Revision as of 14:36, 23 January 2015

Trainer

Ashe'cathari, iconic trainer

"Shorts are comfy and easy to wear. Let's fight!"

The world of Trinity is a dangerous place. Some, such as the commonfolk, rely upon their well-trained members of their society to defend them from attackers; others are those defenders themselves. However, some societies lack the comfort of walls or homes, always on the move. Halflings, selkies, and even lunari often find themselves almost always on the move or lacking stable fortifications. While the more aged among their people may be able to fend off an attack, their children are not always so able. Thus: the trainer.

In times past, when the halflings were under attack from prophet moths, they sought a manner of assistance from the gnomes. The gnomes gifted them with knowledge of the blue, of learning to use the abilities of monsters. However, this was ill-suited for the halflings' intentions: they needed a weapon, easily wielded, with which they could arm their children. Taking the lessons taught to them from the gnomes, however, the halflings devised a new idea: rather than learn the abilities of monsters, capture the monsters themselves, and ensure that they could only fight what they were directed to.

The halflings devised a new method of interacting with the blue, which they called meme crystals - small items that were capable of storing a creature or item in the world's memory, such that it could be summoned back at any time. They then began capturing small monsters of Sarteri and training them, then giving the meme crystals in which the creatures were stored to children, instructing them to only use them in dire need. As they grew older, the children were taught the ways of the gun, and passed their meme crystals on to the children that came after them.

Some halflings, however, decided not to become gunslingers, and instead focused on raising the monsters they had been gifted with. Through trial and error, they determined that some creatures were better-suited to some abilities; they devised a basic understanding of genetics, and began breeding creatures to attain desired traits: small, but ferocious, with unalarming appearances so that children would not be frightened to use the creatures.

Centuries have passed since then, and trainers are still relatively rare - but not unheard of. The way of the trainer has spread throughout the world, and though it is often thought of as the path of cowards, it is a welcome relief to those who must fight but have no formal training.

Game Rule Information

Trainers have the following game statistics.

Force Alignment: Blue.

Force Resistances: TO 5 + level, CO 5 + level.

Abilities: Dexterity is important to a trainer, as - in order to capture new creatures - they must be agile enough to accurately throw a meme crystal. Charisma is also important, as a more powerful personality allows them to more successfully exert control over creatures.

Hit Die: d6.

Class Skills: The trainer’s class skills are Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Hide (Dex), Initiative (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (Biology) (Int), Knowledge (Local) (Int), Listen (Per), Memecraft (Int), Move Silently (Dex), Research (Edu), Resolve (Wis), Search (Per), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Spot (Per), Survival (Wis), and Use Rope (Dex).

Skill Points at First Level: (4 + Int) × 4.

Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int.

Ethos: Any.

Starting Age: Simple.

Starting Gold: 4d4 x 10gp.

Favored By: None.

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the trainer.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Trainers are proficient with all simple weapons, nets, bolas, boomerangs, harpoons, shuriken, and whips. Trainers have proficiency with light armor, but not with shields.

Trainers can use any bludgeoning weapon with which they are proficient to inflict subdual damage without suffering penalties to attack rolls for doing so.

Trainers are also proficient with meme crystals (see below).

Memes (Me): A trainer has access to memes, knowledge gleaned from world memory. Unlike other memeticists, the trainer does not use her memes directly; instead, these are creature abilities that she has learned completely, such that she can train other creatures to use them.

Trainers can only learn memes with the [technic] descriptor.

At 4th level, and every four levels after, the trainer can retrain her memes, trading out up to two memes she knows for two other memes.

Belief-Space (Me): A trainer utilizes belief-space to assist her in controlling her creatures. In order to control a creature, she must dedicate some of her memetic belief to it, to fully bring the creature from the world memory back into the real world.

A trainer gains bonus belief-space based on her Charisma; she gains an additional belief-space at 4th and every four levels thereafter, up to her Charisma modifier.

A trainer can change her belief-space allocation after a night's rest.

Control Creature (Bl): By exerting her belief on a meme crystal, a learner can control the creature held within.

On each of her turns, the trainer can expend a move action to direct the actions of a controlled creature. If she does so, the controlled creature behaves like a summoned monster, until the start of her next turn; if she does not, the creature will defend itself but otherwise take no action. A trainer cannot control a creature whose level is greater than her trainer class level. An uncontrolled creature will act independently once released, until returned to its meme crystal.

Due to this being a memetic effect, the trainer can issue complex commands to a controlled creature without the need for a shared language. However, the trainer cannot actually communicate with the creature.

Releasing a creature from a meme crystal is a standard action, and the creature appears in an unoccupied square adjacent to the trainer. A trainer can return a creature to its meme crystal by touching the meme crystal to the creature: if the creature is within the trainer's reach, this is a move action, otherwise the meme crystal can be thrown at the creature as a standard action (in such an instance, the trainer automatically hits the creature's AC if the creature is currently controlled, but may miss due to concealment or other factors; the trainer must roll to hit an uncontrolled creature normally).

Applying the controlled condition to a creature in a meme crystal requires one belief-space.

Memento: A trainer fresh from their instruction is often gifted with a memento, a relatively rare, well-bred creature. A trainer may choose a memento from this list. The memento is already contained within a meme crystal.

A character who multiclasses into the trainer class does not gain the benefits of this class feature.

Train Creature (Bl): A trainer can imbue her known memes into creatures she has controlled, allowing the creature to make use of the ability.

The creature and the meme to be taught must be compatible (that is, the meme must be on one of the creature's technic lists). If the meme and the creature are compatible, the trainer must spend one day teaching the creature the meme. If the creature has reached its maximum number of technics known, the trainer must choose one technic for the creature to forget (note that some creatures have technics with the [innate] descriptor, which cannot be forgotten in this manner).

A creature can only have a single copy of a given ability on its technic list.

Craft Meme Crystal (Bl): At 2nd level, a trainer becomes capable of crafting his own meme crystals. Constructing a meme crystal requires one hour and supplies worth 100 gp; a meme crystal is considered a Blue item for purposes of force resistance. A meme crystal is used as a thrown weapon, and is treated as a ranged touch attack, with a range of 20 feet; if it hits, the creature takes 1 point of subdual damage per trainer level of the character who constructed it. If this damage is enough to knock the creature unconscious, it is captured by the meme crystal.

Once a meme crystal has captured a creature, the meme crystal takes a mental "snapshot" of the creature, before it is sent into the Blue; this is so that, when the meme crystal is activated once more, it is able to retrieve the creature from the world memory. This information becomes imprinted into the meme crystal when it first captures a creature; once a meme crystal is imprinted, it cannot be used to store a different creature.

A meme crystal is incapable of capturing creatures that have an Intelligence score of 3 or higher - the imprinting process is too complicated to allow for a thinking being to be imprinted. In addition, a meme crystal is also incapable of capturing a creature that has already been imprinted into a meme crystal: the method by which the meme crystal retrieves a creature from world memory makes it impossible for two objects to both refer to the same creature in memory.

At 6th level, the trainer gains the ability to construct improved meme crystals. Crafting an improved meme crystal requires supplies costing 1000 gp. When an improved meme crystal strikes a creature, it deals 1d4/trainer level points of subdual damage, rather than 1/trainer level.

Up to here modified.

Heal Creature (Me): A trainer gradually becomes able to heal creatures in the world memory, by using her own memories. By spending a full round action, a trainer can attempt a Treat Injury check (DC 15) to either convert all regular damage suffered by the creature into subdual damage, or to confer the benefits of 1 day of rest to the creature (2 hit points per HD, 1 day's worth of repaired ability damage, the recovery of any limited uses/day abilities, and the healing of all subdual damage). This ability may be used a number of times per day equal to 3 + the trainer's Wisdom modifier.

Subtype Specialization: A trainer can choose a subtype which is her specialty. The trainer gains a (+1 / 3 trainer levels, minimum +1) bonus on all Bluff, Handle Animal, Knowledge, Listen, Sense Motive, Spot, and Survival checks when using these skills on or about such creatures. Subtypes include: Air, Aquatic, Chaotic, Cold, Earth, Electricity, Evil, Fire, Good, Lawful, Reptilian, and Water.

A trainer can control one additional creature of the subtype chosen.

A trainer can choose a second Subtype to specialize in at 12th level.

Double Team: Upon reaching 4th level, a trainer has become adept enough at handling creatures that she is able to simultaneously direct the actions of two creatures she controls. However, doing so reduces the effectiveness of her creatures; her creatures are both treated as though suffering from two negative levels, for so long as the trainer controls two creatures.

These effective negative levels only apply to creatures of your HD or higher; a creature of one lower HD suffers only one effective negative level, and creatures two or more HD lower suffer no effective negative levels.

Monster Talk (Ex): As a trainer becomes more experienced with his creatures, he slowly becomes able to understand them. At 5th level, a trainer can issue commands to a creature he controls in its own language, allowing for him to issue complex commands it could not otherwise understand.

Type Specialization: At 7th level, the trainer may specialize in a creature type. This has the same effects as subtype specialization, above, save that it applies to a creature type rather than a creature subtype.

Improved Heal Creature (Me): At 9th level, once per day per point of Wisdom modifier (if she has no Wisdom modifier, this ability can be used once per week), a trainer can use her own memories to heal a creature she controls, as per the cleric spell, using her trainer level as her caster level. This ability can be used only on a creature stored in a meme crystal.

Trainer Talent: At 10th level and every two levels thereafter, the trainer's knowledge of creatures and their interaction with the Blue improves. Choose one of the abilities below.

• Craft Advanced Meme Crystal (Bl): The trainer can craft a purer form of meme crystal, advanced meme crystals. Crafting an advanced meme crystal requires supplies costing 2500 gp, and 200 XP to construct. When an advanced meme crystal strikes a creature, it deals 1d8/trainer level points of subdual damage, rather than 1/trainer level.
  • Craft Master Meme Crystal (Bl): The trainer can craft the purest form of meme crystal, a master meme crystal. Crafting a master meme crystal requires supplies costing 10000 gp, and 1000 XP to construct. A master meme crystal deals 10/trainer level points of subdual damage to a creature it strikes. (Prerequisites: Craft Advanced Meme Crystal)
• Extra Subtype Specialization: The trainer may choose an additional subtype to specialize in, as per subtype specialization. You can take this talent multiple times; each time you do, it applies to a different subtype.
  • Extra Type Specialization: The trainer may choose an additional type to specialize in, as per type specialization. You can take this talent multiple times; each time you do, it applies to a different type. (Prerequisites: Extra Subtype Specialization)
    • Subtype Mastery: The trainer may choose a single subtype with which she has taken subtype specialization; she may control any creature of the chosen subtype, regardless of its CR. She may also control one additional creature of the chosen subtype. (Prerequisites: Extra Type Specialization)
• Into the Blue (Me): As a standard action, the trainer may store a meme crystal - holding a creature or not - in the Blue, just as meme crystals store creatures in the Blue. She must be holding the meme crystal in order to do so. A trainer may have a number of meme crystals stored in the Blue equal to her Intelligence modifier. A meme crystal stored this way can be recalled as a standard action; the trainer must have a free hand to do so.
  • Out of the Blue (Me): A trainer can recall a stored meme crystal as a free action. (Prerequisites: Into the Blue)
• Triple Team: The trainer can simultaneously direct three creatures under her control. Each of the creatures suffers from five effective negative levels. These effective negative levels only apply to creatures with HD equal to your trainer level; creatures with fewer HD are granted fewer effective negative level, commensurate to their lower HD (so a creature with 3 fewer HD than you suffers only 2 effective negative levels).
  • Coordinated Tactics: Reduce the effective negative levels caused by double team and triple team by 1. You can take this ability twice. (Prerequisites: Triple Team)
• Feat: A trainer may take a bonus feat in place of a trainer talent.

Mementos

You can purchase mementos from breeders.

To determine the cost of such a creature, take its level and add its stat modifiers. Square this number, then multiply it by 150. This is the cost in gold.

Formula: [(Level ^ 2) x 75] + [(Sum of all {stat mods ^ 2} ^ 2) x 25] gp

Also, now we need to start talking about other things.

Design Notes

While we used to use Frank's trainer class as a reasonable base, I think it's time to Trinity-ize this class and get some solid rules in for monster creation.

At the very least, I have three goals:

• Have a default chassis for pokemon level progression.
• Be able to convert pokemon to d20 monsters compatible with this system relatively quickly and on the fly.
• Be able to convert existing monsters into this system, so that we can avoid the clunky comparisons of a creature's CR to the trainer's level crap that plagued prior versions.