Squaring the Circle

Squaring the Circle

Sunday, March 29, 2015

Temple of Elemental Evil: ECL 6 : Derek The Bloody lesser ooze, genasi: fighter 1 / warblade 5 : Journal entry 5

     My birthday is a month from today. I can't believe that it has been four years since I've seen my parents; I wonder if they ever looked for me. Or if the guards looked for me so that I can explain that I didn't kill those nobles. I don't even know what the outcome of that was. All I know is that there was a lot of blood and dead bodies. The blood covered the walls, the floor, and the front door. I had to leave town, I had to, or else I would of been tried and killed. Because nobles always get away with everything because they have money. More money equals more power with getting away with stuff.
     No one saw me leave town, or at least I think so. I hope not....

                                                  Sincerely, Derek The Bloody

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Temple of Elemental Evil: ECL 6 : Derek The Bloody lesser ooze, genasi: fighter 1 / warblade 5 : Journal entry 4

I can't believe that I was a statue, solid stone, that's what Handlin says at least. He said that one of those dragon chickens turn me into a statue and that he had to spend money on a scroll just to turn me back to normal. I don't think it actually happened, I think he just wanted to take my cut of the loot. I don't trust him but yet I do. I kind of have to trust him because if I didn't he'd probably just kill me. I don't know  maybe I'm just going crazy, maybe.

              Sincerely, Derek the Bloody

Saturday, March 14, 2015

Temple of Elemental Evil: ECL 4 : Derek The Bloody lesser genasi ooze fighter 1 / warblade 3 : Journal entry 3

Man, my head is killing me, I think that dragon did some real bad damage to me. We found a lower place in the moat-house and killed some "evil" person. I don't see a point in calling people evil or good, there's no point to it. The fact that the world can't get along with each other is a mystery to me. Anyway, we have some money now so I think we are going to go buy some stuff in Verbobonc.
I will have someone write this for me, sense I was never taught how to read or write. I hear it's quite fun to read.
                                                            (This guys is a totally idiot.)

                                                     Sincerely,
                                                             Derek the Bloody

darkshelm ecl 4

Now that my friends brains aren't leaking out of his skull, we got back to business. seems we stumbled upon a lair of evil. we were not able to push in deep enough to discover what was hidden deep within. in desperate need of supplies we went back to verb to stock up Homlette is to small of a town to provide the tools and aid we need, but now freshly resupplied we go back to explore the unknown

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

DM Entry: Magnus Arcana (beta 2)

The Magnus Arcana has been updated, as follows:

Spell Compendium, completed
Stormwrack, completed
Stronghold Builder's Guidebook, completed
Tome of Battle, no spells
Tome of Magic, completed
Unearthed Arcana, completed
Weapons of Legacy, completed
Sage Advice & Ask Wizards, completed
List of Obsolete Spell Names, completed

The updated document has been added to the google drive, look for Aryathan Jiil Magnus Arcana.

There's still plenty of things to add, and I may begin with Dragon and Dungeon Magazines next, followed by web articles.

Saturday, March 7, 2015

journal 1 hanalin dragonfire adept 4 ecl 4

We traveled to a moathouse today, I was expecting zombies or some other ghastly creatures of the night.but instead we found a servent of the wicked one Tiamat!!!
My comrads and I fought fearlessly, well except for the young apprentice I hired, he fled and passed out. ....funny as that was one of use has fallen, he took a blow to the head and went limp I fear his brains may be scrambled. ....I hope the healers can fix him, I hope my new apprentice doesnt quit..evil dragons are a foot. there is no way to turn back now

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

DM Entry: New Grapple Options

The following material has been added to the Aryathan Jiil Campaign Setting.pdf and uploaded to the google drive.

Grappling

In addition to the options you have during a grapple, you also have the following options.

Use a Spell-like Ability

You can attempt to use a spell-like ability while grappling or pinned, provided it has no somatic component, and you have in hand any material components or focuses you might need. Any spell-like ability that requires precise and careful action is impossible to use while grappling or pinned. If the spell-like ability is one that you can use while grappling, you must succeed on a Concentration check (DC 20 + equivalent spell level) or lose the spell-like ability. You don’t have to make a grapple check to use the spell-like ability.

Special Note: Some classes that gain the use of spell-like abilities behave as follows in a grapple.

Holy Warrior: Under “Domain Spell-like Abilities” in the Holy Warrior class description in the Aryathan Jiil  Classes and Prestige Classes book, it says that “…domain spell-like abilities do require appropriate material, focus, divine focus, and xp components, although none of them require verbal or somatic  components…” so a holy warrior must first Retrieve a Spell Component (If any) as a full-round action, then on your next grapple action succeed on a Concentration check DC 20 + equivalent spell level.

Truenamer: Under the header “Speaking an Utterance” on page 232 of Tome of Magic, it says that “Utterances are spell-like abilities with verbal components…” so a truenamer can use utterances in a grapple by succeeding on a Concentration check DC 20 + spell level.

Warlock: Under the header “Weapon and Armor Proficiency” on page 7 of Complete Arcane, it says that “…all invocations, including eldritch blast, have a somatic component…” so a warlock cannot use eldritch blast or any invocation while grappled.

Use a Supernatural Ability


You can attempt to use a supernatural ability while grappling or pinned. You must succeed on a Concentration check (DC 20) or lose the supernatural ability. You don’t have to make a grapple check to use the supernatural ability. A common supernatural ability is the breath weapon, which you can gain from the dragonfire adept class, the dragonborn of Bahamut race template, or other places.

Monday, March 2, 2015

Temple of Elemental Evil: ECL 4 : Derek The Bloody lesser planetouched genasi ooze fighter 1 / warblade 3 : Bio

     Born of Tarack the Green and Sarah the Yellow, was Derek the Red. He grew up learning to fight like a soldier. He got the nickname Derek The Bloody because his red skin got sunburned one day and made it a deep blood-like red. The skin color went back to normal but the name stuck.
     He joined the city guards at the age of 16. On his first day a fight broke out with a huge dire bear. The bear was imported for the guards as the local guard animal, but as soon as it was let out of the cage it started killing people. Derek picked up a shield and a sword, and stood up vs. the bear. The bear roared and charged him, but Derek step out of the way swinging his sword at the bears front leg. The sword cut through but stuck in the bear bone. Derek picked up another sword as the bear turned around and charged again.  This time he got hit, the bear started clawing his face. Derek stabbed the bear through the chest piecing an artery.  The bear roared one last time and fell on top of him. The town thought he was a hero, but some of the noble people thought he was a cold-blooded murderer. A couple days later he was told that one of the mayor's friends need him to be a bodyguard for him. So he went over to his house, expecting to meet this fellow. But instead he was jumped by a group of nobles. They got on top if him and started beating him to death. He pulled out his sword and killed all seven of them. "Oh no. No one will ever believe that I was jumped." Derek thought. He grabbed his sword and placed it one if the other nobles hands making it look like they killed each other. He ran to his parents house and grabbed his stuff from and went running out of town. He left them a note apologizing for leaving.
     He went to a town called Verbobonc. He lived there for three years. During those three years he learned the way of the warblade, he studied how to be a warblade for the entire three years. He never heard back from his parents or about the murders.

Temple of Elemental Evil : ECL 4: Derek The Bloody lesser planetouched genasi ooze fighter 1/warblade 3:journal entry 2

     I have never drank alcohol until last night. I woke up with a banging headache. My friends call it a hangover. Whatever it is I don't like it, I don't know why anyone would do this. I don't think I'm ever going to drink again.
     On another note, we are heading toward the moat house.  There are supposed to be bandits laying within, or undead. I feel as though whatever is in there has every right to be there, and that we are the intruders. But my friends think other wise; they think that evil beings lie within the moat house.

Sunday, March 1, 2015

DM Entry: Introducing the Zombie Master (new class)

This new class is based on the olman zombie master from the Isle of Dread. It has been added to the Aryathan Jiil Classes and Prestige Classes.pdf and uploaded to the google drive.

Zombie Master



This class is ready for play testing.

This is a paladin variant for Olman, who use undead as nonevil creatures.

Alignment: True Neutral.



Level
Base Attack Bonus
Fort Save
Ref Save
Will Save
Special
Spells per Day
1st
+1
+2
+0
+0
Detect undead, smite undead 1/encounter, domain
0
2nd
+2
+3
+0
+0
Divine grace, lay on hands
0
3rd
+3
+3
+1
+1
Aura of courage, divine health
1
4th
+4
+4
+1
+1
Rebuke undead and fiends
1
5th
+5
+4
+1
+1
Smite undead 2/encounter, special mount
1/0
6th
+6/+1
+5
+2
+2
Aura of banishment
1/0
7th
+7/+2
+5
+2
+2

1/1
8th
+8/+3
+6
+2
+2

1/1/0
9th
+9/+4
+6
+3
+3

1/1/1
10th
+10/+5
+7
+3
+3
Smite undead 3/encounter
1/1/1
11th
+11/+6/+1
+7
+3
+3

2/1/1/0
12th
+12/+7/+2
+8
+4
+4

2/1/1/1
13th
+13/+8/+3
+8
+4
+4

2/2/1/1
14th
+14/+9/+4
+9
+4
+4

2/2/2/1
15th
+15/+10/+5
+9
+5
+5
Smite undead 4/encounter
3/2/2/1
16th
+16/+11/+6/+1
+10
+5
+5

3/3/3/2
17th
+17+12/+7/+2
+10
+5
+5

4/3/3/3
18th
+18/+13/+8/+3
+11
+6
+6

5/4/3/2
19th
+19/+14/+9/+4
+11
+6
+6

6/5/4/3
20th
+20/+15/+10/+5
+12
+6
+6
Smite undead 5/encounter
7/6/5/4
HD: d10. Skill Points: 2 + Int modifier (x4 at 1st level). Class Skills: Concentration, Craft, Diplomacy, Handle Animal, Heal, Knowledge (religion), Profession, Ride, and Sense Motive.





Weapon and Armor Proficiency: You are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, with all types of armor (heavy, medium, and light), and with shields (except tower shields).

Detect Undead (Sp): At will, you can use detect undead, as the spell.

Smite Undead (Su): Once per encounter, you may attempt to smite undead with one normal melee attack. You add your Charisma bonus (if any) to your attack roll and deal 1 extra point of damage per zombie master level. If you accidentally smite a creature that is not undead, the smite has no effect, but the ability is still used up for that encounter.

Optionally, you may choose to sacrifice a zombie master spell slot to improve your smite undead. You may add +1 to your attack roll and +1d8 points of damage per sacrificed spell level.

At 5th level, and at every five levels thereafter, you may smite undead one additional time per encounter, as indicated on the table above, to a maximum of five times per encounter at 20th level.

Zombie Master Spells: Beginning at 1st level, you gain the ability to cast a small number of divine spells, which are drawn from the zombie master spell list (below). You can cast any spell you know without preparing it ahead of time the way a cleric or wizard must. When you gain access to a new level of spells, you automatically know all the spells for that level listed on the zombie master’s spell list. Essentially, your spell list is the same as your spells known list.

To cast a spell, you must have a Wisdom score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against your zombie master spell is 10 + the spell level + your Wisdom modifier.

Like other spellcasters, you can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. Your base daily spell allotment is given on the table above. In addition, you receive bonus spells per day if you have a high Wisdom score. When the table indicates that you get 0 spells per day of a given spell level, you gain only the bonus spells you would be entitled to based on your Wisdom score for that spell level. You also have access to a single domain of spells and its granted power, chosen from the following domains: Army, Balance, Death, Deathbound, Decay, Destruction, Fear, Grave, Hunger[1], Necromancer, Necromancy, Negative Energy, Repose, Smoke, Undead, Undeath, or Void.

You cast spells the way a warmage does. You may cast any spell on the zombie master spell list, provided that you can cast spells of that level.

Your zombie master caster level is equal to one-half her zombie master level.

Divine Grace (Su): At 2nd level, you gain a bonus equal to your Charisma bonus (if any) on all saving throws.

Lay on Hands (Su): Beginning at 2nd level, a zombie master with a Charisma score of 12 or higher can heal wounds (your own or those of others) by touch. Each day you can heal a total number of hit points of damage equal to your zombie master level x your Charisma bonus. You may choose to divide your healing among multiple recipients, and you don’t have to use it all at once. Using lay on hands is a standard action. This healing acts as fast healing, which works for living and undead the same.

Aura of Courage (Su): Beginning at 3rd level, you are immune to fear (magical or otherwise). Each ally within 10 feet of you gains a +4 morale bonus on saving throws against fear effects. This ability functions while you are conscious, but not if you are unconscious or dead.

Divine Health (Ex): At 3rd level, you gain immunity to all diseases, including supernatural and magical diseases.

Rebuke Undead and Fiends (Su): When you reach 4th level, you gain the supernatural ability to rebuke undead as well as outsiders with the evil subtype. You may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Charisma modifier. You rebuke undead as a cleric of three levels lower would.

Special Mount (Sp): Upon reaching 5th level, you gain the service of an unusually intelligent, strong, and loyal undead steed to serve you. This mount is usually a heavy warhorse zombie (for a Medium zombie master) or a warpony zombie (for a Small zombie master). Unlike a normal zombie, the zombie master’s special mount does not have the “single actions only” limitation.

Once per day, as a full-round action, you may magically summon your mount. This ability is the equivalent of a spell of a level equal to one-third your class level. The mount immediately appears adjacent to you and remains for 2 hours per zombie master level; it may be dismissed at any time as a free action. The mount is the same creature each time it is summoned, though you may release a particular mount from service.

Each time the mount is summoned, it appears in full health, regardless of any damage it may have taken previously. The mount also appears wearing or carrying any gear it had when it was last dismissed. Summoning a mount is a conjuration (summoning) effect.

Should your mount die, it immediately disappears, leaving behind any equipment it was carrying. You may not summon another mount for thirty days or until you gain a paladin level, whichever comes first, even if the mount is somehow returned from the dead. During this thirty-day period, you take a -1 penalty on attack and weapon damage rolls.

Your special mount improves as you gain zombie master levels. Refer to the death master’s undead minion progression in Dragon Compendium page 32, using your zombie master level as your death master level for this purpose.

You can select an improvement for your special mount from one of those listed on the following lists, applying the indicated adjustment to your zombie master level (in parentheses) for purposes of determining the mount’s characteristics and special abilities. If your special mount gains one of the following abilities, it cannot gain any of the other abilities. Also, if your special mount has any of the following abilities, it cannot also be the target of an augment zombie I or II spell. Your special mount keeps the special ability until you either dismiss your special mount or it is destroyed.

4th level (level -3)
Diseased zombie
Fast zombie
Hunting zombie

7th level (level -6)
Bloodthirsty zombie
Unkillable zombie

Aura of Banishment (Su): An aura of banishment surrounds you to a distance of 30 feet. Only undead can feel the aura and suffer from its effects. No creature with fewer Hit Dice than your zombie master level can be summoned into this area by an undead spellcaster or by spell-like abilities or supernatural abilities of undead, nor can such creatures use summoning or teleporting effects. In addition, the aura grants you a +2 bonus on Intimidate checks against undead.

Code of Conduct: You must be of true neutral alignment and lose all class abilities if you ever willingly commit an act respecting any creed, church, institution, faction, organization, etc., that has a non-true neutral alignment. Additionally, your zombie master code requires that you uphold the greater good of your community, especially against those who would cause the community harm. Non-evil undead should never be harmed, as they are your walking dead ancestors. Any harm against these ancestors must be met with swift and powerful destruction.

Associates: While you may adventure with characters of any neutral alignment, you will never knowingly associate with LG, LE, CG, or CE characters, nor will you continue an association with someone who consistently offends your moral code. You may accept only henchmen, followers, or cohorts who are true neutral.

Ex-Zombie Masters: If you cease to be true neutral, of if you willfully commit an act contrary to your moral code, or if you grossly violate the code of conduct, then you lose all zombie master spells and abilities (including the service of the special mount, but not weapon, armor, and shield proficiencies). You may not progress any farther in levels as a zombie master. You regain your abilities and advancement potential if you atone for your violations (see the atonement spell description), as appropriate.

Like a member of any other class, a zombie master may be a multiclass character, but multiclass zombie masters face a special restriction. A zombie master who gains a level in any class other than zombie master may never again raise her zombie master level, though you retain all your zombie master abilities.

Zombie Master Spells
Note: Necromancy spells that are traditionally evil are not evil in the hands of a zombie master. Any necromancy spell that has the evil descriptor loses the evil descriptor when cast by a zombie master.

Spells listed in red below are found in one of the Aryathan Jiil Librams of Magic.

1st level—animate dead animals, bane, bestow wound, cause fear, chill touch, create crawling dead, detect magic, doom, hide from undead, inflict light wounds, phantom armor, ray of enfeeblement, summon undead I, undead battlemight

2nd level—animate dead, blindness/ deafness, command undead, darkness, death knell, embalm, enhance turning, false life, gentle repose, ghoul touch, inflict moderate wounds, protection from deathbane, protection from paralysis, resist turning, scare, spectral hand, spirit armor, summon swarm, summon undead II

3rd level—augment zombie I, contagion, crushing despair, death ward, deeper darkness, double undead, ghost armor, ghoul familiar, halt undead, inflict serious wounds, lich armor, ray of exhaustion, speak with dead, summon undead III, vampiric touch

4th level—augment zombie II, bestow curse, create undead, death ward, dispel magic, enervation, Evard’s black tentacles, faith armor, fear, inflict critical wounds, lesser globe of invulnerability, magic circle against deathbane, Morphail’s unholy blessing, phantasmal killer, poison, summon undead IV, teleport dead



[1] The Hunger domain as found in Spell Compendium.