Shivrelen [D&D 3.5 Prestige Class]

Avoraciopoctules · Post by **Avoraciopoctules** » Sat Dec 12, 2009 1:16 am

I'm planning on using a custom prestige class for some characters in a module I'm working on. It's a Tome game intended for PCs of levels 6-8, with potential NPC antagonists ranging in power from level 3 Warriors to a few level 8 PC-class characters, a fairly young White Dragon, and an Ice Devil with a couple levels of Conduit. The Ice Devil represents the absolute nastiest thing the PCs could end up fighting, as it is the god of the area (using a hard level cap of 10 for PCs and ditching XP. Gods are much weaker and I'm using Beyond Countless Doorways for the basis of my planar cosmology).

This 1st draft feels more or less finished, but I haven't put in a table with the abilities and fleshed out all the miscellany yet. The abilities are my main concern, as someone throwing down a bunch of Ice and Sleet Storm effects could easily end up really powerful. Thoughts?

Shivrelen

Some warriors have learned to tap the power of ice-aligned mana nodes. This lets them turn ice into a magically enhanced material suitable for making weapons and armor and call localized but intense surges of arctic weather out of thin air. Some even become so infused with ice magic that they transform into semi-immortal dudes who can bring the frigid environment of their homes with them wherever they travel.

Becoming a Shivrelen:

Base Attack Bonus: +4
Skills: Survival 2 ranks
Saves: Fortitude +3
Special: Must have survived near a power site at least vaguely tied to cold for at least a month OR gotten a blessing from someone in control of one.

BAB: Medium
Skill Points: 4 + Int Mod

Fort: Good
Ref: Medium
Will: Medium

1: Arctic Stormcaller (Ice Storm), Cold Resistance, Frigid Celerity, Frostsmith
2: Arctic Stormcaller (Sleet Storm), Icerazor
3: Trail of Ice, Walker in the Frostfell
4: Arctic Stormcaller (Control Weather (but only to make the weather colder or more “arctic”)), Glacial Crash

Table: The Shivrelen --------------- Hit Die: d10

Weapon and Armor Proficiencies:

Arctic Stormcaller (Su): The Shivrelen gains several Spell-like Abilities which can be used at will, but at most once every 3 rounds. The save DCs for these are equal to 10 + ½ HD + Wisdom bonus, and the Caster Level is equal to the Shivrelen's Character level. The casting time for these SLAs are normal for the spells.

Cold Resistance (Ex): The Shivrelen gets Cold Resistance equal to her Character Level. The Shivrelen may also stack any sources of Cold or Fire Resistance she receives.

Frigid Celerity While wearing light or no armor, the Shivrelen gains a +20 feet enhancement bonus to speed. When wearing heavier armor, this is reduced to a +10 feet enhancement bonus. This bonus only applies when the Shivrelen is at least adjacent to some kind of ice. The skill check penalties of the Rime Hauberk and Ice Aegis are reduced by 2 for the Shivrelen.

Frostsmith (Ex): The Shivrelen can create a Rime Hauberk or Ice Aegis with no more than an hour of work and access to at least a few dozen pounds of ice. She can also use ice as a material for normal Craft Checks in place of wood, stone, or steel. Crafting with ice takes half the time, but the hardness of these items does not apply against Fire damage, and the items take a point of damage per minute if in an environment hot enough for normal ice to melt.

Icerazor (Su): At second level the Shivrelen may channel magical cold through a weapon made with Frostsmith. When using such a weapon, she adds 1d6 times her Shivrelen level in Cold damage. Alternatively, she may swing the weapon as an Attack Action and release just the Cold damage as a ray that travels out to Short range. Frostrazor's Cold damage may be applied to this, and a weapon is no longer required for the ray attack.

Trail of Rime (Su): Once every 5 rounds, the Shivrelen may spend a Swift Action to gain a +20 feet bullshit bonus to speed and leave a Wall of Ice filling the space she walks through. The wall does not need to be straight. This ability lasts for one round, but the ice remains in place for 1 minute per level.

The Shivrelen may also elect to channel ice magic through her body passively, freezing the ground she moves across. This means that Frigid Celerity can always be active, and also allows her to run across liquids or oozes without falling in. It also allows the Shivrelen to deal 1d4+Wis Bonus Cold damage with a touch attack if she so desires.

Walker in the Frostfell (Ex): The Shivrelen is strongly attuned to ice and cold, and gains a number of benefits. First, the Shivrelen gets the [Cold] and [Augmented] subtypes, and no longer ages. Second, the Shivrelen may move across snow and ice very easily. In such conditions, the Shivrelen has a Climb speed equal to her normal speed and may ignore penalties from rough terrain. Trail of Rime allows this to apply all the time when it is passively active. The Shivrelen may also burrow through normal ice and snow at half her normal speed, and it is up to her whether she leaves an opening in the ice behind her. 3rd, the Shivrelen is not impeded by weather like snow or sleet, and may see through these effects without difficulty. Finally, if whatever remains of her body after death is frozen in a block of ice at least big enough to fill her space, the Shivrelen comes back to life after a day.

Glacial Crash (Su): Once every 5 rounds, the Shivrelen may spend a full round action to magically cause jagged shards of ice to materialize out of the air and bombard her foes. She designates one 10-foot square per level. Everything in these takes 1d8 damage (Half is cold, the other is untyped physical) per level of the Shivrelen (Reflex save for half) and is filled with an effect that functions like Spike Stones, but is immediately obvious and deals 1d8 cold damage to everyone who spends a round in it.

Orion · Post by **Orion** » Sat Dec 12, 2009 1:36 am

Trail of Rime should specify that Frostrazor damage applies, as currently it doesn't.

Ice Storm doesn't scale... this is probably okay as it won't degrade into total uselessness until the end of your proposed leveling, but it's a little weird.

Avoraciopoctules · Post by **Avoraciopoctules** » Sat Dec 12, 2009 2:01 am

What if I changed Trail of Rime to this?

Trail of Rime (Su): Once every 5 rounds, the Shivrelen may spend a Swift Action to gain a +20 feet bullshit bonus to speed and leave a Wall of Ice filling the space she walks through. The wall does not need to be straight. This ability lasts for one round, but the ice remains in place for 1 minute per level.

The Shivrelen may also elect to channel ice magic through her body passively, freezing the ground she moves across. This means that Frigid Celerity can always be active, and also allows her to run across liquids or oozes without falling in. It also allows the Shivrelen to deal 1d4+Wis Bonus Cold damage with a touch attack if she so desires. Frostrazor's Cold damage may be applied to this, and a weapon is no longer required for the ray attack.

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Ice Storm is more for slowing people down and doing damage from far away. If I upped the power, I am concerned that it would overshadow the other abilities.

Orion · Post by **Orion** » Sat Dec 12, 2009 2:21 am

Looks fine to me.

Avoraciopoctules · Post by **Avoraciopoctules** » Sat Dec 12, 2009 2:41 am

Line added. If I'm not too lazy, I'll have the table up in a day or so at most.

EDIT


Level:	BAB	Fortitude	Reflex	Will	Abilities:
1:	+1	+2	+1	+1	Arctic Stormcaller (Ice Storm), Cold Resistance, Frigid Celerity, Frostsmith
2:	+2				Arctic Stormcaller (Sleet Storm), Icerazor
3:	+3				Trail of Ice, Walker in the Frostfell
4:	+4				Arctic Stormcaller (Control Weather (but only to make the weather colder or more “arctic”)), Glacial Crash