Revising the sha'ir from Dragon 315

Apologies for the crosspost; it was pointed out to me that this would fit better here than as a post in the General thread on the latest issue of Dragon

Background: My homebrew setting is based in a cosmology where the Inner Planes never separated & the Prime Material doesn't exist -- instead, there's a (yet unnamed, doh) plane which combines parts of all of the elements in one big weightless (in most places) mix.

Enter the sha'ir in Dragon 315, a class from the Al Qadim campaign setting based on dealings with genies.

Suddenly my whole 'creation myth' got rewritten to make the various genies figure in... humans became (I'm thinking) a 'weakling' offshoot race of jann... & the great wars of the past are quite often involve meddling genies manipulating the 'lesser' races to further their own goals of supremacy for their species & element. Thankfully, the players have only just hit 2nd level & left their isolated village, so major gameworld revisions like this are still possible.



The downside of this, however, is that I just cannot see the sha'ir as presented really working as a typical adventurer. Certainly it'd work as an NPC class, sticking strictly to more urban settings & advancing through interaction xp rather than battles. But for a roam-the-world, delve-the-dungeon, conquer-the-dragon adventurer? Maybe I'm missing something, but the spell mechanics seem far too limiting, especially at early levels. Good grief, a 1st level sha'ir with 18 CHA has only a 50% chance to successfully retrieve a 1st level spell in their 'known' list! With the extra +2 to the DC to retrieve a spell after failing a check in the same day, there would be plenty of days marked by the words 'sorry guys, I couldn't manage to get a spell today'.

I'd really like to include the sha'ir as a playable class, especially since I'm now planning on having genies much more involved in the world. Anyone have suggestions on homebrew revisions to the class -- either ways to make the casting system better so they're more of a sorcerer/wizard alternative, or changes to give them a focus outside of their (IMO) incredibly weak casting abilities? I'd never heard of Al Qadim before this issue, so I'd especially appreciate suggestions from those more familiar with the original flavor of the class. Keep in mind that I am looking to make this into a broader class suited to both urban & dungeon/wilderness adventuring, & not just a social class fairly unsuited for combat.

One possibility: allowing spontaneous spell conversion to 'summon monster x', with the summoned monster being something with a genie or elemental 'flavor' to it. This would allow the adventuring sha'ir to have its gen retrieve other spells (hopefully, hehe) while always having the option to call up a friend to do battle for it, provided he still had spells left to cast.

I'm glad that after all this while with a new edition at all, they couldn't think of anything better but forcing the guy to sit around for 1d4 rounds to cast a spell. That class is dead in the water.

ciaran

Ok, as I was saying in the other thread, *my* revision of the Sha'Ir would make it a Prestige Class.

If you do not want to create a new skill, substitute Knowledge (Arcana) or Knowledge (the Planes) for Knowledge (Genies).

Requirements
Feats: Improved Familiar (any Gen), Skill Focus (Knowledge (Genies))
Skills: Knowledge Genies 8 ranks; Diplomacy 4 ranks
Spellcasting: Able to cast 3rd level Arcane spells

Skill points: 2 + Int modifier per level
HD: d4

BAB: Poor (as Sorcerer, Wizard)
Fort Save: Poor
Reflex Save: Poor
Will Save: Good

Special:
Level 1: Trade Spell I
Level 2: Recognize genie works
Level 3: Elemental protection
Level 4: Call janni
Level 5: Trade Spell II
Level 6: Elemental travel 1/day (or more, depending on campaign)
Level 7: Call genie
Level 8: craft genie prison
Level 9: Trade Spell III
Level 10: Elemental travel 2/day (or at will, depending on campaign)

Spellcasting: +1 level of existing class per level

Trade Spell I (Su): The Sha'Ir casts a spell(s) of his/her own "into" the gen familiar. The gen is then sent to trade that spell among Genie-kind, to be replaced by another to which the Sha'Ir does not normally have access. The Sha'Ir can gain a spell of a level s/he could not cast in this way. The spell(s) sent by the Sha'Ir as offered payment must be equal or greater in level to the one desired. Divine spells of the elemental Domains may be traded for as well, but 0-3rd level Divine spells add +1 to the effective level for trading, 4th-6th level divine spells add +2 levels, and 7th-9th level divine spells add +3. Metamagicked versions add the appropriate number of levels.

The time required depends on the overall level. 2d6 rounds + 1 round / effective level of the desired spell.

Trade Spell II / III: As Trade Spell I, but the base times are reduced. Trade Spell II uses 1d8 instead of 2d6 and the effective level penalty for Divine spells is reduced by 1 (to a minimum of 0), and Trade Spell III uses 1d4 with the divine spells penalty reduced by 2 (again, minimum 0).

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For a less spell-oriented Sha'Ir, reduce the spellcaster progression to +1 at each even-numbered level (2, 4, 6, 8, and 10) instead. Add a bonus feat at 3rd and 7th levels (limited to something appropriate to Genies or making magic items; possibly make 'Craft Genie Prison' an Item Creation feat that Sha'Ir's get free, for example), and give +2 Skill Points (or d6 hp and 3 skill points).

ciaran00, the class was never intended to be an uber-mage tossing off fireballs in combat.

But, when you need a bunch of utility spells, the Sha'ir, is the one to go to. They are the masters of utility magic.

Funny thing about this world of yours, it sounds just like our house campaign- The Five Sultanates. Essentially the "prime" plane is just the confluence of the six "elemental planes" where if you travel far enough in a particular direction you eventually cross into one of the elemental planes -
down=earth
up= air
north=water
south=fire
east=light
west=dark

Now, as you can guess, with a name like the 5 Sultanates, the central area has a distinctly Middle Eastern flavor. But just to throw a twist into the whole, there is also a Spirit Plane, so shamanism plays a very large role in the setting. So almost all magic comes from the "spirits". Now, the sha'ir, when you get right down to it, has as it's roots, a shamanic tradition. Gens really are nothing more than "elemental" totems or spirit helpers. So in our group a sha'ir would really be a shaman that concentrated on one of the elements.