New Base Class: The Divine Channeler

Bran Eaglecleft

First Post
Any comments, critiques, questions, or insults are appreciated...

(Well, maybe not so much the insults... :D)

In the world, there are those who seem to be touched by the gods. Channelers truly are. These characters have the essence of godhood running through their veins. They can channel that power to perform a multitude of deeds. Good channelers channel positive energy, Evil channelers channel negative energy, and Neutral channelers channel either positive or negative energy, but not both.

Adventurers: Much like clerics, channelers adventure to supp
ort their deity. Good channelers travel the width and breadth of the land helping the helpless, protecting the weak, and avenging the wronged. Evil channelers spread fear, death, and pestilence wherever they roam.

Characteristics: Channelers are known throughout the world as being "touched by the gods." They have many of the abilities of clerics, although on a lesser level. They specialize as warriors against undead.

Alignment: Channelers can be of any alignment. They must share the same moral code (i.e. Good/Evil) as their patron deity.

Religion: Most channelers worship deities that count undead as enemies or allies of the faith. Deities that don't care one way or the other about undead rarely count channelers in their clergy.

Background: Channelers are typically faithful worshippers who have caught the personal attention of a deity. Many were raised to be clerics, but their deity had other plans for them.

Races: Channelers are rare in most races. Typically, races that have a strong affinity to nature or a deep hatred of (or strong affinity with) the undead have more channelers. Elves, gnomes, and orcs are more often channelers than most races.

Other Classes: Channelers typically get along with most other classes. Clerics realize that channelers are strong in faith, but many have a deep-seated jealousy against them. As with clerics, it is typically religion that determines the characters relationship with other classes.

GAME RULE INFORMATION
Channelers have the following game statistics.
Abilities: A channeler gets bonus spells based on Wisdom. Charisma determines how hard a channeler's spells are to resist. The DC of a saving throw against a channeler's spell is 10 + the spell?s level + the channeler's Charisma modifier.
Alignment: Any.
Hit Die: d8
Skill Selection: (2 + Intelligence modifier) x 4
Skill Progression: 2 + Intelligence modifier per level
Starting Wealth: 3d6 x 10 gp
Class Skills
The channeler's class skills (and the key abilities for each skill) are as follows.
¨ Concentration {Con}
¨ Craft (Int)
¨ Diplomacy {Cha}
¨ Gather Information {Cha}
¨ Innuendo {Wis}
¨ Knowledge (Religion) {Int}
¨ Perform {Cha}
¨ Sense Motive {Wis}
¨ Spellcraft {Int}
See Chapter 4: Skills for skill descriptions.
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the channeler.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Channelers are proficient with all simple and martial weapons and light armor.

Spells: A channeler casts divine spells, the same type of spells available to clerics. A channeler's selection of spells is extremely limited. Your channeler begins play knowing 4 0-level spells (also called orisons), 1 1st-level spell, and 1 domain spell. At each level, the channeler gains one or more new spells, as indicated by Table 2: Channeler Spells Known. The number of spells a channeler knows is not affected by his Charisma bonus. The spells a channeler knows must be common spells chosen from the cleric spell list.
A channeler may use a higher-level slot to cast a lower-level spell if he so chooses. The spell is still treated as its actual level, not the level of the slot used to cast it.
To learn or cast a spell, a channeler must have a Wisdom score of at least 10 + the spell's level.

Divine Health: Due to the divine "spark" within a channeler, they are immune to all diseases as a paladin (PHB page 42.)

Domain Gift: A channeler chooses 1 domain as a cleric. The channeler then receives the domain spells as spells known and the granted power.

Turn/Rebuke Undead: When a channeler reaches 3rd level, he gains the ability to Turn (good or neutral) or Rebuke (evil or neutral) Undead. He may use this ability a number of times per day equal to three plus his Charisma modifier. He turns/rebukes undead as a cleric of two levels lower would. (See Turn and Rebuke Undead, PHB page 139.)

Extra Turning: As a feat, a channeler may take Extra Turning. This feat allows the channeler to turn undead four more times per day than normal. A channeler can take this feat multiple times, gaining four extra daily turning attempts each time.

Ghost Touch: At 6th level, a channeler can burn one use of his Turn Undead ability to give him the ability to affect insubstantial beings as if he was using a Ghost Touch weapon (DMG page 186) for 10 rounds (1 minute.) This ability causes a colored aura to form around the channeler's hand (or weapon.) This is a supernatural ability.

Disruption: At 9th level, a good (or neutral) channeler gains the ability to use the disruption ability as a touch attack. The channeler must burn one use of his Turn Undead ability. The Disruption Touch lasts until a successful touch attack is made or for 10 rounds (1 minute.) The touched undead must then make a Fortitude save at a DC of 10 + ½ channeler level + channeler's Charisma modifier or be destroyed. This is a supernatural ability.

Paralysis: At 9th level, an evil (or neutral) channeler gains the ability to use the paralysis ability as a touch attack. The channeler must burn one use of his Turn Undead ability. The Paralysis Touch lasts until a successful touch attack is made or for 10 rounds (1 minute.) The touched creature must then make a Fortitude save at a DC of 10 + ½ channeler level + channeler's Charisma modifier or be affected as if by a Hold spell for 1 round per 2 channeler levels. This is a supernatural ability.

Damage Reduction: Starting at 11th level, the channeler learns to constantly channel divine energy to deflect a small amount of injury from each blow or attack. Subtract 1 from the damage the channeler takes each time the channeler is dealt damage. At 14th level, this damage reduction rises to 2. At 17th, it rises to 3. At 20th, it rises to 4. Damage reduction can reduce damage to 0 but not below 0. This is a supernatural ability.

Code:
Table 1:  The Channeler 
Level	BAB	    Fort	Refl	Will	Special                 	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
1	+0	      +0	+0	+2	Divine Health, Domain Gift	5	3	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
2	+1	      +0	+0	+3	                        	6	4	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
3	+2	      +1	+1	+3	Turn/Rebuke Undead	       6	5	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
4	+3	      +1	+1	+4 	        	               6	6	3	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
5	+3	      +1	+1	+4	        	               6	6	4	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
6	+4	      +2	+2	+5	Ghost Touch	               6	6	5	3	--	--	--	--	--	--
7	+5	      +2	+2	+5	        	               6	6	6	4	--	--	--	--	--	--
8	+6/+1	      +2	+2	+6	        	               6	6	6	5	3	--	--	--	--	--
9	+6/+1	      +3	+3	+6	Disruption/Paralysis Touch	6	6	6	6	4	--	--	--	--	--
10	+7/+2	      +3	+3	+7		                       6	6	6	6	5	3	--	--	--	--
11	+8/+3	      +3	+3	+7	Damage Reduction 1/--	       6	6	6	6	6	4	--	--	--	--
12	+9/+4	      +4	+4	+8	                	       6	6	6	6	6	5	3	--	--	--
13	+9/+4	      +4	+4	+8	          	               6	6	6	6	6	6	4	--	--	--
14	+10/+5	      +4	+4	+9	Damage Reduction 2/--	       6	6	6	6	6	6	5	3	--	--
15	+11/+6/+1	+5	+5	+9	                	       6	6	6	6	6	6	6	4	--	--
16	+12/+7/+2	+5	+5	+10	                	       6	6	6	6	6	6	6	5	3	--
17	+12/+7/+2	+5	+5	+10	Damage Reduction 3/--	       6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	4	--
18	+13/+8/+3	+6	+6	+11	                	       6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	5	3
19	+14/+9/+4	+6	+6	+11      		               6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	4
20	+15/+10/+5	+6	+6	+12	Damage Reduction 4/--	       6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6
 


Table 2:  Channeler Spells Known
Level	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
1	4	1+1	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
2	5	1+1	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
3	5	2+1	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
4	6	2+1	0+1	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
5	6	3+1	1+1	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
6	7	3+1	1+1	0+1	--	--	--	--	--	--
7	7	4+1	2+1	1+1	--	--	--	--	--	--
8	8	4+1	2+1	1+1	0+1	--	--	--	--	--
9	8	4+1	3+1	2+1	1+1	--	--	--	--	--
10	9	4+1	3+1	2+1	1+1	0+1	--	--	--	--
11	9	4+1	4+1	3+1	2+1	1+1	--	--	--	--
12	9	4+1	4+1	3+1	2+1	1+1	0+1	--	--	--
13	9	4+1	4+1	3+1	3+1	2+1	1+1	--	--	--
14	9	4+1	4+1	3+1	3+1	2+1	1+1	0+1	--	--
15	9	4+1	4+1	3+1	3+1	3+1	2+1	1+1	--	--
16	9	4+1	4+1	3+1	3+1	3+1	2+1	1+1	0+1	--
17	9	4+1	4+1	3+1	3+1	3+1	3+1	2+1	1+1	--
18	9	4+1	4+1	3+1	3+1	3+1	3+1	2+1	1+1	0+1
19	9	4+1	4+1	3+1	3+1	3+1	3+1	2+1	2+1	1+1
20	9	4+1	4+1	3+1	3+1	3+1	3+1	2+1	2+1	2+1

Sorry about the less-than-perfect formatting...it's the best I could get it to line up...
:p
 
Last edited:

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Great Minds?

Have you been looking in my notebook? This is a concept I've been knocking around for a while, same name, same exact idea, very very similar rules... Trying to replace or at least break up the cleric, too? I was working to get them so Clerics were Templars, divine warriors, and channelers were healers, drawing more on the raw energy of the inner planes... (the cannon cleric does both, in my opinion)

Though, I had been trying to expand it to include the possibility of drawing on elemental powers, thus making them rely on all the inner plans in the default cosmology. To that end I wanted to drop the HD to a d6 and customize the spell-list to include some nice boom-stick style spells, but I never did finished it, there was too much added complexity...

But I digress. Your channler:
Suggestions
Scry should be a class skill, since the spell is on their list.

Maybe evil channelers could still be carriers for disease, even though they're immune? Strikes me a good flavor and quite nasty... Also, just a preference, I'd switch Turn / Rebuke to 1st and divine health to 3rd level. Makes more sense that way to me, though if you feel it's important that no channeler ever suffers disease that's okay, too. And does the ability work against magical diseases? I'd think that's a bit much at 1st or even 3rd to 5th level. If you wanted to improve it so it does around 10th or so that works better for balance...

The positive / negative special abilities are okay, but a bit rigid. Do you have Defenders of the faith? There's a line of feats, Divine Feats, that let you use your channeled energy from turn / rebuke undead in new ways. They're not really that hard to come up with, anyway, even if you don't have the book. (If you don't have DotF I can post a few divine feats I came up with to help you get started...) I'd give them bonus feats every few levels to be selected from Extra Turning and Divine Feats… Really convert Disruption and Paralysis to Feats, requiring 15+ Cha and base things a little more off of Cha bonus and less on fixed numbers (lasts a number of rounds equal to your Cha bonus vs. a set 10 rounds) and you've got two, already.

Overall Balance
As it stands now, the spells & weapons & hit die & special abilities are too much, by far. The spells become abusive because of that single domain: domains are balanced with the idea that the cleric can only cast 1 domain spell per level per day. Most domain spells are too good if you can use them as much as you want, in addition to the d8 HD, the martial weapon proficiency, the fact that since they're divine spells one level of fighter gives you full plate, a tower shield and 0% spell failure... well... I like it a lot, but any min/maxer worth their dice would go to town with it, it's far to easy to take this class as it stands and make a real monster. The cleric is already the most powerful class in the PH, for the most part. (note I didn't say they're unbalanced / broken I'm of the school of thought that they're not too powerful, just that they're generally the most powerful…), and taking it as a baseline to build a new class can really give you an inflated power base…

Splitting the primary spell-casting ability into two restricts them a little, but only a little... and it doesn't make much sense. The wisdom is kinda tacked on, there's no benefit, just the drawback. I'd give bonus spells / day based on Wis & base the save DCs on Cha, and require a Cha of 10+L to cast a spell of level L, and a Wis of 10+L to learn a spell of level L. You could use spells you know but can't cast to make items / craft scrolls / wands / staves (though you can't use the scrolls / wands / staves without an appropriate charisma score) and use spells you can cast but don't know for meta-magic. That or just make spell-casting Wis based and all the special positive / negative abilities Cha based.

The d8 HD is too much, primarily because you also have access to powerful arcane spells on your known list from your domain, and can cast them as much as you want (look at travel, trickery and cold - very powerful arcane stuff at all levels). The d6 would be better. I'd also maybe say all simple weapons and leave it at that, Elves and those with the War domain still can use martial weapons just fine, and you could always take a feat or multi-class.

The DR dosn't make much sense (there's no flavor text explaining it or abilities before it that are similar), steps a bit on the barbarians toes and further gives a already all to powerful Spellcaster / Fighter even more fighting power.

So all in all, I'd reduce the power level a bit so they can't go into a melee quite as well, mostly because of that pesky domain spells known list…
 

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