9 Psionic Prestige Classes - new class added June 3

JudgeMind

Judge Minds were the police and courts of the noble families of the Duan’Khat, rarely also assigned to criminal investigations of the most serious nature that did not directly involve the noble families. In the early days of the Duan’Khat empire, the order of the Judge Minds was created by a val’Duan prince to rid the empire of those who would threaten the safety of the empire from within. As the sciences of the mind progressed, there was greater and greater risk that val who did not share the values and goals of the Duan’Khat families would strike against them using their own powers.

And then there were the others, psionically endowed entities that were not of the blood of the Valinor. Ever so rarely, the marks of their interference was felt within the empire, and a police, created and lead by the emperor, was needed to root them out and destroy them. All to keep the empire whole. These Judge Minds became a para-military order of telepath-seers serving the val’Duan directly for the ends of the Empire. The order of the Judge Minds operated initially as a police force and judge-jury-executioner of the lower Val families, rarely interfering directly into the affairs of the val’Duan and val’Khat.

As the Empire grew, so did the corruption within the families and the powers granted (and taken) by the Judge Minds. Soon they became a psionic inquisition, seeking out the influence of the profane and the others as well as watching for those cells and families that began working against the ruling prince. In time, the people of the empire grew to fear the coming of the Judge Minds, and many a Judge Mind began to operate in complete secrecy, a quiet inquisition of the wary and vigilant, working to protect the empire against all its ills.

In the modern age, judge minds still quite rare, and exist primarily as a secret order among the more lawfully-minded of the Val bloodlines. These secret orders have little to no contact with one another, and operate in secrecy.

Hit Die: d6

Requirements
To qualify to become a judge mind, a character must fulfill the following criteria.
Base Attack Bonus: +3 or higher
Alignment: Lawful
Knowledge (psionics): 3 ranks
Knowledge (law): 5 ranks
Feats: Combat Manifesting
Manifesting: The character must know and have the ability to manifest 3rd level Clairsentient and Telepathic powers.
Special: The character must be sponsored to this post by an existing judge mind or a judge or ruler with the authority to appoint police and judges.

Class Skills
The Judge Mind’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Diplomacy (Cha), Gather Information (Cha), Knowledge (all skills, taken individually) (Int), Psicraft (Int), Ride (Dex), Search (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), and Spot (Wis). See Core Rulebook 1 for skill descriptions.

Skill Points per Level: 2 + Int modifier

BAB: Weak (as wizard, psion)
Fort Save: Weak
Ref Save: Weak
Will Save: Strong

Advancement
level 1 - Ever Vigilant
level 2 - Lawful Smite 1/day, +1 manifester level
level 3 - Strength of Purpose +2, +1 manifester level
level 4 - Penetrating Thoughts (Clairsentience), +1 manifester level
level 5 - +1 manifester level
level 6 - Strength of Purpose +4
level 7 - Lawful Smite 2/day, +1 manifester level
level 8 - Penetrating Thoughts (Telepathy), +1 manifester level
level 9 - Strength of Purpose +6, +1 manifester level
level 10 - Lawful Smite 3/day, +1 manifester level

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the Judge Mind prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Procifiency: Judge Minds are trained in the use of all simple weapons, and with light armor, but not with shields of any sort. Note that armor check penalties for armor heavier than leather apply to the skills Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Move Silently, Pick Pocket and Tumble.

Manifesting: A judge mind continues the expansion and extension of his psionic powers as he trains in their application to enforce the law. Thus, at specific levels in the judge mind class, he gains manifester levels as if he had also gained a level in a manifesting class he belonged to before he added the prestige class. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (psionic feats, hit points, etc). This essentially means that he adds these levels to the level of some other manifesting class he has, then determines power points and powers known and manifester level based on this level. If the character had more than one manifesting class before he became a judge mind, he must decide to which class he adds each manifester level gained from the judge mind class.

Ever Vigilant (Ex): The judge mind must remain watchful of all about him, using his natural senses as well as the powers of the mind. He gains a competence bonus equal to his class level or half his Base Will Save, whichever is less, on all Search, Sense Motive and Spot checks.

Lawful Smite (Su): Once per day, the judge mind may make a single melee attack or manifest a single-target psionic power as a lawful smite. If this attack or manifestation targets a chaotic target, the judge mind gains a bonus on the attack roll (if appropriate) equal to his Charisma bonus, and a damage bonus of +1 point per judge mind level. A lawful smite must be declared before the attack is rolled or the power is manifested. If the power or attack misses, or the target is not chaotic, then the lawful smite is wasted. The judge mind gains an additional lawful smite per day at level 7 and again at level 10.

Strength of Purpose (Ex): Judge minds must remain untouched by outside influences, keeping their minds free of assaults, enchantment or supernatural persuasion in their eternal quest for justice and law. Starting at third level, a judge mind gains a +2 morale bonus to resist any attempt to turn him from his duty, through use of skills (Bluff, Diplomacy or Intimidate), or through any mind-affecting or fear-inducing effect. The bonus increases to +4 at sixth level and +6 at ninth level.

Penetrating Thoughts (Ex): The importance of seeking out enemies to law and order is not lost on the judge mind. At level 4, the DC to resist any of the judge mind’s clairsentience powers is increased by 1. At level 8, this bonus also applies to all of the judge mind’s telepathic powers.

Prophetic Soothsayer

Two discipline show that the mind is greater than time. While many of the psychoportive nomads actually play within the time-stream, pushing themselves slower against the flow of time, or leaping forward faster than time can keep up, time-oriented clairsentient seers seek out events, ripples and changes in the time-stream and then interpret them by instinct, by ‘feel’ or even through rapid calculations and risk-benefit analysis to determine the best course of action.

The prophetic soothsayer specializes in upcoming changes to the time-stream, feeling for the ripples of change and cause-effect that trigger these changes or are triggered by them. At the simplest level, the prophetic soothsayer is able to get out of the way of trouble far more adroitly than would be expected for a lowly non-combatant, but at the peak of the art, the prophetic soothsayer is both a foreteller of great changes and distant events as well as a great communicator who can use these keen senses to bring about change before an event occurs, and perhaps even forestall or prevent the event completely.

Prophetic soothsayers are often trained by older masters of the arts and sciences of time who have hand picked younger seers to be their replacements based on the potential ability within them. Others embark on the path of the prophetic soothsayer on their own, sometimes even after being rebuked by existing masters of the art, masters who may well have known that the seers in question would only truly burgeon under their own guidance, without mentorship.

Prophetic soothsayers have a tendency to never act surprised, even by the completely unexpected. Part of the mystique of their abilities is entrenched in this visual appearance of unflappability, and thus they will often go so far as to lie about what they knew would or wouldn’t happen.

Hit Die: d4

Requirements
To qualify to become a prophetic soothsayer, a character must fulfill the following criteria.
Autohypnosis: 8 ranks
Concentration: 8 ranks
Knowledge (psionics): 8 ranks
Manifesting: Ability to manifest at least four clairsentient powers including precognition.

Class Skills
The prophetic soothsayer’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Autohypnosis (Wis), Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Knowledge (all skills – taken individually) (Int), Perform (Cha), Psicraft (Int), and Sense Motive (Wis). See Core Rulebook 1 for skill descriptions.

Skill Points per Level: 2 + Int modifier

Base Attack Bonus: Weak (Wizard, Psion)
Fort Save: Weak
Ref Save: Weak
Will Save: Strong

Progression
level 1 - Psionic Augury, +1 Manifester Level
level 2 - +1 Manifester Level
level 3 - Clairsentient Focus, +1 Manifester Level
level 4 - Great Insight (+1), +1 Manifester Level
level 5 - Lessons of Cassandra, +1 Manifester Level
level 6 - Divination 1/day, +1 Manifester Level
level 7 - Great Insight (+2), +1 Manifester Level
level 8 - Divination 2/day, +1 Manifester Level
level 9 - +1 Manifester Level
level 10 - Great Insight (+3), Divination 3/day, +1 Manifester Level

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the prophetic soothsayer prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Prophetic soothsayers gain no additional training in the use of weapons, armor or shields. Note that armor check penalties for armor heavier than leather apply to the skills Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Move Silently, Pick Pocket and Tumble.

Effective Manifester Level: At every level indicated on the table for the prestige class, the character gains new power points per day and access to discovered powers as if he had also gained a level in the psionic class he belonged to before adding the prestige class. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (such as bonus feats, metapsionic or item creation feats, additional psionic combat modes, hit points beyond those he receives from the prestige class, and so on). He does gain the following benefits: an increased effective level of psionic manifestation, additional power points and effective additional levels for psicrystal powers (if he has a psicrystal). If a character had more than one psionic class before becoming a member of this prestige class, he must decide to which class he adds the new level for purposes of determining Effective Manifester Level.

Psionic Augury (Sp): Once per day per two class levels (rounded up), the prophetic soothsayer can manifest a personal augury into the future. An augury can tell whether a particular action will bring good or bad results for the manifester in the immediate future. The base chance for finding a meaningful answer in the time-stream is 70%, plus 1% per manifester level; the DM makes the roll secretly. The DM may determine that the question is so straightforward that a successful result is automatic, or so vague as to have no chance of success. If the augury succeeds, the manifester gets one of four results:
“Weal” (if the action will probably bring good results).
“Woe” (for bad results).
“Weal and woe” (for both).
“Nothing” (for actions that don’t have especially good or bad results).
If the power fails, the manifester gets the “nothing” result. A psion who gets the “nothing” result has no way to tell whether it resulted from a failed or successful augury. The augury can see into the future only about half an hour, so anything that might happen after that does not affect the augury. Thus, it might miss the long-term consequences of the contemplated action. All auguries manifested by the same person about the same action use the same die roll result as the first augury.

Clairsentient Focus (Ex): The save DC for all clairsentient powers the prophetic soothsayer manifests are increased by 1.

Great Insight (Su): By constantly reaching into the time-stream, the prophetic soothsayer becomes accustomed to searching for insight therein. In time, this results in an improvement to all insight bonuses. Whenever the prophetic soothsayer should receive an insight bonus due to a power or ability, the bonus is increased by 1 at level 4, by 2 at level 7 and finally by 3 points at level 10.

Lessons of Cassandra (Ex): Many a fortune-teller has been shunned or even slain by those he has attempted to help. In these lessons they have learned the importance of dealing with people in ways that do not anger them and that cushion any bad news with the appropriate platitudes and respect. Beginning at level 5, prophetic soothsayers gain an addition 2 skill points at each prophetic soothsayer class level which must be spent on the following skills: Bluff, Diplomacy, Perform and Sense Motive.

Divination (Sp): Beginning at level 6, the prophetic soothsayer can manifest the psionic divination power once per day at no power point cost. This increases to twice per day at level 8 and finally three times per day at level 10.

Carnifex Cenode

If hatred and evil can be a force, then they form a force that poisons all who would come in contact with them. And thus, the power of the mind can become tainted by this same hatred, and the merest touch of these tainted thoughts can etch marks upon the body and soul of those minds so unfortunate as to feel it.

Then there are those who discovered the wrecks of hatred and evil, who learned how to channel these energies of destruction, and who trained them to set them loose on the world. From these twisted minds, they built guilds, secret societies and orders who train themselves and each other with the deadly toxins of their trade. These guilds were maintained in secret, training latent psionic talents how to spread their hatred beyond their own mind and have it influence, sicken and kill those it touches.

They learned to make hatred into a pure, dark, liquid form. They made it poison. And they spread this poison as any craftsman of the toxic arts would – through assassins.

Now the Carnifex guilds are a rarity, except in some dark kingdoms where hatred and darkness are encouraged, and even there they are distrusted, for they serve a purpose of oblivion, of entropy. They seek to destroy all about them with the anger and hatred of their thoughts. Not all Carnifex Cenodes were psionically endowed when they joined the guild. Some are instead recruited for their sheer hatred, and then taught to manifest it psionically, and from there the training begins as a Cenode.

Carnifex guild members who are not psionically-endowed first take one to three levels of soul knife and some levels of rogue and psychic warrior, and then begin to master the darker arts of the Cenodes. These soul knives are known as Carnifex Blades instead of Cenodes until they begin the path of the poisoner.

Hit Die: d6

Requirements
To qualify to become a Carnifex Cenode, a character must fulfill the following criteria.
Alignment: Evil
Knowledge (psionics): 5 ranks
Move Silently: 8 ranks
Hide: 8 ranks
Intimidate: 6 ranks
Feats: Aligned Attack (evil)
Manifesting: The character must have a power point reserve.
Special: The character must be trained by a Carnifex guild. Self-taugh Cenodes exist, but are rare. To become self-taught, the character must have the Wounding Attack feat and be able to manifest the inflict pain power.

Class Skills
The Carnifex Cenode’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Autohypnosis (Wis), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Disable Device (Int), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Gather Information (Cha), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (psionics) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Open Lock (Dex), Pick Pocket (Dex), Psicraft (Int), Search (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), and Spot (Wis). See Core Rulebook 1 for skill descriptions.

Skill Points per Level: 4 + Int modifier

BAB: Medium (Cleric / Rogue)
Fort Save: Weak
Ref Save: Strong
Will Save: Strong

Progression

level 1 - Poison Use, Extend Poison
level 2 - Vitriol of Hate (1d4), Conceal Thoughts, +1 Manifester Level
level 3 - Sneak Attack +1d6, +1 Manifester Level
level 4 - Vitriol of Hate (1d6), +1 Manifester Level
level 5 - Empower Poison
level 6 - Vitriol of Hate (1d8), Sneak Attack +2d6, +1 Manifester Level
level 7 - Twist Venom, +1 Manifester Level
level 8 - Vitriol of Hate (1d10), +1 Manifester Level
level 9 - Sneak Attack +3d6
level 10 - Vitriol of Hate (1d12), +1 Manifester Level

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the Carnifex Cenode prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Procifiency: Carnifex Cenodes are trained in the use of all simple weapons, and with light armor, but not with shields of any sort. Note that armor check penalties for armor heavier than leather apply to the skills Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Move Silently, Pick Pocket and Tumble.

Effective Manifester Level: At every level indicated on the table for the prestige class, the character gains new power points per day and access to discovered powers as if he had also gained a level in the psionic class he belonged to before adding the prestige class. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (such as bonus feats, metapsionic or item creation feats, additional psionic combat modes, hit points beyond those he receives from the prestige class, and so on). He does gain the following benefits: an increased effective level of psionic manifestation, additional power points and effective additional levels for psicrystal powers (if he has a psicrystal). If a character had more than one psionic class before becoming a member of this prestige class, he must decide to which class he adds the new level for purposes of determining Effective Manifester Level.

Poison Use (Ex): The Carnifex Cenode routinely coats his weapons in various poisons to carry the vile humours of his hatred. One of the first things he learns is how to properly handle these potent toxins. At 1st level, he becomes skilled enough with poisons that he no longer risks accidentally poisoning himself when using his craft to harvest raw materials, brew poison, or apply it to his weapons or traps.

Extend Poison (Sp): The Cenode quickly learns how to invest his hatred into an existing venom. With a free action and the expenditure of 2 power points, the Cenode can make a poison’s effects linger much longer than normal. The poison extended in this manner must be delivered within a number of rounds equal to twice the Cenode’s class level in order for this effect to work. If delivered within this time, the poison delivers primary and secondary damage normally, but also delivers secondary damage a second time one minute later.

Vitriol of Hate (Sp): The hatred of the Cenode can be manifested as a deadly fluid, the ‘virtriol of hate’. This poison can be manifested at a cost of 3 power points, and has a save DC equal to 10 + the Cenode’s class level + his Charisma bonus. It always deals Constitution damage, starting with 1d4 primary and secondary damage at level 2, and increasing to 1d6 at level 4, 1d8 at level 6, 1d10 at level 8 and finally 1d12 at level 10. The vitriol of hate is effective both when ingested or when administered to a wound, usually via a weapon. The vitriol of hate remains present for 1 round per class level of the Cenode before evaporating in a black smoke. When manifesting this ability, the Cenode radiates an aura of evil as an evil cleric of his total character level would (see the detect evil spell for details). If the Cenode has the favored enemy class ability, any favored enemy struck by the vitriol of hate takes a -4 penalty on Fortitude saves to resist the poison.

Conceal Thoughts (Ex): As the Cenode learns to manifest his hatred in a physical form, he also must learn to conceal his intents. At level 2, a Cenode learns the telepathic power conceal thoughts in addition to any other powers he knows or learns at this level.

Sneak Attack (Ex): If a Cenode of level 3 or higher can catch an opponent when he is unable to defend himself effectively from his attack, hhe can strike a vital spot for extra damage.
The Cenode’s attack deals extra damage any time his target would be denied a Dexterity bonus to AC (whether the target actually has a Dexterity bonus or not), or when the Cenode flanks his target. This extra damage is 1d6 at 3rd level, and it increases by 1d6 every three Cenode levels thereafter. Should the Cenode score a critical hit with a sneak attack, this extra damage is not multiplied. Ranged attacks can only count as sneak attacks only if the target is within 30 feet.
A Cenode can sneak attack only living creatures with discernible anatomies—undead, constructs, oozes, plants, and incorporeal creatures lack vital areas to attack. Any creature that is immune to critical hits is not vulnerable to sneak attacks. The Cenode must be able to see the target well enough to pick out a vital spot and must be able to reach such a spot. A Cenode cannot sneak attack while striking a creature with concealment or striking the limbs of a creature whose vitals are beyond reach.
This sneak attack damage stacks with sneak attack damage gained from other classes.

Empower Poison (Sp): At level 5, a Cenode can enhance the power of any poison he wields. With a free action and the expenditure of 4 power points, the Cenode can increase any variable numeric damage of any poison by 50%. The poison thus empowered remains empowered for one round per class level of the Cenode. If not delivered to a target within this time, the poison returns to normal potency.

Twist Venom (Su): At level 7, a Cenode can change the method by which a poison attacks its victim. With the expenditure of 1 power point, the Cenode can change what ability score the poison affects to any ability score of the Cenode’s choice. This is a free action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity. The poison changed in this way remains changed for one round per class level of the Cenode. If not delivered to a target within this time, the poison returns to normal.

Wound Taker

Within us, there is a wellspring of health. The wound taker has the selfless need to take the injuries of others upon himself so that they may be better off.

Not only is the wound taker able to take on the hurts of the world, the wound taker is willing to do so, and does so with the knowledge that he can support these injuries upon himself, that they will heal, and that all will be better for it in the end. These psionic healers are either insanely brave or are incredible masochists who revel in the pain they feel with every touch.

The motivations of these healers are deep and unfathomable to the average soul. Although some take up this path as a means to make themselves indispensable to friends and allies, or even to those they would sell their services to, others pick up the mantle of the healer strictly for the betterment of those around them. The history of men and val are full of stories of those who survived horrible injuries or incredible illness to return to the flock with a new vision and purpose in life – from these wounded and now stronger souls can the wound taker be forged.

That which does not kill them…

Hit Die: d8

Requirements
To qualify to become a wound taker, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.
Alignment: Any good
Heal: 6 ranks
Feat: Toughness
Manifesting: Ability to manifest body adjustment power and empathic transfer.

Class Skills
The wound taker’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Autohypnosis (Wis), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (psionics) (Int), Profession (Wis), Psicraft (Int) and Sense Motive (Wis). See Core Rulebook 1 for skill descriptions.

Skill Points per level: 2 + Int modifier

BAB: Weak (Wizard, Psion)
Fort Save: Strong
Ref Save: Weak
Will Save: Strong

Progression:
level 1 - Draw Pain, +1 Manifester Level
level 2 - Improved Body Adjustment, +1 Manifester Level
level 3 - Efficient Empathy, Purification, +1 Manifester Level
level 4 - Greater Body Adjustment, +1 Manifester Level
level 5 - Touch of Peace, +1 Manifester Level

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the wound taker prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The wound taker gains no additional training with weapons or armor. Note that armor check penalties for armor heavier than leather apply to the skills Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Move Silently, Pick Pocket and Tumble.

Effective Manifester Level: At every level indicated on the table for the prestige class, the character gains new power points per day and access to discovered powers as if he had also gained a level in the psionic class he belonged to before adding the prestige class. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (such as bonus feats, metapsionic or item creation feats, additional psionic combat modes, hit points beyond those he receives from the prestige class, and so on). He does gain the following benefits: an increased effective level of psionic manifestation, additional power points and effective additional levels for psicrystal powers (if he has a psicrystal). If a character had more than one psionic class before becoming a member of this prestige class, he must decide to which class he adds the new level for purposes of determining Effective Manifester Level.

Draw Pain (Ex): The basic skill of the wound taker is the ability to willingly take on the wounds and injuries of others, reducing their pain at the cost of the wound taker’s own health. The wound taker gains more control over the use of empathic transfer to transfer wounds and damage to himself. The wound taker may re-roll any d10 results of 1,2, 9 or 10 at his discretion when rolling for the amount of damage transferred by the power.

Improved Body Adjustment (Ex): Beginning at level 2, whenever the wound taker uses the body adjustment power to heal himself, he heals additional damage. This begins with a +2 bonus at level 2 and increases by two at each class level, to a maximum of +8 at level 5. This does not increase the power cost of these powers, nor does it increase any other effects of the powers besides hit point healing (such as ability damage or saving throws).

Efficient Empathy (Ex): The cost to manifest the empathic transfer power is reduced for the level 3 wound taker, treating the power in all ways as being one level lower than it is (thus with a power cost per manifestation reduced by 2 points).

Purification (Ex): At level 3 the wound taker gains the body purification power if he did not have it already. If the wound taker already has this power, select another power of level 3 or lower.

Greater Body Adjustment (Sp): Beginning at level 4, the wound taker can manifest the greater body adjustment power. This power is treated identically to body adjustment except that it is a level 3 power, and can remove a disease or blindness with each manifestation instead of healing damage.

Touch of Peace (Sp): At level 5, the wound taker can manifest the touch of peace power at a cost of 5 power points. Touch of peace is a touch ranged power that immediately ends any charm, confusion or emotion effects including any fear effects such as shaken, scared or panicked conditions in an allied creature.

These are excellent. Do some for psychic warriors! I'm really impressed by these.

I have some concerns with the carnifex; a high lvl carnifex, by combining his class abilities, can have his hatred deal 1d12*1.5 primary / 1d12*1.5 secondary /1d12*1.5 tertiary, for an average of 10 points of con per save. Is that intentional?

Yes, it is intentional. Mainly because primary damage is the only damage that makes any difference in standard (combat) play, and because poison is generally underpowered when you deal with it at levels 12+ (which is where the Carnifex Cenode will be to use this combo).

As for psychic warriors... my original PsyWar classes all got ferschnickered by the changes to the class in 3.5 - so give me a few days.

Crystal Lorewarden
(yes, it is 'just' a psionic revision of the loremaster class)

The traditional keepers of arcane and esoteric lore have always been the wizards, the bastions of writing and literacy through all lands and peoples. However there are other ways to store information than the written word on paper and parchment – there are peoples who have stored their lore, their secrets, even their very memories and experiences within shards, formations and even huge lattices of crystal. These crystal storage forms are crafted by psionic individuals, and are then accessed by other manifesters, sometimes millennia after their initial creation.

Lorewardens are manifesters who concentrate on learning the knowledge stored in these devices and in all other forms of storage, in order to collect it, learn from it, and store it anew. They seek out all forms of esoteric knowledge, secrets of ages past, long-forgotten lore, and lost powers of the mind. All crystal lorewardens seek out knowledge and ancient secrets, but more than the arcane loremasters, they dedicate themselves to preserving this knowledge for future ages.

Only manifesters can become crystal lorewardens, as they must be able to access and store crystal matrix data forms. These manifesters sometimes work independently, but many congregate in esoteric cabals to accumulate data as a group and uncover similar secrets or to seek out a hidden truth buried ages ago under convoluted layers of secrecy and misdirection or even by mythology. There are small communities of lorewardens in many major cities that have any visible psionic presence, and most psionic guilds and organizations also have a lorewarden or two to catalogue discoveries and seek out related lore to the cause or mission of the guild.

Hit Die: d4

Requirements
To qualify to become a crystal lorewarden, a character must fulfill the following criteria.
Knowledge (psionics): 10 ranks
Knowledge (any): 10 ranks
Feats: Encode Stone, Skill Focus (Knowledge [any individual knowledge skill]), Psicrystal Affinity
Manifesting: Able to manifest at least 6 different clairsentient powers, including either object reading or sensitivity to psychic impressions.
Special: Psicrystal must have one of the following personalities: meticulous, sage or single-minded.

Class Skills
The crystal lorewardern’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Appraise (Int), Autohypnosis (Wis), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Gather Information (Cha), Knowledge (all skills – taken individually) (Int), Psicraft (Int), and Speak Language. See Core Rulebook 1 for skill descriptions.

Skill Points per Level: 4 + Int modifier

Base Attack Bonus: Weak (as wizard / psion)
Fort Save: Weak
Ref Save: Weak
Will Save: Strong

Advancement
level 1 - Lore, +1 Manifester Level
level 2 - Secret, +1 Manifester Level
level 3 - +1 Manifester Level
level 4 - Secret, +1 Manifester Level
level 5 - Master Encoder, +1 Manifester Level
level 6 - Secret, +1 Manifester Level
level 7 - Knowledge Stone, +1 Manifester Level
level 8 - Secret, +1 Manifester Level
level 9 - The Lore of Many, +1 Manifester Level
level 10 - Secret, +1 Manifester Level

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the crystal lorewarden prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Crystal lorewardens gain no additional training in the use of weapons, armor or shields. Note that armor check penalties for armor heavier than leather apply to the skills Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Move Silently, Pick Pocket and Tumble.

Effective Manifester Level: At every level indicated on the table for the prestige class, the character gains new power points per day and access to discovered powers as if he had also gained a level in the psionic class he belonged to before adding the prestige class. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (such as bonus feats, metapsionic or item creation feats, hit points beyond those he receives from the prestige class, and so on). He does gain the following benefits: an increased effective level of psionic manifestation, additional power points and effective additional levels for psicrystal powers. If a character had more than one psionic class before becoming a member of this prestige class, he must decide to which class he adds the new level for purposes of determining Effective Manifester Level.

Lore (Ex): The wellspring of knowledge opened up to the crystal lorewarden contains information on all manner of material. The crystal lorewarden may make a special bardic knowledge check with a bonus equal to his class level + his Intelligence modifier to see whether she knows some relevant information about local notable people, legendary items, or noteworthy places. This check will not reveal the powers of a magic item but may give a hint as to its general function. The crystal lorewarden may not take 10 or take 20 on this check; this sort of knowledge is essentially random. If the crystal lorewarden already has the bardic knowledge ability from another class, then his crystal lorewarden levels are added to his normal bardic knowledge checks. The DM will determine the Difficulty Class of the check by referring to the table below.

DC Type of Knowledge
10 Common, known by at least a substantial minority of the local population.
20 Uncommon but available, known by only a few people in the area.
25 Obscure, known by few, hard to come by.
30 Extremely Obscure, known by very few, possibly forgotten by most who once knew it, possibly known only by those who don’t understand the significance of the knowledge.

Secret: At 2nd level and every two levels thereafter (4th, 6th, 8th and 10th), the crystal lorewarden chooses one secret from the table below. The lorewardern's level plus Intelligence modifier determines the total 'level' of the secrets he can choose. A crystal lorewarden can’t choose the same secret twice.

Lorewarden Secrets
Level + Int mod Secret Effect
1 - Conviction - +1 bonus on Will saves
2 - Crystal Lore - Increase manifester level by 3 for determining psicrystal powers
3 - Ancient Lore - +6 bonus to any one knowledge skill
4 - New Resolve - +1 bonus on Will saves
5 - Mastery of Form - Gain a bonus metapsionic feat
6 - Irresistible Power - +2 on all manifester level checks to defeat PR and dispel psionics, etc.
7 - Power Trigger - Ability to manifest a level 1 power as a spell-like ability 3 times / day at no cost
8 - Expanded Mind - Gain the Expanded Knowledge feat.
9 - Hidden Reserves - Gain the Psionic Talent feat
10 - Power Mastery - Ability to manifest a level 2 power as a spell-like ability 3 times / day at no cost
11+ - Hidden Power - Gain a new power normally not available to you (from another manifester class power list, or a previously undiscovered power)

Master Encoder (Ex): The tasks of the crystal lorewardens do not end with the uncovering of ancient lore and secrets, but also their preservation in the permanence of crystal. The secrets of the lorewardens include how to encode data into crystals with more efficiency than most manifesters are able. A crystal lorewarden of level 5 or higher can create psionic items using the Encode Stone feat for 2/3 of the regular cost in XP and gold.

Knowledge Stone (Ex): At level 7, the crystal lorewarden invests more knowledge into his psicrystal. The psicrystal gains the “sage” personality trait, granting the lorewarden a +3 bonus on checks involving any one Knowledge skill the lorewarden already knows; once chosen, this does not vary. If the lorewarden’s psicrystal already has the sage personality trait, this benefit is added again, but must apply to a different skill.

The Lore of Many (Sp): At level 9, the crystal lorewarden can seek for powers known by other lorewardens in his time of need. As a full-round action, the lorewarden can tap these powers at a cost of 15 power points (this provokes an attack of opportunity, and is treated as casting a level 8 power to determine the difficulty of any Concentration checks required due to distraction or being struck). Once this is done, the lorewarden must make a Will save with a DC of 10 + the level of the power required. If this check succeeds, the lorewarden can manifest the power required once at the normal manifestation cost, but cannot augment it or use any metapsionic feats while manifesting it. This ability can only be used once per day, and the power sought must be one that is on the lorewarden’s power lists and be of a level the lorewarden can manifest. The lorewarden can use this ability a second time each day at level 10.

I'll be looking forward to them. Your prestige class design skills (both mechanically and creatively) just keep getting better and better, and are miles better than my own at this point. It's fun to see/use what you create.

Mind Priest
(Yeah, it's basically a revised Cerebremancer for Divine casters)

Mind priests are the psionically-endowed worshippers of the gods of mentalism, psionic powers and of the mind. They embrace both the divine mysteries of their deity’s embrace and the full glory of their own psionic powers of the mind, often seeing no difference between the two, as the powers of the mind and will are there only because of the will of the deity in question. Mind priests tend to be very driven clerics, those who are driven to exemplify the divine power of the mind as well as the divine magical gifts of their deity.

In the pantheons of the mind, there is the essential duality of power broken between the powers of divine magic, granted by petitioning the gods themselves for power, and the power of psionics, powers granted and unlocked by the gods in all those who can manifest such aptitudes. Yet both are the gift of the godminds, and thus the driven mind priests have worked to enmesh the two studies together.

Only characters who have training both in the arts of the mind and the worship of the divine can become mind priests. Cleric / Psion is the most common class combination, but requires both a high Intelligence and Wisdom. Thus, a fair number of mind priests are Clerics / Psychic Warriors (although they suffer for the low hit dice) and there are also some Druid mind priests. As many Clerics have a high Charisma as religious and community leaders, Cleric / Wilder multiclasses are also well represented within the ranks of the mind priests. While the class also works for Paladin / Psychic Warriors, there are very few who follow these paths within the ranks.

Many of the most potent mind priests go on to take levels of thrallherd to secure their position of power in the church and the temporal world. Those less cynical often become loremasters or seek out other, more clerical paths.

Hit Die: d4

Requirements
To qualify to become a mind priest, a character must fulfill the following criteria.
Knowledge (religion): 6 ranks
Knowledge (psionics): 6 ranks
Manifesting: Able to manifest 2nd level powers
Spellcasting: Able to cast 2nd level divine spells
Special: Patron deity must have the portfolio of psionics, mental powers, the mind or a similar focus.

Class Skills
The mind priest’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Autohypnosis (Wis), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Knowledge (all skills – taken individually) (Int), Psicraft (Int), and Spellcraft (Int). See Core Rulebook 1 for skill descriptions.

Skill Points per Level: 2 + Int modifier

Base Attack Bonus: Weak (wizard / psion)
Fort Save: Weak
Ref Save: Weak
Will Save: Strong

Advancement
level 1 - Font of Divinity, +1 Divine Spellcaster Level
level 2 - +1 Manifester Level / +1 Divine Spellcaster Level
level 3 - +1 Manifester Level / +1 Divine Spellcaster Level
level 4 - Blessed Mind, +1 Manifester Level
level 5 - +1 Manifester Level / +1 Divine Spellcaster Level
level 6 - +1 Manifester Level / +1 Divine Spellcaster Level
level 7 - Mindful Spellcasting, +1 Divine Spellcaster Level
level 8 - +1 Manifester Level / +1 Divine Spellcaster Level
level 9 - +1 Manifester Level / +1 Divine Spellcaster Level
level 10 - Divine Power, +1 Manifester Level

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the mind priest prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Mind priests gain no additional training in the use of weapons, armor or shields. Note that armor check penalties for armor heavier than leather apply to the skills Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Move Silently, Pick Pocket and Tumble.

Effective Manifester Level and Spellcaster Level: At every level indicated on the table for the prestige class, the character gains new power points per day and access to discovered powers as if he had also gained a level in the psionic class he belonged to before adding the prestige class, as well as gaining spells per day as if he had also gained a level in the divine spellcasting class he belonged to before adding the prestige class. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (such as bonus feats, metapsionic or item creation feats, additional psionic combat modes, hit points beyond those he receives from the prestige class, and so on). He does gain the following benefits: an increased effective level of psionic manifestation, additional power points and effective additional levels for psicrystal powers (if he has a psicrystal). If a character had more than one psionic class or divine spellcasting class before becoming a member of this prestige class, he must decide to which class he adds the new level for purposes of determining Effective Manifester and Spellcaster Level.

Font of Divinity (Ex): Beginning at level 1, a mind priest can manifest any level 0 divine spells (Orisons) he knows by expending a power point and manifesting the spell as a psionic power with the same game effects.

Blessed Mind (Ex): At level 4, the mind priest gains one of the following benefits:
For Val mind priests, the character immediately increases his bloodline trait by one, allowing him an additional bloodline power. If he already has all 6 bloodline powers, then he gains the benefit for non-Val mind priests.
For non-Val mind priests, the character gains access to the Psionic domain as an additional clerical domain. If the character already has the Psionic domain, then choose another domain from the character’s deity’s domain listing.

Mindful Spellcasting (Ex): All spells cast by the level 7 mind priest with the [mind-affecting] descriptor gain a +2 psionic bonus to the save DC.

Divine Power (Ex): At level 10, the mind priest’s manifested powers gain one of the following benefits, depending on the mind priest’s alignment (good or evil). If the mind priest is neutral, then the power is based on the deity’s alignment. Neutral mind priests of a neutral deity gain the third power.
Good: Powers manifested by the mind priest gain the [Good] descriptor and all saves against these powers by evil creatures are at a -2 sacred penalty.
Evil: Powers manifested by the mind priest gain the [Evil] descriptor and all saves against these powers by good creatures are at a -2 profane penalty.
Neutral: All saves against powers manifested by the mind priest by good and evil aligned creatures are made with a -1 penalty.

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PS: Thanks Piratecat, I'm glad I amuse.

Ward Cutter

Through force of will and concentration, the soulknives can manifest their mental energy into a blade of psionic force. While the properties of this mental weapon are of immense interest, one that drew the attention of the Val was the ability to manifest this blade even in a location where psionic effects do not normally function (such as a null psionics field) through a major effort of will.

If, through discipline and training, soulknives can manifest these psionic weapons within such an inhospitable environment, then it became a test to see what the blades could not penetrate.

The ward cutters are the masters of this path, disciplined and strong of will, and able to force their mind blades through nearly any resistance. Although any soulknife can hold a mindblade in a null psionics field, the ward cutters can penetrate their blades through most force defenses, abjurations and other protective magics and psionics. At their most potent, ward cutters can destroy such spells even as they cut through them.

Most ward cutters take on the role of witch hunters – bounty hunters, assassins and enforcers unafraid to confront even the most potent cerebremancers. A majority of these are specifically trained by groups of such witch hunters, sometimes sponsored by religious orders or the state in order to hunt or slay those psions or spellcasters hostile to the group in question. Others are independent groups of slayers such as the Knives of Milander who operate along the coast of Milander hunting for minions and servants of the Sorcerer King of Ymandragore prowling their fair lands in search of sorcerous childer.

In the times of the Duan’Khat, ward cutters were an invaluable commodity when a Val family took offence at another and a quiet war of assassination would travel the streets of the sacred city until the lord families of the val’Duan came to note the problems.

Hit Die: d8

Requirements
To qualify to become a ward cutter, a character must fulfill the following criteria.
Base Attack Bonus: +5
Base Will Save: +5
Concentration: 10 ranks
Knowledge (psionics): 10 ranks
Feats: Deep Impact, Psionic Weapon
Special: Ability to create a psychic mind blade and the ability to reshape it into other bladed weapons (shape mind blade).

Class Skills
The ward cutter’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Autohypnosis (Wis), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Hide (Dex), Knowledge (pionics) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), and Tumble (Dex). See Core Rulebook 1 for skill descriptions.

Skill Points per Level: 2 + Int modifier

Base Attack Bonus: Medium (Rogue / SoulKnife)
Fort Save: Weak
Ref Save: Weak
Will Save: Strong

Progression
Level 1 - Hold Blade
Level 2 - Track, Psychic Strike +1d8
Level 3 - Power Tracking, Spell Piercer
Level 4 - Improved Mind Blade, Dispelling Blade 1/day
Level 5 - Deflecting Blade, Spell Cutter
Level 6 - Psychic Strike +2d8
Level 7 - Dispelling Blade 2/day
Level 8 - Null Psionics Field
Level 9 - Improved Mind Blade
Level 10 - Psychic Strike +3d8, Spell Breach

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the ward cutter prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Ward cutters gain no additional training in the use of weapons, armor or shields. Note that armor check penalties for armor heavier than leather apply to the skills Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Move Silently, Pick Pocket and Tumble.

Hold Blade (Ex): As long as the ward cutter maintains psionic focus, no roll is required to manifest or maintain a mind blade within a null psionics field or other anti-magic or anti-psi environment that would normally necessitate a Will save to maintain the blade. In addition, the ward cutter gains a bonus on his Will saves to sustain or manifest his mind blade equal to half his ward cutter level, rounded up. Finally, ward cutter levels stack with soulknife levels when determining how many rounds a mind blade can be maintained between Will saves.

Track (Ex): As the ward cutters operate as witch hunters, they gain the Track feat as a bonus feat at level 2.

Psychic Strike (Su): At levels 2, 6 and 10, the ward cutter’s psychic strike ability increases by 1d8 damage. This works identically to the soulknife Psychic Strike ability.

Power Tracking (Su): Beginning at level 3, the ward cutter gains a bonus on survival checks when tracking manifesters and spellcasters. If the tracked target had any spells or psionic powers active at the time when the tracks were made, then the ward cutter gains an insight bonus equal to the total spell levels or power levels of the spells or powers manifested at the time on his survival rolls to track. This bonus cannot exceed the ward cutter’s class level.

Spell Piercer (Ex): Beginning at level 3, when the ward cutter using his mind blade attacks a target that receives an armor, shield or deflection bonus to Armor Class from spells or magic items (not including actual magic armor and shields), he can ignore up to his class level of these combined bonuses for the purpose of his attack rolls. If the ward cutter has psionic focus, the maximum bonus he can pierce in this way is increased by 2. For example, if Jeardall, a level 4 ward cutter was attacking Du’Mahn, a wizard with mage armor (+4 armor bonus), a +2 small wood shield (+3 shield bonus) and a ring of protection +1 (+1 deflection bonus), he would treat Du’Mahn’s armor class as being 4 points lower, effectively cutting through his mage armor. If Jeardall had psionic focus at the time of the attack, he would be able to cut through 6 points of bonus, however Du’Mahn only has 5 points that Jeardaph can pierce with this ability (the bonus from the mage armor and from the ring of protection).

Improved Mind Blade (Su): At levels 4 and 9, the ward cutter’s enhancement on his mind blade increases by +1.

Dispelling Blade (Su): Once per day, the level 4 ward cutter can declare a single melee attack with his mind blade to be a dispelling attack. If the attack hits, then the target is affected as if by a targeted dispel magic / dispel psionics. If the attack misses, the dispelling attempt is wasted for the day. The ward cutter make a dispel check (1d20 + 2 times class level) against the spell or against each ongoing spell currently in effect on the object or creature. The DC for this dispel check is 11 + the spell’s caster level. If the ward cutter succeeds on a particular check, that spell is dispelled; if he fails, that spell remains in effect. If this targets an object or creature that is the effect of an ongoing spell (such as a monster summoned by monster summoning), make a dispel check to end the spell that conjured the object or creature. At level 7, the ward cutter can use this ability twice per day.

Deflecting Blade (Ex): At level 5, the ward cutter’s mind blade can be used to deflect ray spells and powers. Once per round when the ward cutter would normally be hit with a magical or psionic ray, he may deflect it so that the spell fails to strike home and is wasted. The ward cutter must be aware of the attack and not flatfooted. Attempting to deflect a ray doesn’t count as an action. This ability can only be used if the ward cutter has his mind blade manifested.

Spell Cutter (Ex): At level 5, the ward cutter’s Spell Piercer ability is improved. Beginning at this level, any time the ward cutter successfully strikes a target protected by any abjuration spell or any spell or power that provides an armor, shield or deflection bonus to Armor Class or any form of resistance bonus or any form of Damage Reduction, the power of the mind blade may disrupt the spell. The target struck must make a Will save with a DC of (10 + ward cutter class level + Wisdom bonus) for each such spell or power or the spell or power is dispelled by the strike and is lost.

Null Psionics Field (Sp): At level 8, the ward cutter can manifest a null psionics field as per the kineticist power of the same name, with a manifester level equal to the ward cutter’s level. This power can be manifested once per day as a spell-like ability that provokes an attack of opportunity and requires the expenditure of the ward cutter’s psionic focus.

Spell Breach (Ex): At level 10, the ward cutter’s Spell Cutter ability is improved to its utmost. Spells severed by this ability now explode in a shower of magical or psionic energy that deals 1d4 damage per level of the spell or power to the recipient of the spell or power’s protection, and 1d4 damage to the ward cutter.

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This is the most problematic PrC I've designed in some time. Comments are not only welcome, but demanded. Some of the wording can definitely be improved and even balance is kind of 'iffy' on this one. Hey, it's my first try on a SoulKnife PrC.

Oh yeah, the Section 15 on this class includes "Crimson Contracts - The Assassin's Manifesto"