DreamChaser
Explorer
Hey everyone. I came up with this class, clearly inspired by Final Fantasy and using the systems of Magic of Incarnum and Tome of Magic to flesh it out. I'd love some feedback about the abilities, the implementation, the power level, etc.
I'll attach it as an RTF and copy and paste it here as best as I can.
Thanks in advance...
DC
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THE SUMMONER
“Come forth Aeshael, spirit of water, wind, and spear, smite the heretic foes who serve the decaying remnants of those rightly destroyed long ago!”
— Yunalesca, human summoner
calling upon her Bralani esper.
Somewhere between the binder and the incarnate lies the summoner. Where the incarnate shapes Incarnum into divine tools to wield against the forces of disharmony and unmaking and the binder uses the seals of the Elder Gods to draw them from their realm of nonexistence, the summoner draws the ancient servants—or espers—of the Elder Gods into the world, giving them form with the power of Essentia. Each esper has a name and a summoning circle, a geometric form similar to the seal of a vestige. The blend of wisdom and skill with Incarnum required to bond with espers is uncommon and fewer still posses the discipline to maintain their relationships with the espers.
MAKING A SUMMONER
As a beginning summoner, you will be very limited: only a single esper to summon and only a single point of Essentia to invest between summons and you soulspark. Your summons will require nearly all your attention and you will have to watch carefully to make sure your single esper does not fall in battle or that you have not invested your Essentia unwisely. Your soulspark familiar will serve as a critical ally, both a defense and watchful eye. You will not possess the power of legendary summoners to call forth angels, demons, and powerful elementals; though this power will come to you.
As you gain levels, you bond with more espers and you learn to summon other spirits to serve as a mount or imbue you and your allies with greater prowess. Your Essentia pool grows allowing you to bolster your soulspark and your espers. Eventually, you will learn to draw multiple espers to you aid and even gain a few as full time guardians. Summoning will always require great effort and sacrifice but the rewards become greater and greater.
Abilities: Wisdom is the most important ability of the summoner: it represents your understanding of the creatures with whom you bond and your dedication to the ideals that link you with their power; espers care little for pretty words and cannot be coaxed or coerced. Charisma does impact your ability to draw forth boon spirits and thus does carry some import. Your facility with languages is important to your ability to communicate with the creatures you summon: an effective summoner knows the languages of all the creatures with whom she interacts.
Races: …
Alignment: Each summoner falls toward an extreme of order, chaos, virtue, or vice. This polarity is necessary in order to win the trust of the espers and create the bonds that draw them forth. For this reason all summoners must be neutral good, neutral evil, lawful neutral, or chaotic neutral.
Starting Gil: 3d4x10 (75 gil)
Starting Age: As wizard
CLASS FEATURES
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Summoners are proficient with all simple weapons and the whip, a symbolic weapon for them. They are not proficient with any type of armor or shield.
Summoning (Sp): A summoner calls upon spiritual, otherworldly entities—known as espers—creating physical form for them from her personal store of life energy and the surrounding Incarnum. She can summon any esper with whom she has a bond. Summoning requires a full round to complete and includes an incantation and requires displaying the summoning circle of the esper. A summoner must invest one point of Essentia per level of the esper. This Essentia does not count against the summoner’s Essentia Capacity.
The esper appears anywhere within a radius of 30 ft. + 10 ft. per summoner level its summoner chooses and cannot leave that area. If forced beyond that range, the esper is dismissed. An esper remains as long as the summoner wills it, though her actions are limited while she has one summoned. With the single exception of summoning another esper (provided she has additional espers to summon and Essentia to invest), a summoner is limited to a single move action while she has any espers summoned. In addition to move actions available to all characters, a summoner can allocate additional Essentia to her espers as a swift action (see Augmenting espers, below) or direct (including dismissing) any or all of her espers (or her soulspark familiar, see below) as a move action. Espers always act on the summoner’s initiative. Any damage an esper suffers remains throughout the day no matter how often it is summoned and dismissed. If an esper reaches 0 hit points, it is automatically dispelled and cannot be summoned again until it heals. A summoner’s espers heal while she rests, regaining any lost hit points after she rests for 8 hours. The Essentia invested to summon an esper remains invested for as long as the esper is summoned; once dismissed or "destroyed" the invested Essentia returns to the summoner's Essentia Pool.
A summoner’s list of espers is extremely limited. She begins bonded to one 1st-level esper. As she progresses, she bonds with new espers. These espers are chosen from the Summon Monster table of the appropriate level. A summoner can research a rare or previously unknown esper, though this cannot increase the rate at which she is able to bond to new espers. In order to bond with an esper, a summoner must have a Wisdom score equal to at least 10 + the esper’s level.
Upon reaching 5th level, and at every odd-numbered summoner level after that (7th, 9th, and so on), a summoner can choose to bond with a new esper in place of one she has already bonded. In effect, the summoner “loses” the old esper in exchange for the new one. The new esper’s level must be the same as that of the esper being exchanged, and it must be at least two levels lower than the highest-level esper the sorcerer can summon. A summoner may swap only a single esper at any given level, and must choose whether or not to swap the esper at the same time that he bonds new espers for the level.
Aligned Espers: A summoner can only bond to an esper that shares at least one alignment component with her. For example, a lawful neutral summoner can bond a lawful good, lawful neutral or lawful evil esper. Any summoner can bond neutral espers.
Augmenting Espers: A summoner can enhance any esper she has summoned with extra Essentia. Each point of Essentia grants the esper one of the following augmentations:
Celerity–gain a +4 bonus to Dexterity, increasing attacks, armor class, and reflex save bonus, and +10 bonus to all movement speeds.
Ferocity–increase all natural attack damage by one die.
Potency–gain a +4 bonus to Strength and Constitution, increasing attacks, damage, hit points, and Fortitude save bonus.
Resilience–gain DR 2/-.
Soulspark Familiar: A summoner is able to create a companion from pure Incarnum. This is identical to the Soulspark Familiar soulmeld in all but a few ways. First, a summoner need not reshape her soulspark each day; it remains with the summoner unless destroyed. If destroyed, a new soulspark can be created in a process requiring 8 uninterrupted hours. Second, a summoner’s soulspark advances with her level rather than with her ability to bind it to a chakra. Initially, a summoner creates a least soulspark; at fourth, seventh, and 10th levels, her familiar advances to a lesser, standard, and greater soulspark, respectively.
Spirit Boon: In addition to summoning espers, a summoner has the power to draw forth spirits of passion, drive, expertise, or protection to imbue into a creature, including herself, granting an insight bonus to a type of roll: a check with a single skill, an attack with a given weapon, or one type of saving throw. Imbuing a creature requires nothing more than a touch, a short (1 round) supplication, and the investment of Essentia. Any time within the next hour, the creature can call upon the power of that spirit to gain its bonus for one minute. The bonus depends upon the amount of Essentia invested: each point equates to a +2 bonus (i.e. one point of Essentia grants a +2; two points grants a +4 bonus; etc.). Once invested, the Essentia is unavailable until it is used (and the full minute has elapsed) or 1 hour passes. A summoner can use this ability a number of times each day equal to 3 + her Charisma modifier.
Summon Esper Steed (Sp): Beginning at fifth level, you can invest 1 point of Essentia (which does not count against the summoner’s Essential capacity) to summon an esper steed. This is identical to the mount spell except it lasts for as long as the summoner wishes it. Unlike other summons, this esper does not require increased attention and the summoner can act normally while it is summoned. The steed gains additional movement options with the investment of additional Essentia:
1=Ride over sandy, muddy, or even swampy ground without difficulty or decrease in speed.
2=Use water walk at will (as the spell, no action required to activate the ability).
3=Use air walk at will (as the spell, no action required to activate the ability) for up to 1 round at a time, after which time it falls to the ground.
4=Fly at normal speed, average maneuverability.
Divest Essentia (Sp): Once per day, a summoner can direct her lesser soulspark familiar to target a creature with the divest essentia spell as a swift action. A standard soulspark can use this ability twice—and a greater soulspark thrice—per day.
Call Guardian: Upon reaching sixth level, a summoner learns to keep one of her espers with her all day. Each day, she chooses one of her espers to summon in a special ritual requiring 15 minutes. While the esper requires invested Essentia as usual, it does not require concentration to maintain and does not limit the actions the summoner can take. This guardian must be chosen from one of her 1st-level espers.
At 12th level, a summoner can have two guardians. This second guardian can be any chosen from any esper of fourth level or lower to which she is bonded. An 18th-level summoner gains a third guardian, which can be of seventh level or lower.
If a guardian reaches 0 hit points, it is dismissed as usual and cannot be summoned again that day. A summoner can dismiss her guardian as a move action but she cannot replace it until the next day.
Sacrifice: A 10th-level summoner can call one of her espers to sacrifice itself for the good of her party or the bane of her foes. The esper appears and immediately reduces itself to 0 hit points, dissipating in a blast of Incarnum. All creatures within a 15 ft. radius of the esper are affected by its sacrifice. If called to heal, all creatures within the area are cured of 5 points of damage per level of the esper. If called to harm, creatures suffer 1d6 points of damage per level of the esper (Reflex save for half damage). An esper that has taken any damage cannot be called for sacrifice. A summoner can use this ability once per day at 10th level, twice per day at 15th level, and three times per day at 20th level.
Grand Summons: The ultimate power of the summoner is the grand summons. Once per day, she can use a full round call espers up to the limit of her Essentia. Each esper appears fully invested with Essentia, granting which ever augmentations the summoner desires. These espers remain for 1 minute (or until destroyed) before they vanish. Once called as part of a grand summons, an esper cannot be called again that day. A summoners guardians are not affected by the grand summons.
EX-SUMMONERS
A summoner who changes to an alignment incompatible with her espers finds herself cut off from their power. She looses her summoning abilities, including her soulspark, and cannot gain any summoner levels until she regains an appropriate alignment and makes peace with each of her espers.
I'll attach it as an RTF and copy and paste it here as best as I can.
Thanks in advance...
DC
-------------------------------------------------------
THE SUMMONER
“Come forth Aeshael, spirit of water, wind, and spear, smite the heretic foes who serve the decaying remnants of those rightly destroyed long ago!”
— Yunalesca, human summoner
calling upon her Bralani esper.
Somewhere between the binder and the incarnate lies the summoner. Where the incarnate shapes Incarnum into divine tools to wield against the forces of disharmony and unmaking and the binder uses the seals of the Elder Gods to draw them from their realm of nonexistence, the summoner draws the ancient servants—or espers—of the Elder Gods into the world, giving them form with the power of Essentia. Each esper has a name and a summoning circle, a geometric form similar to the seal of a vestige. The blend of wisdom and skill with Incarnum required to bond with espers is uncommon and fewer still posses the discipline to maintain their relationships with the espers.
MAKING A SUMMONER
As a beginning summoner, you will be very limited: only a single esper to summon and only a single point of Essentia to invest between summons and you soulspark. Your summons will require nearly all your attention and you will have to watch carefully to make sure your single esper does not fall in battle or that you have not invested your Essentia unwisely. Your soulspark familiar will serve as a critical ally, both a defense and watchful eye. You will not possess the power of legendary summoners to call forth angels, demons, and powerful elementals; though this power will come to you.
As you gain levels, you bond with more espers and you learn to summon other spirits to serve as a mount or imbue you and your allies with greater prowess. Your Essentia pool grows allowing you to bolster your soulspark and your espers. Eventually, you will learn to draw multiple espers to you aid and even gain a few as full time guardians. Summoning will always require great effort and sacrifice but the rewards become greater and greater.
Abilities: Wisdom is the most important ability of the summoner: it represents your understanding of the creatures with whom you bond and your dedication to the ideals that link you with their power; espers care little for pretty words and cannot be coaxed or coerced. Charisma does impact your ability to draw forth boon spirits and thus does carry some import. Your facility with languages is important to your ability to communicate with the creatures you summon: an effective summoner knows the languages of all the creatures with whom she interacts.
Races: …
Alignment: Each summoner falls toward an extreme of order, chaos, virtue, or vice. This polarity is necessary in order to win the trust of the espers and create the bonds that draw them forth. For this reason all summoners must be neutral good, neutral evil, lawful neutral, or chaotic neutral.
Starting Gil: 3d4x10 (75 gil)
Starting Age: As wizard
CLASS FEATURES
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Summoners are proficient with all simple weapons and the whip, a symbolic weapon for them. They are not proficient with any type of armor or shield.
Summoning (Sp): A summoner calls upon spiritual, otherworldly entities—known as espers—creating physical form for them from her personal store of life energy and the surrounding Incarnum. She can summon any esper with whom she has a bond. Summoning requires a full round to complete and includes an incantation and requires displaying the summoning circle of the esper. A summoner must invest one point of Essentia per level of the esper. This Essentia does not count against the summoner’s Essentia Capacity.
The esper appears anywhere within a radius of 30 ft. + 10 ft. per summoner level its summoner chooses and cannot leave that area. If forced beyond that range, the esper is dismissed. An esper remains as long as the summoner wills it, though her actions are limited while she has one summoned. With the single exception of summoning another esper (provided she has additional espers to summon and Essentia to invest), a summoner is limited to a single move action while she has any espers summoned. In addition to move actions available to all characters, a summoner can allocate additional Essentia to her espers as a swift action (see Augmenting espers, below) or direct (including dismissing) any or all of her espers (or her soulspark familiar, see below) as a move action. Espers always act on the summoner’s initiative. Any damage an esper suffers remains throughout the day no matter how often it is summoned and dismissed. If an esper reaches 0 hit points, it is automatically dispelled and cannot be summoned again until it heals. A summoner’s espers heal while she rests, regaining any lost hit points after she rests for 8 hours. The Essentia invested to summon an esper remains invested for as long as the esper is summoned; once dismissed or "destroyed" the invested Essentia returns to the summoner's Essentia Pool.
A summoner’s list of espers is extremely limited. She begins bonded to one 1st-level esper. As she progresses, she bonds with new espers. These espers are chosen from the Summon Monster table of the appropriate level. A summoner can research a rare or previously unknown esper, though this cannot increase the rate at which she is able to bond to new espers. In order to bond with an esper, a summoner must have a Wisdom score equal to at least 10 + the esper’s level.
Upon reaching 5th level, and at every odd-numbered summoner level after that (7th, 9th, and so on), a summoner can choose to bond with a new esper in place of one she has already bonded. In effect, the summoner “loses” the old esper in exchange for the new one. The new esper’s level must be the same as that of the esper being exchanged, and it must be at least two levels lower than the highest-level esper the sorcerer can summon. A summoner may swap only a single esper at any given level, and must choose whether or not to swap the esper at the same time that he bonds new espers for the level.
Aligned Espers: A summoner can only bond to an esper that shares at least one alignment component with her. For example, a lawful neutral summoner can bond a lawful good, lawful neutral or lawful evil esper. Any summoner can bond neutral espers.
Augmenting Espers: A summoner can enhance any esper she has summoned with extra Essentia. Each point of Essentia grants the esper one of the following augmentations:
Celerity–gain a +4 bonus to Dexterity, increasing attacks, armor class, and reflex save bonus, and +10 bonus to all movement speeds.
Ferocity–increase all natural attack damage by one die.
Potency–gain a +4 bonus to Strength and Constitution, increasing attacks, damage, hit points, and Fortitude save bonus.
Resilience–gain DR 2/-.
Soulspark Familiar: A summoner is able to create a companion from pure Incarnum. This is identical to the Soulspark Familiar soulmeld in all but a few ways. First, a summoner need not reshape her soulspark each day; it remains with the summoner unless destroyed. If destroyed, a new soulspark can be created in a process requiring 8 uninterrupted hours. Second, a summoner’s soulspark advances with her level rather than with her ability to bind it to a chakra. Initially, a summoner creates a least soulspark; at fourth, seventh, and 10th levels, her familiar advances to a lesser, standard, and greater soulspark, respectively.
Spirit Boon: In addition to summoning espers, a summoner has the power to draw forth spirits of passion, drive, expertise, or protection to imbue into a creature, including herself, granting an insight bonus to a type of roll: a check with a single skill, an attack with a given weapon, or one type of saving throw. Imbuing a creature requires nothing more than a touch, a short (1 round) supplication, and the investment of Essentia. Any time within the next hour, the creature can call upon the power of that spirit to gain its bonus for one minute. The bonus depends upon the amount of Essentia invested: each point equates to a +2 bonus (i.e. one point of Essentia grants a +2; two points grants a +4 bonus; etc.). Once invested, the Essentia is unavailable until it is used (and the full minute has elapsed) or 1 hour passes. A summoner can use this ability a number of times each day equal to 3 + her Charisma modifier.
Summon Esper Steed (Sp): Beginning at fifth level, you can invest 1 point of Essentia (which does not count against the summoner’s Essential capacity) to summon an esper steed. This is identical to the mount spell except it lasts for as long as the summoner wishes it. Unlike other summons, this esper does not require increased attention and the summoner can act normally while it is summoned. The steed gains additional movement options with the investment of additional Essentia:
1=Ride over sandy, muddy, or even swampy ground without difficulty or decrease in speed.
2=Use water walk at will (as the spell, no action required to activate the ability).
3=Use air walk at will (as the spell, no action required to activate the ability) for up to 1 round at a time, after which time it falls to the ground.
4=Fly at normal speed, average maneuverability.
Divest Essentia (Sp): Once per day, a summoner can direct her lesser soulspark familiar to target a creature with the divest essentia spell as a swift action. A standard soulspark can use this ability twice—and a greater soulspark thrice—per day.
Call Guardian: Upon reaching sixth level, a summoner learns to keep one of her espers with her all day. Each day, she chooses one of her espers to summon in a special ritual requiring 15 minutes. While the esper requires invested Essentia as usual, it does not require concentration to maintain and does not limit the actions the summoner can take. This guardian must be chosen from one of her 1st-level espers.
At 12th level, a summoner can have two guardians. This second guardian can be any chosen from any esper of fourth level or lower to which she is bonded. An 18th-level summoner gains a third guardian, which can be of seventh level or lower.
If a guardian reaches 0 hit points, it is dismissed as usual and cannot be summoned again that day. A summoner can dismiss her guardian as a move action but she cannot replace it until the next day.
Sacrifice: A 10th-level summoner can call one of her espers to sacrifice itself for the good of her party or the bane of her foes. The esper appears and immediately reduces itself to 0 hit points, dissipating in a blast of Incarnum. All creatures within a 15 ft. radius of the esper are affected by its sacrifice. If called to heal, all creatures within the area are cured of 5 points of damage per level of the esper. If called to harm, creatures suffer 1d6 points of damage per level of the esper (Reflex save for half damage). An esper that has taken any damage cannot be called for sacrifice. A summoner can use this ability once per day at 10th level, twice per day at 15th level, and three times per day at 20th level.
Grand Summons: The ultimate power of the summoner is the grand summons. Once per day, she can use a full round call espers up to the limit of her Essentia. Each esper appears fully invested with Essentia, granting which ever augmentations the summoner desires. These espers remain for 1 minute (or until destroyed) before they vanish. Once called as part of a grand summons, an esper cannot be called again that day. A summoners guardians are not affected by the grand summons.
EX-SUMMONERS
A summoner who changes to an alignment incompatible with her espers finds herself cut off from their power. She looses her summoning abilities, including her soulspark, and cannot gain any summoner levels until she regains an appropriate alignment and makes peace with each of her espers.
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