Difference between revisions of "Test Page 7"
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The petrifying gaze of a basilisk, the lightning breath of a dragon, the soul-draining touch of the undead: these powers are to be feared, most certainly. Some, however, would believe that the best way to fight fire is with fire, and so seek out ways to gain these powers - not through study or research, but through watching those who wield them. This is the way of the learner. | The petrifying gaze of a basilisk, the lightning breath of a dragon, the soul-draining touch of the undead: these powers are to be feared, most certainly. Some, however, would believe that the best way to fight fire is with fire, and so seek out ways to gain these powers - not through study or research, but through watching those who wield them. This is the way of the learner. | ||
| − | It is impossible to say what a learner is capable of. An individual learner may learn dozens - if not hundreds - of abilities over the course of her lifetime, as varied in power and application as the creatures that walk the world. Calling upon the power of the | + | It is impossible to say what a learner is capable of. An individual learner may learn dozens - if not hundreds - of abilities over the course of her lifetime, as varied in power and application as the creatures that walk the world. Calling upon the power of the Blue to enhance her memory and ability to replicate the powers of monsters, the learner is a powerful ally and unpredictable foe. |
'''Adventures:''' To be a learner is to be an adventurer; there is no way around it. In order to gain new abilities, the learner must seek out danger, and not just face it, but also live to experience a fearsome foe's abilities. Learners seek out adventure not simply for the thrill of it, but because that is the only way to learn new things. | '''Adventures:''' To be a learner is to be an adventurer; there is no way around it. In order to gain new abilities, the learner must seek out danger, and not just face it, but also live to experience a fearsome foe's abilities. Learners seek out adventure not simply for the thrill of it, but because that is the only way to learn new things. | ||
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'''Characteristics:''' Those who pursue the path of the learner tend to be confident, curious thrill-seekers, and while some certainly vary from this stereotype, that is the most common personality amongst learners. They tend to be rather friendly and outgoing, as having assistance in seeking out new and more dangerous monsters is usually helpful. For a learner, no threat is insurmountable; there is always an answer, it must simply be found. | '''Characteristics:''' Those who pursue the path of the learner tend to be confident, curious thrill-seekers, and while some certainly vary from this stereotype, that is the most common personality amongst learners. They tend to be rather friendly and outgoing, as having assistance in seeking out new and more dangerous monsters is usually helpful. For a learner, no threat is insurmountable; there is always an answer, it must simply be found. | ||
| − | ''' | + | '''Ethos:''' Learners tend towards a somewhat paradoxical mix of Blue and Red virtues. |
| − | '''Religion:''' | + | '''Religion:''' Many saints look favorably on the acquisition of knowledge, and many learners revere them. Learners who worship Lucavi often worship Ajora, who prides himself on power, much as learners of a more Black bent. Naturalist learners are not terribly uncommon, as while they do not have the same relationship with Nature that geomancers do, the nature of their work is such that learners often encounter powerful parts of the Natural world. |
| − | '''Background:''' Most learners tend to have had a childhood in which they witnessed powerful creatures destroying their homes or invade their city. Some learners come from a wilderness background, coming to be more interested in the abilities of what they hunted rather than the hunt itself. | + | '''Background:''' Most learners tend to have had a childhood in which they witnessed powerful creatures destroying their homes or invade their city. Some learners come from a wilderness background, coming to be more interested in the abilities of what they hunted rather than the hunt itself. A significant number of learners come from Sarteri, where wild ''mementos'' often prove to be a moderate nuisance among the villages and cities there. |
==Game Rule Information== | ==Game Rule Information== | ||
Revision as of 13:19, 29 January 2015
The Learner
| ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Memetics | ||||||||
| Level | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special | Active Memes | Memory | Belief-Space |
| 1 | +0 | +1 | +1 | +1 | Memory Surge (I), Bestial Lore, Method | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 2 | +1 | +2 | +2 | +2 | Learner Secret | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| 3 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | 4 | 5 | 2 | |
| 4 | +3 | +2 | +2 | +2 | Learner Secret | 5 | 6 | 2 |
| 5 | +3 | +3 | +3 | +3 | Memory Surge (II) | 5 | 8 | 3 |
| 6 | +4 | +3 | +3 | +3 | Learner Secret | 6 | 9 | 3 |
| 7 | +5 | +4 | +4 | +4 | 7 | 11 | 4 | |
| 8 | +6/+1 | +4 | +4 | +4 | Learner Secret | 8 | 12 | 4 |
| 9 | +6/+1 | +4 | +4 | +4 | Memory Surge (III) | 8 | 14 | 4 |
| 10 | +7/+2 | +5 | +5 | +5 | Learner Talent | 9 | 15 | 5 |
| 11 | +8/+3 | +5 | +5 | +5 | 10 | 17 | 5 | |
| 12 | +9/+4 | +6 | +6 | +6 | Learner Talent | 11 | 18 | 6 |
| 13 | +9/+4 | +6 | +6 | +6 | Memory Surge (IV) | 11 | 20 | 6 |
| 14 | +10/+5 | +6 | +6 | +6 | Learner Talent | 12 | 21 | 6 |
| 15 | +11/+6/+1 | +7 | +7 | +7 | 13 | 23 | 7 | |
| 16 | +12/+7/+2 | +7 | +7 | +7 | Learner Talent | 14 | 24 | 7 |
| 17 | +12/+7/+2 | +8 | +8 | +8 | Memory Surge (V) | 14 | 26 | 8 |
| 18 | +13/+8/+3 | +8 | +8 | +8 | Learner Talent | 15 | 27 | 8 |
| 19 | +14/+9/+4 | +8 | +8 | +8 | 16 | 29 | 8 | |
| 20 | +15/+10/+5 | +9 | +9 | +9 | Learner Talent | 17 | 30 | 9 |
Contents
Learner
- "Experience is the best teacher."
The petrifying gaze of a basilisk, the lightning breath of a dragon, the soul-draining touch of the undead: these powers are to be feared, most certainly. Some, however, would believe that the best way to fight fire is with fire, and so seek out ways to gain these powers - not through study or research, but through watching those who wield them. This is the way of the learner.
It is impossible to say what a learner is capable of. An individual learner may learn dozens - if not hundreds - of abilities over the course of her lifetime, as varied in power and application as the creatures that walk the world. Calling upon the power of the Blue to enhance her memory and ability to replicate the powers of monsters, the learner is a powerful ally and unpredictable foe.
Adventures: To be a learner is to be an adventurer; there is no way around it. In order to gain new abilities, the learner must seek out danger, and not just face it, but also live to experience a fearsome foe's abilities. Learners seek out adventure not simply for the thrill of it, but because that is the only way to learn new things.
Characteristics: Those who pursue the path of the learner tend to be confident, curious thrill-seekers, and while some certainly vary from this stereotype, that is the most common personality amongst learners. They tend to be rather friendly and outgoing, as having assistance in seeking out new and more dangerous monsters is usually helpful. For a learner, no threat is insurmountable; there is always an answer, it must simply be found.
Ethos: Learners tend towards a somewhat paradoxical mix of Blue and Red virtues.
Religion: Many saints look favorably on the acquisition of knowledge, and many learners revere them. Learners who worship Lucavi often worship Ajora, who prides himself on power, much as learners of a more Black bent. Naturalist learners are not terribly uncommon, as while they do not have the same relationship with Nature that geomancers do, the nature of their work is such that learners often encounter powerful parts of the Natural world.
Background: Most learners tend to have had a childhood in which they witnessed powerful creatures destroying their homes or invade their city. Some learners come from a wilderness background, coming to be more interested in the abilities of what they hunted rather than the hunt itself. A significant number of learners come from Sarteri, where wild mementos often prove to be a moderate nuisance among the villages and cities there.
Game Rule Information
Learners have the following game statistics.
Force Alignment: Blue.
Force Resistances: TO 5 + level, CO 5 + level.
Abilities: Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma are all equally important to a learner. She gains bonus active meme slots based on her Wisdom, bonus memory based on her Intelligence, and additional belief-space based upon her Charisma.
Hit Die: d8.
Class Skills: The learner’s class skills are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (all) (Int), Memecraft (Int), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spot (Wis), and Sense Motive (Wis).
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int.
Alignment: Any.
Starting Age: Moderate.
Starting Gold: 4d4 x 10gp.
Favored By: Vesuvan.
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the learner.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Learners are proficient with all simple weapons, all one-handed martial weapons, light and medium armor, and all shields save tower shields.
Memes (Me): The abilities of the learner are memes, the purview of the blue. Unlike other memeticists, learners construct their own memes, using their knowledge of memory to do so, which allow them to imitate the abilities of monsters.
A learner can know any number of memes, but she can only have so many actively accessible at one time ("Memes," on the table). The learner can change what memes she has access to after a night's rest.
A learner cannot research memes on her own; he must learn them from monsters (described below), and all learner memes correspond at least partially to at least one monster ability. Due to various factors, however, a learner's meme may not be an exact replica of a monster's ability.
When a learner uses a meme, it becomes temporarily unavailable to her; this is due to how the Blue deals with memory access. Each meme has a recharge value; at the beginning of the learner's turn, if she has any memes that need to recharge, she rolls 1d6, and those memes whose recharge values are equal to or less than the result are recharged. A meme cannot be recharged until its duration ends.
You gain additional active meme slots equal to your Wisdom modifier.
Memory (Me): A learner has only so much of her personal memory that she can devote towards her memes; however, when she does so, those memes increase in power. A meme cannot have more than memory invested in it than your memeticist level.
As a swift action, you may choose to reallocate some or all of your free memory. When you choose to invest memory into a meme, that memory becomes "locked" into that meme until the meme is recharged.
You gain additional memory equal to your Intelligence modifier.
Belief-Space (Me): As a memeticist, the learner is able to incorporate foreign memes directly into her belief-space, incorporating the meme into her personal memory. This process allows her to gain deeper understanding of the meme's pattern (and therefore, the information it contains), but it is also possible that the meme will taint and modify the learner's personality and memories.
The learner can have the indicated number of memes bound to her belief-space. The integration or removal of such bound memes is an involved process, and so the learner can only change her bound memes after a night's rest.
If you have a Charisma modifier, you gain an additional belief-space at every even learner level, until you have bonus belief-space equal to your Charisma modifier.
Bestial Lore: Learners are well-versed in the nature of monstrosities. She can make a special bestial lore check with a bonus equal to her learner level + her Intelligence modifier to determine if she knows anything about a particular creature. Making such a check is a swift action.
You can gain the normal information about the creature with this check, but also can gain access to more "meta" information that others would usually not be able to glean (for instance, if you succeed on the check by a significant margin, you can directly examine and explain the creature's stat block).
If your result is at least 10 + one-half the creature's HD, the creature - and all other creatures of the same kind nearby - gains the assayed status in regards to you (You have sufficient knowledge of an assayed creature that you can learn its abilities) for the remainder of the encounter. If you fail to grant this status to a creature, that creature is immune to the status for the remainder of the encounter.
You gain a +2 synergy bonus on this check if you have at least 5 ranks in the Knowledge skill relevant to the target's creature type.
Method: Each learner has a particular method she uses to attain the abilities of monsters. At first level, the learner chooses one of the following methods.
Regardless of method, in order to learn a meme, the learner must make a Memecraft check against the Su or Sp ability’s saving throw DC. If it doesn’t have one, the DC to learn the ability is 10 + one-half the monster’s HD + the monster’s Charisma modifier (if the modifier is less than +0, it is considered +0 for purposes of learning). If the learner succeeds, she learns the meme associated with that ability, provided that the target is assayed.
If the learner fails, she does not learn the talent. However, the next time she attempts to learn that talent in the same combat, she gets a +1 competence bonus on her Knowledge check to learn the talent for each time she has failed.
- Draw (Me): The learner learns her memes through drawing, a process which allows her to pull energy directly out of a monster. As a standard action, a learner may make a ray (ranged touch) attack against a single creature within 60 feet. If successful, she may choose one of that monster's abilities; if she has not already learned the meme associated with it, she may attempt to do so. If she knows the meme for the ability she chose, or if she successfully learns it, she gains one temporary active meme slot, which is immediately occupied by the meme she just learned. This temporary active meme slot lasts 1 round/level.
- Lancelet (Me): The learner learns her memes through a lancelet, a mark of the Blue that allows her to read the creature's memories and recreate its abilities. As a standard action, the learner may mark a creature within 60 feet. Whenever that creature uses an (Su) or (Sp) ability, the learner may attempt to learn the meme associated with that ability. The lancelet lasts for 1 round/memeticist level.
- Observation (Bl): The learner learns her memes through observation, using her power of sight to enable her to mimic the abilities of monsters. As a standard action, a learner can watch monsters present within 60 feet. If any of them should use an (Su) or (Sp) ability until the learner’s next action, the learner may attempt to learn the meme associated with that ability. If the learner is attacked with an (Su) or (Sp) ability while observing, she gets a +4 bonus on the Memecraft check to learn that meme.
Memory Surge (Bl): The learner has a reserve of powerful self-memory that she can use for a variety of effects. At each rank of memory surge, she gains one daily use of this resource. You regain your full allotment of memory surge after a night's rest.
As a swift action on your turn, you can spend one use of memory surge to immediately recharge one meme.
As an immediate action, when you would be able to learn a meme due to your Method ability, you can spend one use of memory surge to automatically learn the meme, without making a check.
As a swift action on your turn, you can cause the assayed status on a single target (and all nearby creatures of the same kind) within 60 feet, even if you had already failed to grant it to that creature earlier in the encounter.
Learner Secret: At 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 8th levels, the learner unlocks a secret of the Blue, improving her abilities in some fashion. Choose one of the following abilities; unless otherwise noted, each ability can only be taken once.
- Chicanery (Me): When you successfully grant the assayed status, you become a font of knowledge of how to interact with such creatures to your advantage. You and all allies gain a +2 insight bonus on skill checks made against creatures with the assayed condition, plus an additional +2 insight bonus for every 10 points by which you beat the DC.
- Improved Draw (Me): When you use the Draw ability, the temporary active meme benefits from an amount of temporary memory equal to half your memeticist level, rounded down. (Prerequisites: Draw, Memeticist level 6th+)
- Improved Lancelet (Me): The range of your Lancelet ability is now 120 feet. (Prerequisites: Lancelet, Memeticist level 6th+)
- Improved Observation (Bl): You can use Observation as a move action, rather than a standard. (Prerequisites: Observation, Memeticist level 6th+)
- Lucubration (Me): When you successfully grant the assayed status, you become a font of knowledge of how best to defeat such creatures. You and all allies gain a +1 insight bonus on attack rolls against creatures with the assayed condition, plus an additional +1 insight bonus for every 10 points by which you beat the DC.
- Moxie (Me): When you successfully grant the assayed status, you become a font of knowledge of how best to avoid the creature's abilities. You and all allies gain a +1 insight bonus on saving throws against against abilities from creatures with the assayed condition, plus an additional +1 insight bonus for every 10 points by which you beat the DC.
- Puissance (Me): When you successfully grant the assayed status, you become a font of knowledge of how to bring such creatures down. You and all allies gain a +2 insight bonus on damage rolls against creatures with the assayed condition, plus an additional +2 insight bonus for every 10 points by which you beat the DC.
- Resistance (Bl): You gain a +4 insight bonus on saving throws against status effects. You can take this ability multiple times; its effect stacks.
- Tenacity (Me): When you successfully grant the assayed status, you become a font of knowledge of how to dodge such creature's attacks. You and all allies gain a +1 insight bonus to AC against attacks from creatures with the assayed condition, plus an additional +2 insight bonus for every 10 points by which you beat the DC.
Learner Talent: As a learner progresses in her training, she gains access to new and unusual applications of the Blue. At 10th level, and every two levels thereafter, she gains access to one of the following abilities.
- Absorb (Bl): Requires the Draw method. When the learner learns a meme via Draw, she may temporarily deny the creature the use of its ability. If the creature fails a Fortitude save (DC 10 + learner's Cha mod), it loses access to the ability the learner learned for 1 round/learner level.
- Soak (Bl): Requires the Absorb ability. If the learner is the target of an ability, she may attempt to learn it. If she does so, the ability is negated.
- Countermeme (Me): Requires the Lancelet method. The learner may counter memes and the abilities of monsters in the same manner as a wizard may counter spells.
- Disable (Bl): Requires the Countermeme ability. When the learner learns a talent via Lancelet, she may temporarily deny the creature the use of its ability. If the creature fails a Will save (DC 10 + learner's Cha mod), it loses access to the ability the learner learned for 1 round/learner level.
- Resistance (Ex): The learner begins to become more resistant to conditions that would impede her and her ability to learn. She gains a +2 resistance bonus on saving throws against effects that would cause the following conditions: ability damage, blinded, confused, dazed, dazzled, deafened, diseased, exhausted, fatigued, feebleminded, insanity, nauseated, sickened, stunned, and poisoned.
- Resiliance (Ex): Requires the Resistance ability. As per Resistance, but +4.
- Immunity (Ex): Requires the Resiliance ability. Choose one of the conditions that Resistance gives a bonus to saving throws against. You become immune to that condition.
- Resiliance (Ex): Requires the Resistance ability. As per Resistance, but +4.
- Conversion (Me): The learner has mastered the art of converting her powers of memory into a shield to enable her to survive the abilities of monsters. In effect, she gains a DR equal to her Wisdom modifier. Each time this DR prevents damage, she loses one point of Memory, which is restored after a night's rest. Each time she is dealt damage, the learner chooses whether or not to activate this ability.
- Peep (Bl): Requires the Observation method. As a standard action, you may attempt to learn information about a creature with Close range. Make a Blue Lore check opposed by the the target's Will save. If it fails its save, you may learn the target's current hit points, its type(s) and subtype(s), and what will penetrate its DR (if any). If it passes its save, you cannot use this ability on that creature for 24 hours.
- Scan (Bl): Requires the Peep ability. When you use your peep ability, you learn additional information about a creature, as though you had used the heightened creature loresight meme.
Method Mastery: At 11th level, the learner has gained mastery over her methods of learning. She may choose to improve one of her existing methods, or gain access to another method of her choice.
- Draw Mastery: When the learner uses her Draw ability, the temporary active meme she gains benefits from 2d6+1 memory.
- Lancelet Mastery: When the learner uses her Lancelet ability, she may instead target a creature up to 120 feet away.
- Observation Mastery: The learner has mastered the art of being continually alert. She is now considered observing at all times, and she does not need to take a standard action to observe; however, the maximum range for continual observation is 5 feet/2 learner levels. The learner can still Observe as a move action.
Memes
What follows is a description of how a learner learns memes, and the meme lists.
Unlike most Force-users, memes of a learner are not influenced by his memeticist level. Instead, the effectiveness of a meme is dependent upon how much memory he devotes to it. Expressions such as "100 feet + 10 feet/memory" mean that, for every point of memory you have invested in the meme, add an additional 10 feet to the range, and so on.
The saving throw DCs for all of a learner's memes are 10 + her Charisma modifier + memory invested.
Learning Memes
Whenever a creature uses a non-extraordinary ability, the learner has a chance to learn it (depending upon her learning method). If she does so, she learns a meme that corresponds to that ability in some way - the meme a learner learns is almost never an exact duplicate of the ability she learned it from, though it will usually share many similar qualities.
Unlike other Force users, whose abilities are static, learners' abilities are informed by the means through which they learn them: for instance, a learner can learn beta from a creature with an aura of flame, a creature whose touch ignites others, or a dragon's breath - but these all function differently, various aspects of the beta meme changing upon each use. A learner who gains access to different variations of a single meme can call upon any of those variations without allocating an active meme slot to each variation, but each variation is distinct in that qualities of one variation cannot be mixed with another.
The base ability that teaches a meme is referred to as the meme's template.
Learner Memes
|
|---|
| Aero: Use wind to damage and move foes. |
| Angel Whisper: Restore a creature to life, remove status ailments. |
| Aquabreath: Use water to damage foes. |
| Bad Breath: Cause a variety of status ailments. |
| Beta: Use fire to damage and burn foes. |
| Blowfish: Attack a foe with a volley of spines. |
| Cocoon: Improve your natural armor. |
| Death Force: Resist death effects. |
| Dischord: Cause a creature to gain a negative level. |
| Dragon Force: Improve your combat prowess. |
| Drain Touch: Cause physical ability score damage. |
| Earth Shake: Cause an earthquake. |
| Eerie Sound Wave: Remove enhancements from a creature. |
| Exploder: Sacrifice self to deal massive area damage. |
| Feather Barrier: Improve ability to evade attacks and effects. |
| Flash: Blind creatures. |
| Force Spear: Use force energy to damage a creature. |
| Frost: Use cold to damage a creature. |
| Fusion: Imbue weapons with special effects. |
| Guard Off: Reduce a creature's ability to defend itself. |
| Haste Break: Cause a creature enjoying temporal manipulation to lose its enhancements. |
| Infrasonics: Reduce a creature's ability to evade your attacks and effects. |
| Magic Hammer: Reduce a creature's ability to call upon magic. |
| Madness: Cause mental ability score damage. |
| Mighty Guard: Put a variety of protective effects into place. |
| Moon Flute: Cause creature to rage. |
| Night: Cause creatures to fall asleep. |
| Pearl: Use holy energy to damage foes. |
| Poison Claw: Inflict a creature with poison. |
| Quasar: Use magnetic energy to damage foes. |
| Roulette: Cause a random nearby creature to die. |
| Screech: Use sonic energy to damage and deafen foes. |
| Shadow Flare: Use shadow energy to damage foes. |
| Stare: Confuse a creature. |
| Stone Breath: Cause creatures to turn to stone. |
| Trine: Use lightning to damage and shock foes. |
| Vanish: Cause a creature to become invisible. |
| Virus: Inflict a creature with a disease. |
| White Wind: Heal yourself and allies. |
| Zombie Touch: Inflict undead-like status on a creature for a time. |
Design Notes
November, 2003. Twelve years later, still working on making this class viable in D&D. Maybe this time, we can put this beast to rest.
Memes do not need power scaling. That is my final decision. Memes will function akin to gifts in that the power scaling is controlled by points; whereas gifts require some number, memes are controlled by how many you can pump into them.
Oh right. Once you use a meme, until it recharges, all the memory you stuck into it are "locked" into that meme until it recharges. This completely avoids the akashic craziness of having all your memory available all the time.
Also this meme list is bad and you should feel bad. Fix it.
Lower-level learner abilities, and the assayed concept, taken from here.
