derived from the base price, you must expend the material component or pay the XP when creating the Lotion.
Touch Focus: A 4th level Tui Na Masseuse gains a bonus to her attack roll when employing melee touch attacks equal to ½ her class level.
Expert Brewer (Ex): At 5th level, the effects of alchemical creations made by a Tui Na Masseuse using the Craft (Alchemy) skill, Concoct Lotion class ability, Brew Potion feat, or Create Aromatic Oil class ability with a duration other than concentration, Instantaneous or Permanent have their durations increased by 50%, with no increase in creation time or price. At 8th level, this increases to +100%.
Create Aromatic Oil: At 6th level, a Tui Na Masseuse gains the ability to create magical aromatic oils. An aromatic oil is oil meant for burning, allowing for magical effects within 20 feet of the burner. Aromatics can be made from any spell with an emanation effect with a duration that is not concentration or instantaneous of 5th level or less. The duration is modified to 10 minutes per 2 caster levels.
When you create an Aromatic Oil, you set the caster level, which must be sufficient to cast the spell in question and no higher than your own level. The base price of an Aromatic Oil is its spell level x its caster level x 50gp. To concoct an Aromatic Oil, you must spend 1/25 of this base price in XP and use up raw materials costing one-half this base price.
When you create an Aromatic Oil, you make any choices that you would normally make when casting the spell. Enough oil is created for 10 uses. It is a full-round action to burn the oil and activate the spell, provided you have an existing source of flame. Burning more than one dose of oil increases the duration of the effect.
Any Aromatic Oil that stores a spell with a costly material component or an XP cost also carries a commensurate cost. In addition to the costs derived from the base price, you must expend the material component or pay the XP when creating the Oil.
Still working this one out. It's pretty wonky right now. Both Concoct Lotion and Creat Aromatic Oil are intented as Item Creation Feats.
Touch Specialisation: A 6th level, a Tui Na Masseuse can convert non-area based touch spells into touch range spells.
In addition to the above effects, a Tui Na Masseuse adds +1 to her caster level when using a touch range spell, including spells altered with this class ability
Improved Critical: At 8th level, the masseuse gains the Improved Critical feat for melee touch spells, increasing the threat range of her touch spells increases to 19-20/x2.
Touch Mastery: A 10th level, a Tui Na Masseuse increases the saving throw Difficulty Class of her Touch range spells by 1.
Not sure if it's a good idea to increase spell DCs like this. I know 3.5 frowns on this highly. Another option would be to give a (higher) bonus on caster level checks against SR.
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Like I said, it's not really developed yet, and I'm still ironing out the wrinkles of the class abilities. I don't really feel there's a good enough Capstone ability for the class as it stands.
EDIT: Included Author comments. More Editing and clarification, Lalala....
EDIT Again: ENworld doesn't like displaying chinese characters. Sorry about that.
EDIT 3 (8/01): Expanded Class to 10th level, Expanded on Atemi (Tui Na Techniques), reliant on Heal and Profession (Masseuse), Heal skill improvements, Touch spell improvements.