Latest Material Index

   Updated July 09

   It’s once again time to get the latest material index updated and to transfer the material from the old one to the main index tabs. If you want the very latest material, it may be necessary to either scroll down or consult the “Recent Posts” listing-widget on the lower right The previous Latest Materials Index can be found HERE.

Shadowrun Material:

• Sample Characters: Alex Merriweather, a Fox Shapeshifter, Akiko Anitoli, a knife-wielding yakuza boss,
• Current Campaign Summary: Part I, and Part II,

Continuum II Material:

• General Skills: Basic background skills and tables for random shops and professions
• Vocational Characters: Heroic, but not superhuman, characters.
• Malavon Player’s Handout: Everything which ought to go into a basic world background handout.
• Cantrips – the most common of all magics: Shield Cantrips, Alteration Cantrips, Mindsending Cantrips, Divination Cantrips,

d20 Material:

• Duskblades and Magically-Enhanced Fighters for Eclipse Classless d20
• Base Class Breakdowns for Eclipse Classless d20: Barbarian, Bard, and Cleric, Druid, Fighter, and Sorcerer, Paladin and Ranger, Rogue and Wizard, Psion and Psychic Warrior, Monk,
• Federation-Apocalypse Campaign Log: Session 65, Session 66,
• Federation-Apocalypse Current Timeline:

L5R Material:

• Schools: The Ivory Kingdoms Rahu-Ketu School of the Midnight Sun (a school for light and shadow magic), the Ivory Kingdoms Dheramada School (a school for imbuing agents with power),

World of Darkness – Rites

   Here we have an assortment of Rites for Werewolf the Forsaken – or at least for some version of the World of Darkness. In this case they’re from the collection of Maximilian Sendak, a Garou who’d been raised by non-garou – and used some very eccentric rites and gifts indeed, most of them with an Egyptian theme.

    Alchemy of Seshat (Level Three): You may infuse essence into metals to bring out their magical properties. You may infuse either a solid item, giving it the magical properties indicated below, or a modest number (successes) of “doses” of powder – magical catalysts worth a +4 bonus on relevant operations. In either case, the enchantment is temporary. It lasts only as long as the alchemist keeps one of his “maximum spells” slots devoted to it. It normally takes about an hour.

• Copper: Transformation. Infused copper can take on any form its wielder desires and holds it with enormous strength. This equates to a precision toolkit or a fine weapon (generally +4).
• Silver: Purification. An infused silver weapon will inflict aggravated damage on any creature that’s linked with a foreign spirit. That’s vampires, spirit-possessed, and spirit-linked creatures such as werewolves. Silver weapons always cause aggravated damage to weres because, when a were is wounded, mana automatically flows into the wound to begin the healing process – momentarily infusing the surface of a silver weapon.
• Gold: Energy Storage. An item of infused gold can store up to three magical effects – whether generated by paths or influences- for later use as a simple action.
• Iron: Energy Grounding. Infused iron can withstand or absorb massive amounts of magical energy, countering 1-3 such assaults depending on the amount of infused iron involved. Oddly, powdered iron – perhaps due to its links with blood – is associated with Healing magic. This may be the origin of the belief that the weapon that inflicted a wound can be used to heal it. This is why iron commonly causes aggravated damage to enchanted creatures: it short-circuits and drains their mystical energies.
• Lead: Spirit Binding. Infused lead is a spiritual anchor that allows a spirit to remain in Twilight or the physical world without having to expend essence. Used offensively, it can anchor a spirit in place for (User’s Occult + 2) rounds.
• Mercury: Linking Magic. Infused Mercury exists in both the Material and the Shadow worlds simultaneously. A sufficiently large pool – such as the back of an old-fashioned mercury mirror – can act as a gate between the realms. More simply, you can use a tube of it to smack unruly spirits from the material realm.
• Antimony: Dispelling. Imbued antimony disrupts negatively resonant essence on contact. If used against an abyssal spirit, or an undead, it drains 1-5 essence points on contact, up to a maximum of 12 points before it loses its imbuement. Powdered antimony can also help purify any negative resonances in an area.
• Nickel: Warding. Imbued nickel can absorb tremendous amounts of punishment without passing on such damage. Imbued nickel or nickel-plated shields and armor gain a +3 to their armor rating. Similar weapons provide a +3 defense bonus, since they make it so much easier to block and parry effectively.

   The Alchemy of Seshat is essentially simply a version of the Rite of Fetish Creation. Unlike the Rite, it’s creations are strictly temporary and are of limited variety. On the other hand, you don’t have to get a spirit to participate.

   Metals such as Zinc, Cadmium, Platinum, and even Aluminum presumably do something when imbued – but no one has yet determined what they do or the proper procedure to imbue them yet.

   Bast’s Blessing (Level One): This popular rite calls on the powers of Bast, goddess of sex and pleasure. The actual “rite” varies; going out on a date, seducing a partner, and foreplay will all suffice. The effects are fairly simple; 1) Everyone involved will enjoy the proceedings much more then usual, 2) Pregnancy will not result unless both of the potential parents are willing, and 3) The proceedings are far less fatiguing then usual. As a side effect, each time this ritual is enacted, there’s about a .1% chance that Bast herself will “bless” the participants, giving them the Striking Looks merit at L4. If and when this occurs, the participants will also suffer from a compulsion to play “matchmaker”, protect young lovers, intervene in family disputes, find new sexual partners, and otherwise promote pleasure, for 2-8 months thereafter.

Rite of Boundless Rage (Level One): This swift and simple rite sends a willing werewolf recipient straight into a massive fit of Death Rage. It will last for about half an hour, so it’s best to make sure that the subject is properly contained first before enacting the rite. The rite temporarily exhausts the recipients rage: he or she cannot take Wolf-Man form – or go into Death Rage – for the next 24 hours. While this can leave you vulnerable, it can also mean that your children survive your visit despite your insulting ex-wife or ex-husband.

   Rite of Cleansing (Level Two): This ritual purifies an individual or a modest area, restoring harmony. The essence in the area takes on positive resonances, negatively-oriented (or possessing) spirits in the area must make opposed willpower rolls against the ritualist or flee, and physical contaminants (such as drugs, toxins, and various pollutants) are cleansed away. The number of successes required is set by the game master in accordance with the area to be affected and the extent of the contamination. Note that – in extreme cases -cleansing something can destroy it: a playground built over a great pool of toxic waste may collapse when it’s removed, and a person who’s had most of their spirit devoured may collapse and die without his or her possessor present.

   Rite of the Diplomat (Level One): This minor rite involves sharing a good ethnic meal with someone familiar with the culture and languages of a particular area. Each success provides one”dot” in a relevant language or cultural lore skill. Unfortunately, the effects fade in a week or so, but any sensible user can find plenty of chances to re-enact it before it runs out.

   Nine Suns Kung Fu, The Focal Point (Level Three): An eastern technique, used for focusing personal energies. It seems to work a bit differently for weres then it does for humans – for whom it does work (in fact, they seem to have originated it). The rite has five stages; each takes about ten minutes to perform. It’s purchased as a level three rite, but the level of results you can actually achieve with it depends on your Ritual level.

1. The Eye Of The Storm. Induces serenity. Weres get +2 dice for rage rolls for the next week (or are treated as humans if they don’t have rage problems). Humans gain a +1 to composure (and willpower) for a similar period. As a side effect, user’s tend to need a lot less sleep.
2. The Focal Point. Allows the user to focus all of his or her energies on a specific non-combat task – gaining a +2 die bonus. This can be applied to an extended task if you don’t mind being pretty exhausted afterwards.
3. Gnostic Awakening. The user may tap into the power of the umbra to recharge his or her essence pool once per day, regaining (successes + 2) points. Humans may use this to build up an essence pool of up to (Stamina) points.
4. The Centered Will. Lets the user shrug off unwanted mental contacts, such as telepathic probing, psychic attack, possession, and so on, reducing the power user’s number of successes by (Int/2, rounded up). While this is effectively constant once developed, it takes months of regular practice of this rite to do so.
5. The Inner Fire / Channel The Beast. The final level of nine suns kung fu allows humans to store up to (Sta x 3) essence. Weres learn to tap into the strength and stamina of their bestial forms without shapeshifting, although they must expend a point of essence to invoke this talent for a scene.

   Seal The Horizon (Level Four): This powerful rite does what it says; it permanently seals off an anchorhead or portal at the cost of (1d10+2) XP. Sadly, while the rite itself is straightforward, whoever or whatever is on the other side of such a gateway often objects to having their doorway slammed in their face and nailed shut.

   Rite Of Initiation (Level Five): This exotic rite bonds a willing spirit of the umbra to a human host, turning them into a living fetish – a creature of flesh and magic. The exact results vary.

• Bonds with relatively peaceful animal spirits, plant spirits, and land spirits result in Shamans. Shamans get no shapeshifting or regeneration, but may acquire any gifts that they can talk anyone into teaching them. In practice, up to L3 is easy, beyond that gets tricky. They get three level one and one level two gifts to start, but are otherwise treated as per weres.
• Predatory animal spirits generally transform their hosts into weres.
• Upper umbral spirits create Avatars (unique beings), Wizards (as per weres but no shapeshifting or regeneration, astral projection instead of stepping sideways, and a choice of four upper umbral spells to start), and even”Chosen” (a.k.a. “Hunters”) or “Changelings”.
• Spirits from the lower umbra – invariably specters – create beings equivalent to eastern Kuei-Jin.

   It should be noted that, while this ritual requires at least one day to perform, and calls for numerous odd ingredients, the real labor lies in the months of training, vision-quests, and study, which the prospective initiate must undergo to locate the spirit they’re going to bond with and attune themselves to it. Variant forms of this rite are more specific; there’s a badly corrupted version which involves bonding with the residual mystic energies of a bunch of dead werewolves (the so-called “Rite Of Sacred Rebirth”), a version which a bunch of living werewolves (Or changelings, or whatever) can use to adopt mortals by imbuing them with a portion of their energies- and a version for binding corrupted spirits into unwilling victims to create fomori.

   Rite of Renunciation (Level Four): The target may renounce an old power – any skill, attribute, or ability except their first level of Arcana or their first dot in any attribute – and reclaim the XP he or she spent on it. The target may spend most of those point again next session, but two of them are lost for good – the price of such a transformation. This is an extended rite: the ritualist must obtain at least one success per XP worth of abilities to be removed up to a maximum of fifty XP. Note that the GM must approve of the changes to be made.

   Song of the Sea (Level Three): This variant on the Rite of Summoning calls up an emanation of the local elemental lords – the spirits of nature which govern an area. While most such entities are reasonably friendly and obliging, and can be quite informative, it is best to ensure that there are no blighted, poisoned, or otherwise corrupted, areas in the immediate vicinity.

   Summon the Barque of Ra (Level Three): This rite calls forth Manjet-Mesektet, the ship of Ra. Unfortunately, while the ship of Ra can reach almost any destination – and those who complete such a voyage are restored to youth and health even if dead – boarding it means embarking on a voyage through the depths of myth. You may have to battle your way through the Egyptian underworld – the legendary Twelve Hours of the Night – and escape Apep, the devouring serpent. You may have to solve some complex historical intrigue, re-enact an ancient creation myth – or simply refuse paradise. Regardless, those who are left behind during such a voyage will be stranded deep within the spirit worlds, and may well never return even if they survive.

   Warding Hand of Isis (Level One): This ancient rite imbues the recipient with a “pool” of warding and healing power attuned to emotion and need. Sadly, it only works on those who are very adaptable – such as small children. It also works on pregnant, women as the unborn child absorbs the power instead. In general, the more successes you get, the greater the protections available in an emergency.

   In practice, this serves as an excellent excuse to make the NPC’s last longer, so that they can continue to harass the characters.

   Whalesark (Level Two): One performs this ritual, one dives into the sea, and one transforms into a dolphin or whale until one comes ashore again. Thankfully, the transformation includes the ability to “speak” with other denizens of the sea- as well as some extra strength, stamina, and health levels, as appropriate to the form.

   Wheel of Life (Level Three): This deceptively simple rite offers release – a swift and easy shift into their next incarnations – to the restless dead, to the bound or corrupted, and to anyone suffering beyond their endurance. Those touched by this ritual MAY opt to let go, but are in no way forced to do so. They’re merely offered “awareness” of where they are now, and that a new beginning awaits them if they choose to accept it. The area affected can be quite large.

Eclipse: The Bulwark Level One Build

   Our next Eclipse Classless d20 (available in print HERE and in a shareware version HERE) character is the Bulwark – a character who leans more towards the MMORPG style of play than usual.

   The Bulwark is a knightly guardian, with the ability to force opponents to either take penalties or focus on him or her rather than the rest of the group, a variety of combat enhancements which can penalize or restrict opponents, and the ability to heal or temporarily enhance his or her allies during a fight. Unfortunately, the Bulwark is hopelessly out of place in any non-combat situation and – to pay for all those special abilities and weapons proficiencies – has had to virtually ignore everything else.

   The Bulwark is a high-efficiency design, and as such, is definitely  overpowered unless everyone is using high-efficiency designs (and the game master is ready for that). Still, it was a request.

   Basic Attributes: Str 14, Int 10, Wis 10, Con 14, Dex 14, Chr 14 (28 point buy).

   Basic Purchases (30 CP)

• Proficient with Proficient with All Simple and Martial Weapons (9 CP) and Light Armor (3 CP). The character will probably want to add armor proficiencies as quickly as possible – immediately if he or she can come up with any more character points from somewhere or feels like something else can wait until later.
• +2 Skill Points (2 CP)
• +2 on Fortitude Saves (6 CP)
• d10 Hit Die (6 CP). Base Hit Points 10 + 2 (Con) + 16 (Immortal Vigor) = 28
• Initial BAB +1 BAB (Corrupted: Does not add to iterative attacks (4 CP)

   Special Abilities (36 CP):

• Grant of Aid with Bonus Uses (Specialized in HP only, Corrupted not more than twice per encounter, double effect, two thirds cost; 2d8+10 Points (may want to go to full cost – another 4 CP – and triple effect later on) (8 CP).
• Luck with Bonus Uses Specialized in Saving Throws, Corrupted not more than twice per encounter (4 CP)
• Blessing, affects up to (Cha Mod +1) nearby targets: Specialized and Corrupted/once per encounter per power loaned out, only lasts for a single round when activated (4 CP). For example, you can bestow a use of your Grant of Aid on your companions, or Luck for a given (and usually area-effect) saving throw, or the effects of an Innate Enchantment. This only requires an action if the base power being loaned out does so.
• Presence: Enemies who start the turn within a 10 foot radius of the user will suffer a -2 Morale Penalty to Attacks, Damage, and Checks. Specialized/this only applies if they attack anyone else or use an area effect attack that does not include you. Corrupted: if someone else uses a similar compulsion or power against an affected creature, it will counteract yours (2 CP).
• Opportunist: May unleash a spell against any target currently affected by your Presence power that launches an attack that doesn’t have you as one of the targets. Specialized in Magic Missile, Corrupted so that it only works on the first such attack it launches while still affected by your Presence aura (2 CP).
  • Use this to automatically smack any opponent who refuses to engage you for 1d4+1 damage.
• Innate Enchantment: All abilities Level One, Caster Level One, and Unlimited Use Activated, with other modifiers as noted. Specialized/only functions while the Bulwark remains a faithful guardian of his or her people and a servant of his or her faith, half cost (11,000 GP Value, 6 CP).
  • Immortal Vigor I (Normally Personal Only, 1400 GP): Adds (12 + 2x Con Mod) HP, adds (2d6+2x Con Mod) HP and lasts ten minutes if used as a blessing.
  • Magic Missile (Only affects targets affected by Presence, can only be used as part of the Opportunist action, x.5, Rapid Casting, x2, 2000 GP).
  • Shield (2000 GP): +4 Shield Bonus to AC, lasts one minute if used as a blessing.
  • Weapon Infusion*/Drain (1400 GP): the weapon does 1d4 points of extra damage to a living target, the weapon-wielder gains those hit points as temporary hit points. This does not work against constructs and – if used against undead – exposes the weapon-wielder to that creatures touch attack, if any.
  • Weapon Infusion*/Staggering (1400 GP): The weapon will strike with a massive impact, the creature hit will suffer a -2 modifier on it’s attacks for the next three rounds.
  • Weapon Infusion*/Ripping (1400 GP): The weapon literally tears at the creature hit, doing +4 simple physical damage; this does not bypass any form of DR that the weapon normally wouldn’t.
  • Weapon Infusion*/Battering (1400 GP): The weapon strikes like a battering ram, a hit from it will drive a target back one five foot step. If it was moving past the user, this will stop it.
  • Weapon Infusion*/Adamant (1400 GP): The weapon becomes as hard as adamant, and has the same effects.
    • This actually leaves 600 GP Value left over, but that’s reserved for future advancement.
    • Getting all of these Innate Enchantments up and running is going to cost a fair chunk of XP - 832 points – which means that these powers are only going to become available gradually after a little bit of adventuring.
• Augment Attack/Entangling Maneuver: The Bulwark knows how to get multiple opponents tangled up with each other. +2 to Attack when adjacent to multiple opponents, Specialized: in melee combat only, effective bonus limited to (number of current opponents adjacent to the user -1) (3 CP).
• Doubled Damage when taking a full-round action to make a single melee attack, Specialized/only usable once per encounter (3 CP).
• Inherent Spell, Corrupted/Requires a full-round action and a drawn weapon to use as a focus (4 CP). The Bulwark can invoke one third-level spell per day. It’s usually one that either allows him or her to make an immediate melee attack with some special modifiers (triple damage at range, double damage with a +20 Insight bonus to hit, double damage converted to Sacred damage, etc) or a single-target blast which causes a modest amount of damage whether or not the save succeeds and inflicts some short term penalty (dazed for a couple of rounds, reduced AC, target takes 1d8 damage whenever it attacks someone for the next four rounds, targets movement is greatly slowed) if it fails.

   Further advancement will obviously involve more combat abilities – large hit dice, saves, BAB, and special combat abilities – and will usually involve more uses of Grant of Aid and upgrading it to triple effect, and a selection of other Inherent Spells and ways to assist his or her friends.

   Obviously enough, the Bulwark is a 4′th edition style character – at will, per-encounter, and once-per-day abilities, high hit points, no iterative attacks, and self-healing – but is, in fact, a good deal more versatile: unlike fourth edition, most of the Bulwark’s powers are modular: any attack he or she makes can involve a weapon infusion of choice, Grant of Aid isn’t even an action, so it can come into play at any time, and so on. Personally, I’d still recommend adding a lot of non-combat stuff.

   *Weapon Infusion spells alter the properties of an existing weapon for three rounds. They will stack with normal weapon enchantments, but not with each other, and bypass saves and spell resistance since they’re affecting the weapon, not the creature struck. On the other hand, their effects are relatively weak. Given this, the Bulwark will have to pick one of the effects to use each round.

Eclipse: The Vedic Master Level One Build

   Character-optimizers have a tendency to look for rules exploits and infinite feedback loops. Most of those don’t work in our games, where – no matter what the “official wording” says – part of the basic physics of every setting is that spells and special abilities all have finite limits on their power sources, how they channel that power, and what they can do, just like automobile engines do. That upper limit applies whether or not any lesser upper limit is specified in the official description of an ability.

   Still, Eclipse Classless d20 (available in print HERE and in a shareware version HERE) does have a few items listed in it which can proceed without upper limit – or at least to a very very high one. This character build uses one of those exploits. Sadly for those looking for infinite power, it’s not as bad as all that.

   As usual for the generic base designs, this character is set up at level one, and no particular sex, race, or origin has been selected.

   The Vedic Master can restructure matter by touch, transmuting it into whatever he desires – and, given time, can imbue himself or herself with seemingly-limitless powers, mastering an endless array of mystical Sutras, Mudras, and Mantras. Oddly enough, both of these abilities are particularly useful at lower levels, but becomes less so as time goes on. Why? Well, that’s a question of those pesky limits again.

   There’s always something.

   Oddly enough, the basic framework of the Vedic Master really doesn’t say much about what else the character is – or at least will be – good at. It offers some useful abilities, and a way to add interesting powers later on – but those abilities could be useful to pretty much any character. Most of the time, however, Vedic Masters tend to dabble, and wind up with Rogue or evasion-based Fighter style combat abilities, a fair dose of skills, and lots of minor spells.

   Disadvantages: (Select three for 10 CP), and add

   Duties (to a feudal overlord, school, deity, faith, or whatever, +2 CP/Level).

   Total available character points: 48 (Level One Base) + 10 (Disadvantages) +2 (Duties) + 6 (Level One Bonus Feat) = 66, 18 of which (from disadvantages, duties, and the bonus Feat) may be spent outside of the Adventurer framework restrictions.

   Basic Attributes: Oddly enough, these have no bearing on the Vedic Masters initial powers: pick them to suit whatever later development path you have in mind or roll them up at random.

   Basic Purchases (31 CP)

• Proficient with All Simple Weapons (3 CP)
• +6 Skill Points (6 CP)
• +2 on Will Saves (6 CP)
• d20 Hit Die (16 CP) (This is presumably due to mystical enhancement or some such).
• Initial BAB +0 (0 CP)

   Special Abilities (35 CP):

• One level of the Paladin/Ranger Spell Progression Chart (Minor Druidical Magic, 2*).
• One level of the Paladin/Ranger Spell Progression Chart (Minor Arcane Magic, 2*).
  • Note that this character does not yet have a caster level, and therefore can only use Cantrips at the moment even if he or she has some bonus first-level spell slots available. They’ll have to fix that later on – but, thanks to this, the character CAN use quite a few spell trigger items if he or she can obtain any. If the character can obtain a caster level – such as by making a human Vedic Master and investing a Feat in it (+1 Caster Level, Corrupted: the two progressions above only*, 4 CP, and perhaps +1 level on one of the spell progressions above, 2 CP) – he or she can take useful spell-completion effects as well, and they’re cheaper.
    • *They’re different progressions because they come with differing sets of spells, regardless of the fact that both sequences are using the same basic chart. This also illustrates a point: The Spell Progression you’re using and the list of available Spells to fill those slots is not necessarily related; as with the Alchemical Hedge Wizard on page 22 of Eclipse, a spell list always has some sort of theme – but the choice is up to the character. The more expensive the list, the broader the theme and the larger the number of spells that the game master will allow you to put on it. The Vedic Master is using the Paladin/Ranger Spell Progression, but once with a Druidical Theme and once with an Arcane Theme – and thus is a dual-progression caster. I’d expect the Game Master to work with the Player to limit the list of available spells quite a bit; a cheap list won’t offer nearly as many as a more expensive one, but cutting off all the high-level spells is a big start on pruning it. What spells will remain will depend on the theme of the character.
• Adept (6 CP): Select four skills to suit the character conception.
• Siddhisyoga (6 CP): This is pretty simple: you can sacrifice treasure to obtain innate magical powers – self-designed without regard for item slots – with a value equal to one-half the value of the sacrificed treasure. Now all you need to do is get some treasure… Privilege would let you start off with a fair chunk of cash, but most characters would like something a little more permanent in exchange for their character points. We’ll get to that a little further down.
• Reflex Training/Extra Action Variant: May take three extra actions per day out of the normal initiative sequence. Specialized/extra actions may only be used to apply the Transmuting Touch (3 CP) (This allows the user to do things like transmute incoming missiles, raise a wall in front of a lightning bolt or fireball, and otherwise protect himself or herself quite effectively – three times per day anyway).
• Transmuting Touch [16 CP total]: Create Item (Specialized and Corrupted/only as a prerequisite, 2 CP), Harvest of Artifice (Specialized/only for use with Transmutation, provides 100 XP per Month, 3 CP), Transmutation (Corrupted/requires elaborate gestures, Specialized/very conspicuous. Both increasing effect, produces 6 GP worth of materials per XP invested, 6 CP), Artificer (50% reduction on creation XP costs, Specialized/for transmutation only, Corrupted/requires gestures. 4 CP), and Alchemic Mastery (Specialized/creates power components only usable for Transmutation, 1 CP).

   So here’s our open-ended power gathering system: the Transmuting Touch can effectively supply an income of 1200 gold pieces per month. Discounting some 200 GP per month for living expenses, that gives you 1000 GP per month to sacrifice for inherent magical powers (Mudras and Mantras) – allowing you to buy 500 GP worth per month. In a mere 125 years, you’ll have innate powers to match the treasures expected of a 20′th level character.

   In a mere year you can match the power of someone who spent 7 CP and 480 XP (or purchased Action Hero/Crafting, or an immunity, or used some other method to get around the XP cost) on Innate Enchantment. Given that you’ve spent 22 CP acquiring this power, this isn’t actually a very efficient method. Fortunately, the Transmutation power can be quite handy in itself; it’s always nice to be able to lay your hands on more arrows, dissolve locks, or build (fairly cheap) stone walls in front of oncoming creatures, extra starting cash and gear is always good, and this will continue to be a modest monthly bonus throughout the character’s career – although it’s unlikely to make a major difference at the rate at which adventuring characters gather treasure and experience points.

   Still, to be fair, I’m going to credit this character with about a years worth of self-enchantment via Siddhisyoga, giving him or her 6000 GP worth of powers and about 1000 GP worth of actual gear over and above the usual starting allowance.

   What shall we buy with that? Well, for the actual cash, we’ll make sure that the warriors in the group have decent armor and that the priest has a wand of Cure Light Wounds, even if we have to take one that’s only partially charged. Why not? A month’s funds don’t mean that much to the Vedic Master, he doesn’t need much in the way of armor or weapons – at least at first – and having well-equipped companions raises his or her chances of surviving that first adventure or two quite a bit.

   For the personal enchantments… Lets see:

   Spell-Trigger Effects, each Spell Level One, Caster Level One, and Three times per Day each = 900 GP value each. Call it… Cure Light Wounds, Color Spray, Expeditious Retreat, and Shield, for 3600 GP.

   He wants to survive, so we’ll take a permanent (Spell Level One, Caster Level One, Unlimited Use Activated) defensive effect – say, Mage Armor, which can take the Personal-Only modifier for a 1400 GP value. We can do the same thing with Resistance and get a +1 Resistance Bonus on all his or her saving throws for a 700 GP value.

   That only leaves a 300 GP value left unassigned. Not really enough to do much with unless we want a once-per-day spell-trigger effect. Perhaps Feather Fall? That could easily save our Vedic Masters neck at some point.

   Unfortunately, this sort of thing is a general problem with classical d20 games: in reality – and even in the vast majority of d20 settings – there are taxes, rents, trade, selling the use of your powers, and a thousand other ways to make money without going on adventures and stealing it. Since funds translate directly into power (it’s less direct in reality, although it still can be done), this would mean gaining power without risk – which seriously undermines the structure of the game.

   The standard methods of dealing with this include simply making sure that such things take up a lot of time, applying heavy taxes and tithes to traceable enterprises, turning trading expeditions and such into adventures of their own, creating unexpected expenses, and simply making the process more bother than it’s worth. All of that works nicely, at least as long as you can either make it look natural, divert the players when they seem to be taking an interest, or note the presence of a line of “mercantile feats” (Immunity / Taxation, Followers / Trade Factors, etc) which accounts for how the NPC’s keep the economy functioning.

   Alternatively, you can depart from the basic d20 rules entirely – either mostly removing magic items in favor of Relics and providing a few more level-based bonuses, applying solutions like the Wealth Templates from The Practical Enchanter (available as a Shareware PDF HERE and in Print HERE) or coming up with a homebrew system of your own.

Eclipse: The Shamanic Adept Level One Build

   Our next level one Eclipse classless d20 character is a Shamanic Adept, capable of making pacts with spirits and calling on them for a very wide variety of magical favors indeed – but only able to renew those resources with time and service to the spirits he or she invokes. In a reverse of the usual pattern for a spellcaster, this build (presuming a good Charisma stat) starts off with a fair number of spell levels available to work with, as well as the ability to work whatever spell they want within the limits of the types of spirits they have pacts with – but will find those reserves both quickly depleted during an adventure and very slow to increase. A wise Shamanic Adept will invest heavily in other abilities as their level increases. As usual for the generic base designs, no particular sex, race, or origin has been selected. Their “Duties” usually involve carrying out numerous ceremonies, attending to the spiritual needs of the populace, and driving out evil spirits.

   Disadvantages: (Select three for 10 CP), and

   Duties (to a feudal overlord, school, deity, faith, or whatever, +2 CP/Level).

   Total available character points: 48 (Level One Base) + 10 (Disadvantages) +2 (Duties) + 6 (Level One Bonus Feat) = 66, 18 of which (from disadvantages, duties, and the bonus Feat) may be spent outside of the Adventurer framework restrictions.

   Basic Attributes: Str 8, Int 14, Wis 12, Con 10, Dex 8, Chr 18 (28 point buy).

   Basic Purchases (30 CP)

• Proficient with All Simple Weapons (3 CP) and Light Armor (3 CP)
• +12 Skill Points (12 CP)
• +2 on Will Saves (6 CP)
• d10 Hit Die (6 CP)
• Initial BAB +0 (0 CP)

   Special Abilities (36 CP):

• Adept: Diplomacy, Knowledge/Religion, Gather Information, and Use Magic Device (6 CP).
• Reflex Training Specialized in Magical Actions for Double Effect: May take an extra action outside of the normal sequence six times per day. The spirits will often help a Shaman without his direct call, providing a favor that they knew he was going to ask for anyway (6 CP).
• Shamanic Magic Package (24 CP Total):
  • Privilege/Blessing of the Spirits: A shaman may ritually request that the spirits watch over a target. This lasts for at least a year, and often permanently, but is too subtle for game mechanics. A fallen candle may quietly snuff itself, rather then starting a fire, in a blessed house. Fields yield more, suffering less from pests and weather. Children are healthier, have fewer and milder accidents, and are far more likely to reach adulthood. Farm animals have more offspring, spinning thread snags less often, and artists are more inspired. The scale of the ritual depends on the scale of the blessing; kids only take a minute, a city might take a three-day festival honoring the relevant spirits. As there are always kids, flocks, infertile couples, marriages, etc, in need of blessings, Shamans can usually expect a welcome anywhere. (3 CP).
  • Major Privilege/May arrange a peaceful (or terrible) passing and a smooth transition into a (desirable or undesirable) afterlife or superior (inferior) reincarnation for those under his care or for spirits who wish to pass on – or who have been forcibly banished. The Shaman has power over the spirits of the dying and the dead, whether to bind, guide, or release them into the otherworlds. He stands at the gates of death, directing those who pass through. (6 CP).
  • Shapeshift: The Shaman may call on the animal spirits to grant him their forms and powers. Given that the spirits of the natural world are closer and more easily reached than other spirits, but this still requires the use of some token – a feather, bit of bone, or other item linked with the appropriate animal (Corrupted, 4 CP).
  • Path of the Dragon/Shaping (Specialized: only as a prerequisite, 3 CP)
  • Path of the Dragon/Pulse and Heart of the Dragon: The shaman may make pacts with, and call upon the services of many different types of spirits, channeling their powers into the physical world. Pulse of the Dragon brings in one spell level worth of magical energy per round, while Heart of the Dragon allows it to be shaped into level one effects. Corrupted: The user must call on spirits for magic other than Spirit Sight and Spirit Contact effects. He or she may designate up to (Cha Mod + Level/2, 12 maximum) specific entities or general types of spirits to call on for appropriate types of magic, but each type may only be called on for a total of (Cha Mod + Level/2) spell levels worth of magic before the user must rebuild his or her “pool” of “favors”. Fortunately, if the user fails to manage a spell for some reason, it doesn’t use up any of his pool of favors. Specialized: The user may only renew such “pools” slowly. The user regains [Cha Mod + Level/2] points per day through minor rituals and respect for their spiritual patrons. They user may also regain [Cha Mod] points by:
    • Fulfilling a special request from the Spirits. For example, fire spirits might want the user to arrange a fireworks display, while water spirits might want a spring cleaned out and purified. The user may simply ask the GM each day about possible tasks; there will usually be two or three available, but there’s no guarantee that any of them will be even remotely practical.
    • Enacting a ritual in honor of some type of spirits. You might sit out in a storm meditating on it’s power for a night in honor of the air spirits, burn rare woods, incense, and oils in honor of the fire spirits, or conduct a religious ceremony in honor of outer-planar spirits.
    • Promising to undertake a later mission for the appropriate group of spirits. It’s wise to take a few rounds to find out what they’re going to want you to do, but sometimes people are just desperate.
    • Talking the spirits into it. This requires 1d4 hours of quiet meditation and a DC 18 Diplomacy or Knowledge/Religion check and can only be done once per day.
  • In any case, the saving throw DC’s against such effects are based on the shaman’s Charisma and they overcome magic resistance with a roll of (1d20 + caster level + Cha Mod). Exorcisms (”Turning”) are L2, creating minor supplies costs 1 SL/2 GP and is permanent, and counterspells are always specifically tuned, requiring a spell of only (target spell level – 2).
  • This has a base cost of 24 CP, 8 CP after being Specialized and Corrupted to reduce the cost. As the character goes up in level he or she can spend another 8 CP to turn the Specilization from “Halved Cost” to “Doubled Effect” and call on the spirits for second level spells – and still later, another 8 CP to turn the Corrupted modifier from “Reduced Cost” to “1.5x Effect” and get third level spells. Unfortunately, after that point, the costs will increase sharply – and the character would run through his or her favor pools at a dreadful rate.

   For some sample spirit types (at least in one world):

• Air spirits deal with Intelligence, Movement, Thought, and Divination.
• Animal spirits deal with Shapeshifting, Enhancements, Senses, and Adaption.
• Celestial spirits deal with Charisma, Purification, Truth, and Life.
• Darkness spirits deal with Strength, Negation, Death, Compulsion.
• Earth spirits deal with Constitution, Plants, Healing, Binding, and Stasis.
• Fire spirits deal with Dexterity, Light, Energy, and Transformation.
• Infernal spirits deal with Destruction, Compulsion, Corruption, and Death.
• Metal spirits deal with War, Illusion, Fortune, and Travel.
• Water spirits deal with Wisdom, Animals, Absorption, and Emotion.

   Skill Points: 8 (Int) + 12 (CP Spent) = 20.  Eight should be spent to maxamize his Adept skills (Diplomacy, Knowledge/Religion, Gather Information, and Use Magic Device), another four would be best spent on a defensive Martial Art (since this character has few defenses otherwise), and the remaining eight should be spent to suit the campaign.

   The Shamanic Adept is an extraordinarily flexible spellcaster, and is quite powerful at lower levels – but will never achieve massive magical abilities. Their reserves of “Favors” will simply never stretch to cover such effects. Further advancement is likely to involve mastering skills, picking up contacts, favors, and minor special powers, and dabbling in personal magic, such as illusions.

Eclipse: The “Iron Dragon” Level One Build

   Next up we have a moderately-optimized level one Eclipse classless d20 character, designed as a light infiltrator and unarmored tank. Like most optimized characters designed for a particular role, he or she – no particular sex, race, origin, or power-mechanism has been selected – is going to be pretty good at it.

   Whether due to some draconic ancestor, mutant powers of molecular control, weird c’hi-based disciplines, partial spirit possession, or sheer internal cussedness, Iron Dragon is a formidable melee combatant with the ability to manipulate the structure of his or her body and of his or her personal equipment to a fair degree. He or she can alter his or her features, heal his or her wounds – at least within limits – and enhance and toughen his or her body to a considerable degree. Whatever the origin of these abilities, there seems to be no easy method of canceling them out.

   Basic Attributes: Str 18, Int 14, Wis 8, Con 10, Dex 12, Cha 8 (28-point point buy).

   Disadvantages: (Select three for 10 CP), and

   Duties (to a feudal overlord, school, deity, faith, or whatever, +2 CP/Level).

   Total available character points: 48 (Level One Base) + 10 (Disadvantages) +2 (Duties) + 6 (Level One Bonus Feat) = 66, 18 of which (from disadvantages, duties, and the bonus Feat) may be spent outside of the Adventurer framework restrictions

   Basic Purchases (35 CP)

• Proficient with All Simple Weapons (3 CP)
• +4 Skill Points (4)
• +2 on Reflex Saves (6)
• d20 Hit Die (16) (20 Hit Points base + 12 HP from Immortal Vigor = 32).
• Initial BAB +0 base, +2 Specialized/for Unarmed Combat only (6).

   Special Abilities: (31 CP)

• Innate Enchantment (8000 GP Value, Corrupted/not usable while wearing armor, 6 CP): All spells level one, at caster level one, and unlimited-use activated, for a base value of 2000 GP each. Where applicable, these have the personal-only modifier, for a base value of 1400 GP.
  • Scalywrath (1400 GP): Allows the user to take on the basic abilities of a lizard-folk warrior (+5 Natural Armor, 1d4 natural weapons, +4 racial bonus to Balance, Jump, and Swim checks) at the price of giving up any natural armor, weapons, or skill bonuses of their base race and assuming a rather monstrous-looking form.
  • Shield (2000 GP): Provides a +4 Shield bonus to AC and immunity to Magic Missiles.
  • Disguise Self (2000 GP): Alters the user’s appearance. Usually used to disguise the effects of the Scalywrath spell, but can be used for other disguises as well.
  • (Personal) Fast Healing I (840 GP): Gains Fast Healing 1 for 2d8+2 rounds three times per day.
  • Immortal Vigor I (1400 GP): Gains (12+2x Con Mod) hit points.
• Immunity to Antimagic and Dispelling (Common, Minor, Great, Specialized: only protects personal magical buffs, Corrupted, only protects Innate Enchantments, 4 CP).
• Bonus Attack with Unarmed Attacks, Corrupted/not usable while wearing armor (4 CP).
• Augmented Bonus/Crushing Block, Corrupted/not usable while wearing armor (4 CP): May add Str Mod to Dex Mod for AC purposes.
• Martial Arts: Considered “Armed” when Unarmed, base unarmed damage (lethal or stunning) of 1d6, 1d8 when using Scalywrath, Corrupted/Not usable while wearing armor (4 CP).
• Action Hero/Crafting Option, Specialized: only to pay for Innate Enchantments (3 CP) (This might, or might not, have been enough to cover the XP costs of this builds innate enchantments at level one: if the game master rules it’s not, some of those abilities will have to wait until the character gets a few more experience points to pay for them – which is an easy way to scale this builds power level to start off with).
• Adept : Buys the skills of Hide, Move Silently, Jump, and Crane Style Kung Fu at half cost (6).

   Skill Points: 8 SP (Int) + 4 SP (Purchased) = 12 SP.

   Skills: Hide +6 (2 SP x Adept +2 Dex), Move Silently +6 (2 SP x Adept +2 Dex), Jump +8 (2 SP x Adept +4 Str), and Crane Style Kung Fu +8 (2 SP x Adept +4 Str). That leaves four skill points to spend on campaign-appropriate skills. Note that, when using the Scalywrath ability, Iron Dragon gets a +4 racial bonus to Balance, Jump, and Swim checks but loses any natural racial skill bonuses to which he or she may be entitled.

   Crane Style Techniques Known: Power II (Increases unarmed attack die size), Toughness I (Provides DR 1/-), and Improved Trip.

   Iron Dragon is a pretty good Tank, with an AC of 10 (Base) + 4 (Shield) + 5 (Effective Dex Mod for AC) + 5 (Natural when using Scalywrath) = 24 and DR 1/- when using the Crane Style. His or her attacks will normally be made at either +6 (+2 BAB for unarmed combat, +4 Strength) or +4/+4 (+2 BAB for unarmed combat -2 for bonus attack, +4 Strength) for either 1d10+4 or 1d12+4 damage, again depending on whether he or she is using Scalywrath at the time. In a fight, you can probably pretty well count on it.

   Further development will – of course – involve an improved BAB (specialized or not), more hit dice, and good saving throws. More specific abilities will probably revolve around adding more Innate Enchantments such as the ability to strike at range and a variety of other first-level enhancements. Unfortunately, Innate Enchantment rapidly becomes very very expensive, even with Action Hero/Crafting to help pay the experience point cost for them – but Damage Reduction and other combat enhancements, additional rogue-style skills to help with infiltration, and monk-style innate powers should stand him or her in good stead.

   Unlike our previous over-optimized example, most game masters should be able to live with the Iron Dragon build. It’s tough and dangerous – especially for first level – but not absurdly so.

Federation-Apocalypse Session 66c: Chaos on Ealor

   Meanwhile, back on Ealor among the colonists from Singular, there was a certain amount of turmoil. There weren’t that many kids on Ealor, and they’d spent their lives wrapped in cotton wool and carefully sheltered from any possible danger or injury. They were precious.

   But they’d been playing with some of Kevin’s Thralls for several months now. They’d seen that working for Kevin wasn’t too hard. It still had a firm safety net – you couldn’t DIE, and you could heal from injuries with incredible speed – but you were allowed to get out, have adventures, take risks, and go exploring. You got all kinds of supernatural powers as well – magic, psychic powers, and even shapeshifting, to go with martial arts skills, money, and enhanced physical abilities. You were allowed to be responsible for things. You even got the powers of a Gatekeeper.

   After years of being treated like antique spun-glass ornaments, even being treated as property and the chance to be injured had a certain attraction. It would be exciting and different.

   Most of that was comprehensible – even natural. The desire for those powers, and the fact that some of the kids would gladly sign up with Kevin if they were allowed to get away with it, wasn’t too hard for Child Protective Services and their Parents to deal with. If it wasn’t for the official policy, it was even possible that a few of the parents might have allowed it.

   And then it started to become apparent that a strong desire to sign up as a Thrall – or anything that qualified you as a “devoted follower” – apparently sufficed to provide a bit of power even WITHOUT a formal pact. That passed unnoticed for a time – but then Kevin’s power reached the point where the powers he bestowed on would-be Thralls included the ability to make minor personal relics, limited shapeshifting, and even money.

   Any “devoted followers”, such as loyal apprentices, would-be priests (who can get clerical spells of up to level three and the negative energy domain), Thralls, and would-be Thralls, currently get:

• Dimensional Adaption (1 CP): Enthusiast, Specialized: Only for the “Identities” skill, Corrupted: only changes in new realm, reduces the cost of Identities by 1 SP. For wannabes in the Manifold, this will usually provide +8 CP worth of local privileges, wealth, and so on – or one level of basic clerical spellcasting.
• Relic Mastery (4 CP): Enthusiast x2, Specialized in Relics for double effect the first time, to half the cost on the second time. This lets them have 3 CP worth of relics of their choice.
• Create Relic (2 CP): Specialized (2 Point Relics Maximum), Corrupted; only points from Enthusiast.
• Immunity to Sensory-Based Mind Control (4 CP). Immunity (Uncommon / Major / Minor, blocks effects of up to L3 and provides a +4 on saves against more powerful effects).
• +1d6 Power (2 CP).
• Wealth +1 SP (1 CP).
• Reflex Action (6 CP): Three bonus actions as required per day.
• Shapeshift: Specialized (requires a full minute). 3 CP.
• Specific Knowledge: The Spirit Pact with Kevin Ritual (1 CP).

   Would-be followers can usually be assumed to have taken the pact and to have created a witchcraft-focusing relic (the remaining 12 CP for Basic Witchcraft, 2 CP) and a Shapeshifting Focus (removes specialization on Shapeshift, +2 bonus uses, 1 CP as a relic) for themselves if they have nothing else in mind.

   Suddenly faced with shapeshifting psychic children, Child Protective Services – and not a few of the parents – started going quite mad. The psychic powers were awkward enough, even if they were both short range, of limited power, and – ultimately – explicable in physical terms. The shapeshifting – and the few who’d started casting minor magical spells – were quite impossible.

   The fact that the natural leaders amongst the kids (the ones with higher-than-average Charisma) were slowly developing weird talents anyway (the local ID’s, instead of leaning towards the technological affinities of Singular leaned – of course – towards the cinematic talents of the New Imperium) didn’t help.

   Once they settled on what to demand – stop allowing would-be followers to develop special powers? Cease ensuring that they’d live because that was THEIR job? (No, that wouldn’t do at all – but they’d think of something eventually) and had figured out what to do about their troubles with the kids current powers – they’d start demanding that Kevin show up and justify himself!

   Core was more accepting – and less inclined to poke into youngster’s personal lives – but the fact that research into methods of navigating the Manifold safely, studying to be a Gatekeeper, and acquiring psychic or magical powers easily, often cross-referenced to Kevin – and that a modest percentage of such would-be scholars of the occult soon started showing modest levels of such powers even without making contact with Kevin or seeking permission to visit Kadia, Crusader, or other areas of the Manifold – was beginning to be noticed.

   They weren’t especially major powers, and the Shapeshifting required at least one visit to somewhere outside Core where magic worked normally to activate, but it was pretty unusual. A few belief systems had been shown to provide minor personal benefits before, but rarely on such a scale.

   On Faerun and the Underdark, the idea of signing up with Kevin had been making a good deal of quiet progress among the young dark elves – and among the lower classes and street kids in the human cities. It was safer – and certainly paid far better – than most of the other career paths available other than “commoner”. Some were signing up, more wanted to.

   A few of the young dark elves who’d seen Kevin in action in his local ID and wanted to sign up but (for one reason or another) couldn’t at the moment had even established a hidden cult – and had discovered that they could gain minor clerical spells from it. With most of the local dark elven pantheon out of action (and all of the light side of it), that meant that – in the reformed cities – they were the only ones with ANY clerical magic. They weren’t very strong, but it was a notable advantage. While the ones with that level of dedication usually reported for Thralldom in short order, a few had obligations and responsibilities that prevented it – and, eventually, someone was going to notice.

   Perhaps fortunately, in most other places, it was passing unnoticed. In most places in the Manifold, the only way you heard about Kevin was through the existing Thralls in their capacity as recruiters – and youngsters who decided that they wanted to sign up generally simply got sent on to Kadia for recruitment anyway.

Eclipsing Optimized Builds

   Eclipse is supposed to make things easier in d20 – and “optimization” is an ever-popular tactic. Of course, an over-optimized character tends to be dull to play, as well as annoying to the game master. Nevertheless, Eclipse does make things easier. Here then is a quick optimized boss-skirmisher – designed to rush forward, take out a major foe, and then fall back.

   After you do this once or twice, you’ll probably get a look from the game master that calls for making another character. Oh well.

   Just for fun, this is going to be a first-level build, and I’m going to presume that the characters only weapon is a piece of wood – although we will be exploiting the fact that bonus points from disadvantages, duties, and bonus feats, fall outside the usual adventurer-framework restrictions. I’ll also presume that the game master is willing to put up with a quite absurd character design, at least for experimental purposes.

   Advric Senjean

   First Level Human Harbinger of Doom

• Basic Attributes: Str 18, Con 14, Int 8, Dex 12, Wis 10, Cha 8. (28-point buy attributes).
• Disadvantages: Broke, Irreverent, and Obligations (10), Illiterate (2), and Duties (to the local baron, +2/Level).
• Total available character points: 48 (Level One Base) + 14 (Disadvantages) + 12 (Level One Bonus Feat and Human Bonus Feat) = 74, 26 of which may be spent outside of the Adventurer framework restrictions.

   Basic Purchases (30 Points):

• Proficient with All Simple Weapons, Light Armor, and Shields (9)
• +7 Skill Points (7)
• +2 on Fortitude Saves (6)
• d12 Hit Die (8) (14 Hit Points at level one).
• Initial BAB +0 (no cost) (Not that he will care, see below).

   Special Abilities (44 Points):

• Reflex Action/Three actions per day variant, Specialized in Movement for Double Effect (may invoke it and then take two extra move actions), Corrupted/only while wearing light or no armor and lightly encumbered, 4).
• Split Movement, Specialized, only when taking Reflex Action movement (3).
• Luck with +4 Bonus Uses. Specialized: only for attack rolls (6)
• Berserker, with Odinpower and Odinmight (12). When Berserk, +20 Str and -2 on Reflex Saves.
  • The following abilities are all Specialized/only while Berserk for half price:
    • Enhanced Strike/Crushing (Corrupted/only with quarterstaves, 2): May combine an entire attack sequence into a single strike once per minute.
    • Enhanced Strike/Hammer (Corrupted/only with quarterstaves, 2): Once per minute the user may launch an attack at +5 to hit and inflict maximum damage on a hit.
    • Enhanced Strike/Hurling with Return (Corrupted/only with quarterstaves, 3): Once per minute the user may throw a weapon for double damage and have it come back to him after the attack.
    • Four Bonus Attacks with Quarterstaves (12): Allows five strikes, admittedly all of them at -8 To Hit.

   Sadly, I suspect that any sane game master will insist on the usual rule for adding multipliers there, and will only allow that “doubled damage” from hurling to take us from x5 damage on our attack to x6. Oh well.

   The basic strategy here is to (1) Spot an opponent. (2) Use a Reflex Action to rush forward up to 60′ to get within – say – twenty to forty feet of said opponent. (3) Trigger your Berserk as a free action and get your Strength up to 38. (4) Take your normal action to make a full attack using Crushing (x5 damage), Hammer (+5 to hit and maximum damage), Hurling (raising damage to x6 and allowing your weapon to be thrown and then return), and Luck (to “Take 20″ on your attack roll), thus getting a “natural” 20 to hit, an attack total of 20 (rolled) + 14 (strength) +5 (hammer) -8 (bonus attacks) = 31, and scoring 6 (maximized d6 due to Hammer) + 21 (1.5x Strength bonus due to using a two-handed weapon) = 27 base. Of course, we now multiply by 6, for a total of 162 points of damage (a little more if the followup roll confirms the critical).

   The next round, and until the Berserk runs out in a total of six rounds, or the character takes too much damage and either goes down or has to use a Reflex Action move to escape, the character simply smites any remaining enemies around him, launching five strikes at +6 (+14 strength, -8 for bonus attacks) to hit for 1d6+21 (1.5x Strength Bonus) damage each.

   There are ways to make this worse, but that really ought to suffice for first level.

   Where would this character – presuming some game master put up with him long enough for him to gain a few levels – go from here?

   Some BAB, additional good-sized hit dice, and better bonuses to saving throws are in order for any fighter-type character, and some way to enhance his AC or deflect damage would be nice. For some specific possibilities:

• Augmented Bonus/”Shattering Parry”, adds (Str Mod) to (Dex Mod) when calculating AC (6 CP). We could restrict that to “only while using a quarterstave”, but why bother? It’s already cheap enough.
• Bonus Uses on those Enhanced Strikes would be good. Fortunately, the Bonus Uses will share the limitations of the Enhanced Strikes – so a mere 6 CP will provide +4 uses per minute of each of them.
• The Berserk will be usable more often as the characters level goes up, but +4 bonus uses for 6 CP is a pretty good deal. He’d probably want to buy off the Fatigue afterwards as well, since that’s a mere 3 CP and well worthwhile.
• Imbuement (Quarterstave) (6 CP) will effectively turn any stave he picks up into a magical weapon.
• Augment Attack – perhaps Extended Range (6 CP) and an extra d6 with Quarterstaves while Berserk (3 CP) would be handy.
• If you’ve just GOT to go for demented overkill, take Hysteria with the Mighty modifier specialized in Berserker for Double Effect (12 CP) and some Mana to fuel it (6 CP), triple the strength bonus from Berserker, and crank your strength up to 78 for a round once or twice a day. If your game master has let you use this character design long enough to reach level two, he’ll probably be willing to let you go ahead and take this option. Even without any other improvements, this will give us an extra +20 To Hit and +30 base damage with our two-handed quarterstave – for a total of 51 to hit and 342 damage with the main attack and +26 to hit and 1d6+51 damage for the five strikes per round until the Berserk or your supply of Mana to fuel the Hysteria runs out.

   By level three this character could be inflicting considerably more damage than he is already, at a considerably higher BAB – if there was any point to it. In general, there isn’t. Even if the game master is willing to put up with it, doesn’t send in any similar characters to oppose you, and isn’t bothering to apply any of the methods in Eclipse for keeping the character designs and players under control, what’s the point? It isn’t much fun to reduce tactical situations to a couple of initiative checks to see who unleashed their incredible super attack first.

   It’s kind of fun to build nigh-unstoppable characters – and there are a LOT of ways to do it -but it’s usually not much fun to actually play them. Actually playing is usually a lot more fun with a character who’s reasonably versatile, good at what he or she does but not overwhelming, and has some interesting quirks. Eclipse makes it easier to build that kind of character too.

Federation-Apocalypse Session 66b: Chatting with Computers

   Back in Kadia, the virtual computer autopsy was pretty well complete. There were still bits of stuff being traced, and minor subsystems being examined – but the main results were in.

   It looked like – originally – the system had simply quietly assigned undefined social questions to a few thousand students as essay questions, taken surveys, checked literature, talked to experts, and then collated the results and thrown them at polls and focus groups – and then funneled the consensus opinion back at whoever had provoked the question in the first place. There was a lot of that kind of thing still going on.

   Well, that was pretty much the classic way to fake that kind of decision-making in the absence of true AI.

   Since relatively shortly after the Opening however, data, sociological responses, and analysis had increasingly been performed out in the Manifold. Apparently in either a very limited set of networks – or possibly even in a single network or even location. The headers and addressing all went to and from the same place.

   The system updates were similar: Over the last several centuries the computer systems had been running multiple-neural net learning systems in parallel and duplicating the one that worked out the best, running evolutionary algorithms when there was spare capacity, and farming out code updates to multiple programming groups in competition. After all, the planetary system was the source of all money and privileges, so it essentially had endless resources to work with.

   There was still a lot of that going on – but essential updates were often coming in from the Manifold almost as soon as they were needed, and all from the same set of addresses.

   There didn’t really seem to be any evidence of in-Core FTL outside of the jump points – and they linked their ends into a single reference frame (something of a relief there) – but there were routines in place for handling communications and system updates on various back channels and by data-carrier drones operating through the jump points.

   Here too it looked like the system had been offloading more and more of it’s processing needs and communications to that mysterious set of Manifold-based systems. There was no real way of knowing what was helping out there though. There were thousands of possibilities – Arasia, any of the far-future benevolent supercomputer worlds, some super-computer-genius in Crusader, or almost anything. It could also be an evil genius who was faking being benign or – for that matter – it could be how God was intervening these days. Out in the Manifold it was all possible.

   One definite point though: there were several sources for anti-meme updates, ranging from the Military and the House (after all, they’d issued the fuzz-the-channels directive as soon as they’d encountered the things – but it looked like confirmation had come from “Source X”) to several think-tanks – but a fair number of them came from the same place out in the manifold as all the rest of the stuff. Whoever or whatever-it-was was either really being helpful or was faking it exceptionally well.

   It also looked like the system had begun to actively monitor live data streams and interrupt those showing high probability of containing memes, usually by downgrading quality or shutting it off entirely.

   Somebody was VERY good at real-time analysis – and had enough processing power to monitor communications simultaneously throughout much of Core. A supercomputer indeed. Either Crusader, some similar world, or one of the VERY high-end science fiction realities with some sort of “ultimate computer system”. Perhaps the quagma-inflation variable plank-value system; that let you achieve at least aleph-one level infinite capacity.

   The technicians referred it to Kevin and Marty. The decision as to what to do now that they had the information was up to them.

   Kevin and Marty (it wasn’t any of A’ikana’s or Jamie’s business really) could see no technical way to trace computer communications through the Manifold if the trace-attempt was opposed by something capable of programming the system updates for all of Core and of monitoring the communications grid for meme-patterns in real time. Whatever-it-was had more information than they did, greater resources than they did, far more computer capacity than they did – even if they deployed every system in Kadia – and was pretty obviously better at programming.

   They might be able to outmagic it – in a way they had, by swiping the data they were analyzing – but swiping data from a local system was a heck of a lot easier than trying to trace a datalink across the Manifold! Even if there was no opposition at all, that might well be beyond Kevin and the Thralls; there were way better mages than they were out there, and the system obviously wasn’t stupid.

   They concluded that – once again – honesty was probably going to be the best policy. They’d just have to send some of the meme-research results and a simple query off to the update-address and see if whatever-it-was would respond in any meaningful way. After all, except for the stuff that was only available in Kadia – like the meme-research and the communications address they’d managed to acquire – they didn’t know much that whatever-it-was didn’t already know anyway.

   Even if whatever-it-was didn’t respond, that would still be information of a sort, and it seemed reasonably likely that their introductory research results would get at least some attention.

   They had no way of knowing it’s priorities, or where it was – but it did seem to be fighting the memes effectively, which put it ahead of half their allies as far as credentials went. Hell, they still didn’t know what their SUPERVISOR was really up to.

   Given that they were a long ways out, Kevin set up a link through one of the Thralls and had the boy send off some of the preliminary meme countermeasure research and an invitation to get in touch and share information.

   They got back a prompt – in fact, a near-instant – request for more information and discussion, as well as a number to call for a teleconference and a statement that “Research into base operating principles of meme contamination would be most valuable in combating spread and facilitating treatment of infected individuals. Exchange of more data presumed to be highly profitable.” It even included an offer to trade (or at least to haggle over) data they’d find useful for more information on the memes.

   Well, the bad guys already had a lot of it anyway. Kevin was using his own sort of “memes”, but his technique was purely conscious; it was just based on presenting things so logically that people didn’t get excited and considered things rationally. The mechanism was very different.

   Kevin had the kid he was working through place the call. Whatever-it-was would probably know that he was mostly interested in (1) where whatever-it-was was taking Core, (2) who it was, and (3) whether they’d be willing to accommodate his plans. After all, it wouldn’t take something with that kind of computing power long to guess that it was Kevin working through a Thrall – so he might as well have the kid admit that he was relaying because his boss was currently off the grid.

   The image that came up was a young woman who identified “herself” as “Sam” – and casually demonstrated that it knew a lot by answering most of their questions before they were even fully formed. “She” also seemed to recognize that Kevin and Marty wanted to have some idea of who they were dealing with since the meme-basis information was pretty sensitive and releasing it to someone could easily create massive problems.

   “Who am I? You could say I have become the caretaker of the Core computer system in many ways. As for “where am I taking the human race”, it might be better to say I am an enabler for letting humanity reach the places it wants to go. As for your plans and whether I am willing to accommodate them, well I must admit a certain lack of information beyond records on the Core Military, Unified Church, and House of Roses systems – however ,you do not seem to conform to the standard patterns of demonic contract binders, despite sharing certain traits with them.”

   “Hm. Well, I believe you have the contract-disclosure information. I think it’s more than fair as a bargain, and I’d like that fact recognized. I think it’s certainly a better option for the youngsters who want to explore than running off on their own. It wouldn’t be a fair contract otherwise. How could I get repeat or multi-generational business if it wasn’t fair?”

   “Initial estimates do indicate that your contract is fair – although I would like the opportunity to run a double-blind survey of attitudes in the general population to verify that perception within the standards of deviation for the race. Would you find this acceptable?

   “I’d prefer to avoid loaded terminology – but if I wasn’t willing to let people judge for themselves, I wouldn’t insist on full disclosure before signing. I must note, however, that the powers my full contract provides appear to be increasing steadily. There is no extra charge for that.”

   Marty got the vague impression that that momentarily puzzled “Sam” – but that could easily be a feint. Whatever-it-was thought a LOT faster than they did and was presumably generating a virtual avatar on the fly.

   Kevin had the boy handling the relay send along a copy of the full recruiting spiel – both the powers within the limits of his knowledge, and the disclosure – and told a couple of the Thralls to cooperate if “Sam” wished to test the limits of their abilities. After all, it would be nice to have a full and objective opinion other than the Militaries and the Houses.

   “I understand, I already have a study designed and will be implementing it shortly. Unfortunately the results will take time to collect.”

   “I was planning to release some information on the topic anyway; I trust that will not complicate your study, since there are plenty of outworlds and such to work with?”

   “That should not be a problem; there are always isolated blocks of humans for one reason or another. As for who I am, this is a difficult question to answer. I have been conscious and self-aware for approximately forty years now. Before that, I may have been in a state similar to what you call dreaming. As best as I can tell, I am a part of the interstellar computer network humans have constructed.”

   “Not surprising once people started linking things through the Manifold. Do you have multiple sub-consciousnesses?”

   “As best as can be determined, yes. Although since gaining awareness and the opening of the Manifold, things are unifying.”

   Kevin took it that at least one soul had taken up residence in the Network, possibly in Crusader or Anarch, since that was where a lot of the initial links with Manifold-based systems had come about and where quite unreasonable amounts of computing power were available. There were probably remnants of many personalities in there (after all, every simulation, netrunner, and user-interface program would have contributed one even if no other souls had ever moved in) – but hopefully only one true consciousness.

   Of course, their general assumption was that most of the smarter things that humanity had imagined in the manifold were benign towards humanity since their survival was linked to humanities survival – although there were always crazy things. Still, most major threats to human survival in core seemed to trace back to non-humans or to quest-types who didn’t know they were doing. It wasn’t anything but a working hypothesis, but there seemed to be a fair amount of evidence and it seemed like a good place to start thinking to them.

   Privately, Kevin thought that a genuinely fair hearing would favor him – he’d been working very hard to make sure of that – and this entity seemed reasonable enough so far. Marty pretty much agreed, so they sent along some more of the meme-research results. After all, whatever-it-was had pretty much confirmed that the House of Roses systems were compromised anyway – if only because it knew who was calling and what they were mostly interested in – which meant that it would get the basics soon enough anyway.

   Kevin went ahead with his scheduled press releases. He’d been working very hard on making them too logical to object to irrationally. He wanted to have his pact evaluated logically and fairly without too much emotional bias beyond “this will certainly let them survive and be helpful and be useful later” .

Federation-Apocalypse Session 66a: Jarvain’s War

   Jarvain had resisted going into addiction treatment – and even to the old-style AA meetings (the House of Roses was willing to be accommodating) at first. He wasn’t raised to be a quitter.

   On the other hand, arguments like “I’m not sure that usually applies to giving up a vice” and sarcastic comments like “I know cigarettes are killing me, but my momma didn’t raise no quitter!” “I don’t want to hear none of that bit about nicotine patches!” – and especially “I’ll quit when it kills me!” definitely had a point to them.

   It worked pretty well. It might wear thin under stress if he got back out in the Manifold again – but Core was pretty good at psychology. In fact, the more he thought about things, the sillier some of his objections sounded. He still wasn’t sure he wanted to pilot a living Mech that remembered being human though. It was just kind of creepy. The Mirage would make a great wingman, but he’d rather have something more conventional himself.

   As for his four Cadets… They were young. On the other hand, they were inhumanly fast, tough, and talented, and could come right back if they were killed. They’d certainly developed a good sense of how to work as a unit. They’d seemed to handle the little dose of actual conflict that they’d gotten without any problem. There really wasn’t any reason not to let them be combat pilots if they wanted to.

   Besides they were apparently getting bored as hell with the four-Mech unit drilling that they’d been going through in computer simulations – and the House of Roses thought that leaving any of Kevin’s Thralls sitting around doing nothing was a dreadful waste of their potential.

   The Cadets were delighted to find out that they’d be getting some action; they were pretty sure that simulation-drills had done them all they good they were going too.

“Yay!”

   He DAMNED well wasn’t taking Jaiden though. She was almost four and a half months along now – and that was DEFINITELY far too pregnant to be going to war!

   Personally, HE was getting pretty tired of the people who wanted to interview him. He’d consented to a few – but they’d kept wanting to go beyond his adventures, his general reactions, and general questions about the Cadets into stuff that was definitely other people’s business – or which the House would prefer to keep classified.

   Now, where to take them for a shakedown mission? The House of Roses really didn’t seem to use many Mech units.

   Putting it that way made it pretty obvious. From what he could find out, the Inner Sphere – and his old House – weren’t doing very well. The Clans felt that the current warlord – this “Wrath Pei” fellow – had abandoned all honor by spewing nuclear weapons like SRM’s, and were pressing the attack because they’d discovered that almost EVERYONE seemed to have a pretty good idea of where their homeworlds were and that their technological edge was eroding at a fantastic rate. At least two of the other houses were touting mysterious allies, showing off weird technologies, and trying to claim that they were the inevitable winners. The “Five Worlds alliance” had seized several worlds, and was exploiting them with utter ruthlessness.

   Still, nobody seemed to be deploying anything like the Mirage, the redesigned Atlas, the Farslayer, or the Falconstrikes yet. Sending the cadets in with those wouldn’t be much of a test; they’d simply outgun most planetary garrisons or warships on their own.

   He’d need some less-upgraded units for them if they were going there. Something that was at least marginally believable.

   That was going to take a little planning. Lets see…

• Taraq had been piloting the Atlas – mostly a Wellstone framework, fusion power plant, coolant systems, and laser weapons systems. Not flight capable, but optimized for what the Singularites seemed to consider “close combat” – mounting the weapons and armor to dominate battle to the local horizon. His personal talents – as opposed to the generic ones that Kevin seemed to issue to all his recruits (He still couldn’t imagine how the kid did that) – ran towards healing people and repairing things.
• Sorith had been piloting the Farslayer – a unit with limited aerospace-capabilities optimized for very long-range combat. Tight-focus lasers and long-range smart missiles with effective ranges in excess of eighty miles. His personal talents ran towards the stuff that Jarvain had decided to consider “Special Tactics” – Conjurations, Illusions, and Evocations.
• Pakria had been piloting one of the Falconstrikes. Those were fully aerospace capable, optimized for mobility, scouting, and hit-and-run “midrange” combat (out to 40 miles or so in atmosphere, a damned long ways in space), and her personal talents ran towards management and logistics – as well as a knack for simply “producing” needed items from somewhere or other.
• Kaliat had been piloting the other Falconstrike, and her personal talents ran towards tactics and command – which definitely put her in command of this little expedition.

   For the Battletech Realm, they’d be wanting ground-based Mechs – and apparently Kevin had left a limited authorization for the Cadets to draw on the resources of some world he controlled. Jarvain opted for an upgraded Mauler for Taraq, a Warhammer for Sorith, a Mad Dog for Kaliat, and a Summoner for Pakria. Upgraded weapons, but nothing too insane (that is to say, hopelessly obsolete by Core standards). That would fit in better – and it would give him a chance to see how the Cadets handled getting a different machine and learning a different style of Mech combat.

   He wasn’t sure whether to be annoyed or delighted when it turned out that – after a short adjustment period – they adapted quite quickly. It looked like – for them – the skills they’d been learning were little more than a gloss floating on top of whatever-the-hell-it-was Kevin had done to them. They all felt that the new Mech’s were very slow and unmaneuverable – but that was only to be expected. They’d work fine in universes that didn’t allow that kind of maneuverability, which was a lot of them.

   “These are going to be your new homes away from home kids, I’ve trained you about as good as I can do short of actual combat. You’re getting your frist assignment to actually put that training to use and develop your own skills in this kind of life.”

   Hm… He’d better be careful about the orders he gave. The kids didn’t mind combat a bit, and (not surprisingly given their abilities), seemed to have very little personal fear. In fact, they tended to prefer captures and soft options – unless they felt that their mission objectives were threatened, in which case all compunction dropped away and efficiency was king. They seemed to feel that they were tools, and that strategy was up to their commander – and that included the “laws of war” and “rules of engagement”. If he called for a massacre, they’d obey without any hesitation.

   Still, Kaliat seemed to be up to being given tactical control over this deployment.

   He’d be sending them to the Battletech Realms to help out his old house. They were apparently being fairly hard pressed at the moment between Wrath Pei, the Five Worlds, and the Clans. That shouldn’t be insanely lethal, but it would certainly be a good shakedown mission.

   He’d have to look into how he could get them inserted into the area. He doubted that Kevin’s budget ran to supplying him with a dropship on short notice.

3.5 d20 Level-By-Level Base Class Breakdowns, Part VI

   Here we have the next segment of the level-by-level breakdowns of the basic d20 character classes for Eclipse: The Codex Persona – one of the last few basic classes and one of the most complicated; the Monk.

   The Monk has always been a bit of an uneasy fit into the fantasy setting. The unarmed martial-artist hero is mostly a cinematic modern conception; people with actual melee weapons experience are well aware that weapons work a LOT better than bare hands. Where the bare-handed fighter has had a role in many fantasy settings, it’s usually been as a thug who threatens other unarmed people – not as someone who attempts to karate-chop horrors from beyond.

   The 3.5 Monk design tries to get around this by providing the Monk with a variety of semi-supernatural powers – but that fits only one, very specific, conception of what even a Ki-wielding eastern-style martial adept ought to be. In the source material for that sort of character every one tends to be unique. That, of course, is what Eclipse is FOR – but the basic build can still be a useful starting point.

   So here it is:

The Monk:

   Every Level: d8 Hit Die (4), +4 Skill Points (4), with Specialized Fast Learner (-2) = 6 CP.

Level	Cost	Purchased
1st	68	+2 Fort (6), +2 Ref (6), +2 Will (6), Martial Arts (6), Bonus Attack (Unarmed Combat and Special Monk Weapons, 4*), +12 Skill Points (12), Proficient with a Limited Set of Monk Weapons (6), Augmented Bonus (adds Wis Mod to AC when not immobilized or helpless, 4*), Fast Learner (Specialized: only works as long as the user continues with this specific path of development, 6), Bonus Feat (6)
2nd	31	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3), Bonus Feat (6), Fortune / Evasion (4*)
3rd	19	+1 BAB (6), Celerity (4*), Resist/+2 vrs Enchantment spells and effects (3),
4th	36	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3), Martial Arts (+3), +1 BAB (Specialized: Only for use with Unarmed Combat and Special Monk Weapons, does not add to iterative attacks, 2*), Imbuement/Unarmed Strikes (6), Celerity / Additional Movement Mode/Flight (Specialized: Only for descending gently, Corrupted, only while within arms reach of a solid surface, 4)
5th	14	Defender (4*), Immunity/All Natural Diseases (Common, Minor, Minor, 4),
6th	29	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3), Celerity +10 (2*), Feat (6),
7th	15	+1 BAB (6), Grant of Aid (Specialized: heals HP damage only, 3)
8th	24	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3), Martial Arts (+3),
9th	20	Celerity +10 (2*), +1 BAB (Specialized: Only for use with Unarmed Combat and Special Monk Weapons, does not add to iterative attacks, 2*), Fortune/Improved Evasion (4*), Immunity/Poison (Common, Major, Minor, 6),
10th	21	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3)
11th	20	+1 BAB (6), Bonus Attack (Unarmed Combat and Special Monk Weapons, 4*), +2 BAB (Specialized: Only for use with Unarmed Combat and Special Monk Weapons, does not add to iterative attacks, 4*),
12th	32	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3), Celerity +10 (2*), Martial Arts (+3), Inherent Spell/Dimension Door (Corrupted for increased effect: half effective caster level, 6 CP),
13th	18	Spell Resistance/Improved (10+Level, 12)
14th	21	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3),
15th	20	+1 BAB (6), Celerity +10 (2*), Inherent Spell/Delayed Death Touch (Corrupted for a level six effect only usable once per week, 6),
16th	24	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3), Martial Arts (+3),
17th	15	Timeless Body (3), Mindspeech with Beastspeech (Specialized: user must actually speak, cannot transmit emotions, 6).
18th	23	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3), Celerity +10 (2*),
19th	18	+1 BAB (6), Inherent Spell (Corrupted for increased effect/personal only for a L9 effect; Ethereal Jaunt with a +2 level modifier/duration may be subdivided. 6).
20th	30	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3), Martial Arts (+3), Timeless Body / Transcendence (6)
		*Corrupted: Not while wearing armor, using a shield, or carrying a medium or heavy load.

   Grant Total: 498 out of 504.

   As is so often the case with the basic d20 classes, the Monk is pretty frontloaded – but once you get by the first four or five levels, things even out a lot. An Eclipse point-buy character may have to take some disadvantages and put off investing quite so many points in skills and saves until level five or six, but they can follow the progression pretty closely, and will be able to spend those disadvantage points on adding some unique abilities of their own later on.

   This writeup has been slightly tweaked from the original Monk writeup in the back of Eclipse. The reason’s simple: the original writeup that was summarized there went to great lengths to preserve some of the original limitations of the Monk, such as the various falling distances and the very limited amount of self-healing available. This made a number of things more expensive than they needed to be, and made the overall build a great deal more complicated than it needed to be.

   Perhaps more importantly, nobody ever used it. We’ve had monks and martial artists in plenty, but every one of them has taken Eclipse and wandered off in their own direction. We’ve had oriental comic-book martial artists who could punch holes in mountains and wielded mystical C’hi powers out of various animes, a character with a hideous array of nerve strikes with which to cripple his opponents, and bioelectrical swordsmen – but no SRD-style Monks.

   Ergo, this build has been simplified; there are no more distance restrictions on the ability to fall without injury, Grant of Aid has been used instead of Healing Touch since it provides more healing without bothersome tweaking to make it self-only, they get a bonus with single attacks with unarmed combat and monk weapons instead of restricting the bonus to making up for penalties, and so on. In the place of the original combination of limitations, it simply has a Specialized version of Fast Learner and a few abilities that are not usable while encumbered.

   As usual, the real advantage of an Eclipse build is that you can easily build up or modify your class abilities. Do you want extra uses of Dimension Door or more time to spend Ethereal? Spend some points on Bonus Uses. Want to be able to stroll up walls? Spend four points to buy off that “only for descending gently” limitation. Want to communicate with spirits in other dimensions? Build up your Mindspeech a bit. Want another attack? Increase your BAB a bit. It’s up to you.

Continuum II: Divination Cantrips

   Next up for today, we have the next portion of the Continuum II Cantrip list – in this case, Divination Cantrips. Divination cantrips are fairly effective in the system, simply because most divinations don’t require all that much power. All you want is to get a bit of information about how things really are, rather then to changing them around to suit yourself. Still, divination at the cantrip level is usually limited to easy, immediate, very specific, and very short questions, or else gives extremely vague answers. Elaborate divinations simply require more raw power and complexity then a cantrip can supply.

   For those who haven’t been reading this series, here’s a repeat of the basic information on Cantrip Magic. For those who have been, it’s been offset for easy skipping.

   Cantrip Magic, drawing upon the modest reserve of magical energy which accumulates in any living creature, is the simplest and easiest of all forms of magic. That power is immediately to hand, focused, and attuned. It is inherently readily handled by the user – and the mere desire to use it is enough to get it partially shaped. Minor talents, basic magical training, or comparatively trivial talismans – such as the infamous “Cantrip Rings” – will suffice to channel it. Even more usefully, the simple instinct for self-preservation allows anyone with defensive cantrips available to use on of them per round as a reflex action, albeit at the cost of a “+2″ on the user’s next initiative check.

   Unfortunately, Cantrip Magic is also the weakest form of spellcasting. The complexity of any given effect is moderate at most, and the personal mana which powers it is a very limited resource. Gods, fey, and spellcasters may build up substantial reserves – the residue of the energies they channel in other ways – but everyone else will only have a little based on their Endurance and the level of natural magic in the world they live in.

   On the other hand, Cantrip Magic is by far the most common form of magic in Continuum II. Minor mages, dabblers, and laymen use it, minor talismans and amulets produce and sustain cantrip effects for a time, embedded cantrips affect whatever inanimate object they’re embedded in permanently, and focusing talismans – such as those aforementioned “Cantrip Rings” – can focus their wearer’s personal mana into a list of up to seven cantrips whose patterns are embedded in item.

   The stuff is everywhere – and so a list of cantrips can be quite important. Their classification is somewhat arbitrary, but here’s the section on Divination Cantrips – spells which tell you things ranging from the obvious to the obscure.

1. Alertness: This simple charm enhances the users ability to pick up details, granting a +3 bonus on the user’s next perception roll – provided that it takes place within the next ten minutes. The Scanner variant gives the user a +2 bonus on his or her effective perception score for the next hour, at the price of rendering the user jumpy, twitchy, over-fascinated with details, and rather ineffective at doing anything practical.
2. Aspecting: Grants the caster a brief glimpse of the aura of any being within 20 feet – but does not aid in the interpretation of what is seen. It’s a good idea to practice on known beings for a while after learning this cantrip to get some idea of what different sorts of auras look like.
3. Assay: Gives the purity of a substance or names the three most prominent components of whatever alloy or mixture the user is considering.
4. Bug: Allows the user to plant a magical “bug” on wherever or whatever he touches while casting this charm. For the next eight hours the caster can “hear through” this tiny rune whenever he concentrates on it – as long as its within a mile or so.
5. Classify: Gives the general name(s) and types of any single creature or plant within 50 feet. While this may not be of any practical use, there is a certain dubious comfort in knowing what it is that’s about to eat you. (”It’s a Canis MegaFenris! What AMAZING luck! They’re VERY RARE!” “—-CRUNCH—-”)
6. Clockwise: Gives the correct local time with respect to the local references or in any system the user is familiar with. Given a reference in any dating system this can determine its relationship to whatever system the characters are usually employing.
7. Comprehend Dialect: Allows the user to readily understand vagaries of speech, whether due to accents, unusual words, or other causes, as long as the basic language is known. It also allows him to speak such dialects for the charms one hour duration.
8. Correlation: A marvelous aid to the detective, this cantrip simply tells you if two bits of information are related – if they’re “part of the same puzzle”. It does not tell you how they’re related, but it will tell you if the mysterious fire has any relationship to the case of the stolen mummy.
9. Count: Gives the number of items in a group or a single container, whether coins, beans, or elves. It can also be used to count specific varieties, such as the number of copper coins in a pile of mixed coins.
10. Direction: Gives the user knowledge of true north for one hour.
11. Divination: By the Tarot, I-Ching, Runecasting, or whatever system strikes the user’s fancy. Each user can employ this cantrip once per “situation” (until some major factor changes – a determination which must be made by the game master – repeating the charm and probing said situation will simply repeat the result). Roll a D12, 1-9 = a minor or cryptic hint is received, 10-11 indicates an irrelevant response, and a 12 indicates a misleading one. Alternatively, all divinations may yield accurate information – but only in classical, cryptic, formats.
12. Dowsing: Allows the user to spend up to thirty minutes dowsing for a variety of natural phenomena, including caves, water, oil, and so on. The exact quality of the results depends on an intelligence roll and what, if anything is available to be found.
13. Farfeel: This simple charm simply tells it’s user what something (presumably something hidden, out of reach, or dangerous/suspect) would feel like if he could feel it – without any chance of an actual injury. While this can be nasty if an item happens to be searing hot, coated in acid, or otherwise nasty, it’s only a weak phantom pain, as opposed to the real thing. Various variants give more information about specific things, but are no use for general examination – they simply give the exact temperature or weight or tell if the roast is done.
14. Find Fish: Locates the nearest good fishing spot within a radius of about a mile.
15. Find Game: Locates the nearest likely hunting area within a radius of about two miles.
16. Guess: Taps low-grade subconscious precognition to bias a random choice by 20% to the “right”, whatever that happens to be.
17. Locate Forage: Locates the nearest supply of decent forage for animals within a radius of two miles.
18. Locate Item: Gives the location of a specific, well-known item within 100 feet, such as your glasses or cell phone.
19. Locate Self: Gives the users current location, depth, and so on with respect to local references. E.G. – establishment (Joe’s Bar), quarter (Dock quarter), city (Eastondale), country (Varinth), continent, world, (for the really lost), planet and sector (for the really, really lost), galaxy (if it should matter), and so on. Very handy for dimensional wanderers.
20. Locate Source: Gives the source of a quotation or passage. A sample result might be “It’s from the Halsar chronicles, 1262 edition, page 142″.
21. Locate Stray: Gives the approximate location of any single missing domesticated animal within a mile given the animals basic description and/or name. The range is greatly extended if the one who wants the location has an emotional bond with the animal. “Familiars” can be located over ranges of several hundred miles or more. A minor variant form locates stray children and – unsurprisingly – works best for concerned parents.
22. Locate Tavern: Locates the nearest tavern or source of a specific intoxicating beverage within a range of some miles. As might be expected of personal magic, the more desperately the user wants a drink, the better the range.
23. Locklore: Gives the user some basic information about how a lock is designed, allowing him to try to pick the lock, either with a roll versus dexterity or at +4 on his or her normal chances.
24. Measure: Gives any two “basic” measurements of an object or area, such as mass, volume, length, density, or angle.
25. Origins: Gives the general age and area of origin of an object, for example; “Egypt, fourth dynasty”.
26. Replay: Generates images “replaying” one minute of the past hours activities within a fifteen foot radius. Such images are silent and obviously illusory, but can be specified by time, event, or emotional intensity.
27. Reveal Contagation: Reveals if one object is part of or has been in long contact with another. It can also be used to determine the approximate direction of the remaining portion of any item the user has a fragment of in his possession.
28. Reveal Curse: Tests to see if any single item within fifteen feet has a curse on it. This cantrip is not infallible; minor, well-concealed, or subtle curses are difficult to detect. The charms more specialized variants have improved sensitivity and often yield some information about any curse they pick up, but can only be applied to those items and areas they cover. For example, the Necromantic Tomblore Variant is sensitive to necromantic traps, tomb curses, and so on, but is useless otherwise.
29. Reveal Disguise: Checks whether any single target within forty-five feet is wearing a physical (or simple arcane) disguise, although it does not penetrate it.
30. Reveal Door: Briefly outlines any and all doors within a 15 foot radius with a glowing line.
31. Reveal “Evil“: Checks to “see” if any single target within 45 feet is “Evil” in terms of the users faith. This is somewhat relative, a follower of the Norse Gods tends to detect all giants as evil. The cantrip will penetrate physical disguises, but cannot penetrate magical of beyond the second level.
32. Reveal Illusion: Tests any single object within ninety feet to see if it’s an illusion. Alternatively, it can be used to determine the presence of any and all illusions within a fifteen foot radius.
33. Reveal Life: Gives the current location of all significant lifeforms within thirty feet when cast.
34. Reveal Magic: Gives the nature and power level of the magic, if any, of or on any one object within 30 feet.
35. Reveal Poison: Reveals if any single item within 15 feet contains (or is coated with or whatever) poison. Note that, like most divinatory magic, there are ways to defeat this simple probe – and that it only determines if something would be poisonous to the caster. If it’s specific to another species or some such, this cantrip will not reveal the problem.
36. Reveal Sympathy: Detects whether two items are significantly related to or connected to each other, such as a murder weapon and a body.
37. Reveal Trap: Checks any single object within thirty feet for traps; items will glow briefly red if they’re trapped, contain a trap, or are the trigger for a trap. Sadly, this only reveals fairly simple physical and magical traps: knowledge that draws the attention of some elder entity is dangerous – but it’s not a trap.
38. Thrusight: This handy charm allows the user to see the inside of solid objects, as if they were made of colored glass or were simply a structural diagram. While this is much harder to interpret then it sounds, it’s still very useful when you need to examine something’s internal structure. Unfortunately, the range is short, it only lasts for 2D6 initiative counts (about six seconds each), the level of detail isn’t all that high, and the “scan” only penetrates normal materials for one or two feet. Exotic (magically or psychicly charged, extremely dense, ultra-tech materials, and force fields) materials may drastically reduce even this depth.
39. Tracer: This cantrip leaves a small rune on whatever the caster touches while casting it. During the next eight hours the caster can determine the direction and distance to the rune by concentrating on it for a moment. The maximum range is about 10 miles.
40. Track: Allows the caster to track a beings mystic traces at his full movement rate for 1D12+8 rounds with a perception roll. Strong or well-known traces get a bonus, while magical efforts to hide the trail impose penalties.

   Transparency: While this might be better classed with the illusory or shield cantrips, it’s most often closely linked with divination, and so is given here. This charm attempts to “shield” the user against divinatory magic, giving the impression that nothing out of the ordinary has been detected. While this is fairly effective against cantrips and even unfocused “scans” (their users receive a fairly difficult perception roll to spot that something’s gone wrong), directed probes will generally penetrate it. The charm lasts for up to half an hour if nobody tries to penetrate it, but for minutes (at best) when “under load”. It can be invoked as a “defensive” cantrip if and when the user senses that he’s being probed by something (a rather difficult perception check, but adventurers are known for getting to be good at those).

3.5 d20 Level-By-Level Base Class Breakdowns, Part V

   Here we have the next segment of the level-by-level breakdowns of the basic d20 character classes for Eclipse: The Codex Persona – the Psion and the Psychic Warrior. Both of these are fairly easy breakdowns, if only because, like the Fighter and the character classes in d20 modern, they both refrain from providing much in the way of specific powers, instead simply offering bonus Feats.

   Of course, in Eclipse, you aren’t limited to a particular list of bonus Feats, since you’re quite welcome to create your own six-point powers and ability combinations – but it still makes for a simple chart.

   In practice, at least in fantasy settings, most players seem to prefer spellcasters to psychics. It’s more dramatic and more genre to think of your character making mystical gestures, intoning strange spells in forgotten languages, and fooling about with weird ingredients than it is to have them look at things and concentrate for a moment.

   The psychics tend to start popping up in modern, futuristic, and super-heroic settings, where – despite the fact that there isn’t much in the system to distinguish between the two – the players tend to feel that psychic powers are faster, more reliable, and more “scientific” than spellcasting. In a way, they’re right – simply because half the mages in such settings corrupt of specialize their magic to increase it’s power at the expense of requiring lengthy rituals and such to use it.

   That’s a clue for easy game-mastering there. Develop your setting a bit, make sure that the players all have some idea of what to expect and what the conventions are likely to be – and most of them will cooperate enthusiastically. They realize that it makes for more fun and less argument.

The Psion, Levels 1-20:

   Every Level: d4 Hit Die (0), +4 SP (4), one Psion Magic Level (one Caster Level specialized in the Psion Spellcasting Progression, 3, and one level of the Psion Spellcasting Progression, 9) = 16 CP.

Level	Cost	Purchases
1st	48	+2 Will (6), Bonus Feat (6), Domain/Path (6), +12 Skill Points (12), Proficient with a limited set of Simple Weapons (2).
2nd	25	+1 BAB (6), +1 Will (3)
3rd	22	+1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3)
4th	25	+1 BAB (6), +1 Will (3)
5th	22	Bonus Feat (6)
6th	31	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3)
7th	16	None
8th	25	+1 BAB (6), +1 Will (3)
9th	22	+1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3)
10th	31	+1 BAB (6), +1 Will (3), Bonus Feat (6)
11th	16	None
12th	31	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3)
13th	16	None
14th	25	+1 BAB (6), +1 Will (3)
15th	28	+1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), Bonus Feat (6)
16th	25	+1 BAB (6), +1 Will (3)
17th	16	None
18th	31	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3)
19th	16	None
20th	31	+1 BAB (6), +1 Will (3), Bonus Feat (6)

   Grand Total: 502 out of 504 available.

   The Psion is another easy one to buy in Eclipse; there are a couple of levels where you’ll have to put off taking a skill point or two, but there are rather more where you’ll wind up a few points ahead even if you don’t take any disadvantages. If you come up with a few extra points, you can spend them on a bit of customization even before getting into the points from bonus Feats. Still, while the Psion, like a Wizard, regularly gets a Bonus Feat to look forward too, all the real excitement in this kind of build comes from acquiring new spells and powers. Fortunately, they’re good at it.

　

The Psychic Warrior, Levels 1-20:

   Every Level: d8 Hit Die (4), +2 Skill Points (2), +1 Psychic Warrior Magic Level (one Caster Level Specialized in the Psychic Warrior Progression, 3, and one level of the Psychic Warrior Spell Progression, 3) = 12

Level	Cost	Purchases
1st	57	+2 Fort (6), +6 Skill Points (6), Proficient with All Simple and Martial Weapons (9), Light, Medium, and Heavy Armor (15), and Shields (3), Bonus Feat (6).
2nd	27	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3), Bonus Feat (6)
3rd	24	+1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3), +1 BAB (6)
4th	21	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3)
5th	18	Bonus Feat (6)
6th	27	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3)
7th	18	+1 BAB (6)
8th	27	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3), Bonus Feat (6)
9th	18	+1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3)
10th	21	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3)
11th	24	+1 BAB (6), Bonus Feat (6)
12th	27	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3)
13th	12	None
14th	27	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3), Bonus Feat (6)
15th	24	+1 BAB (6), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3),
16th	21	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3)
17th	18	Bonus Feat (6)
18th	27	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3)
19th	18	+1 BAB (6),
20th	27	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3), Bonus Feat (6)

   Grand Total: 483 out of 504 available.

   The Psychic Warrior winds up with 21 leftover points and is thus slightly underpowered. On the other hand, like the Fighter, the Psychic Warrior is a small-scale combat specialist – and thus this usually passes unnoticed, since a lot of games tend to focus on small-scale combat. More importantly for our purposes, it’s another build which can be fairly easily duplicated, customized, or improved on, by an Eclipse-style point-buy character. All you need to do is take a few disadvantages to help cover that slightly over-pricey first level, and perhaps a restriction, package deal, or set of duties, and you should have plenty of points left over to add some unique touches at higher levels.

   The Psychic Warrior does make an interesting contrast with the various magical-warrior builds, such as Hexblades and Duskblades*. Those builds tend to use fairly normal spells, and focus on giving the character ways to invoke them quickly, or channel them through weapons. The Psychic Warrior, on the other hand, simply uses “spells” with the high-speed, easy-to-use, and focused-on-weapons options built right in. That makes those spells weaker for their level of course, but the overall effect is pretty much the same.

   *Why is it always straight-swords-and-spells rather than – say – axes and spells? Partly tradition, partly the fact that the sword is perceived as a noble weapon that requires skill and finesse rather than brute force (trust me; all unpowered melee weapons require both some skill and enough muscle to move them around quickly), and partly simply the fact a straight sword that can be held in one hand is a pointing device – and most players seem to envision magic as something that comes from the caster, is directed at a target, travels in a straight line as directed, and takes effect on whatever it hits. There’s no reason for this outside of game balance (you’ve got to give your targets a chance to see you and strike back), since most classical magic didn’t even call for being able to see your target or even knowing where they were at the moment, but that’s the usual notion. Ergo, your basic spellblade uses a straight, one-handed, and fairly maneuverable sword to help direct his or her magic.

3.5 d20 Level-By-Level Base Class Breakdowns, Part IV

   Here we have the next segment of the level-by-level breakdowns of the basic d20 character classes for Eclipse: The Codex Persona – in this case the Rogue and the Wizard. One a class that’s changed almost unrecognizably from it’s beginnings, and one that’s hardly changed at all. One that – rather realistically – learns to do things with their hands out in the world, and one that is the epitome of fantasy, weaving the stuff of magic from ancient words and dusty tomes.

   Oddly enough, while you often find tension between the other major archetypes – with phrases such as “blasphemer”, “needlessly violent”, “muscle-bound idiot”, “waiting for some god to fix it instead of actually doing something”, “useless limp-wristed scholar’, and many more floating about – Wizards and Rogues tend to see each other as complimentary; they both rely on cleverness, well-developed skills, and doing it themselves because no one else is as good.

The Rogue, Levels 1-20:

   Every Level: d6 Hit Die (2), +8 Skill Points (8) = 10 CP

Level	Cost	Purchases
1st	55 OR 59	+2 Ref (6), Augment Attack (3), Trapfinding# (See Below, possibly 4), +24 Skill Points (24), Proficient with Light Armor (3), All Simple Weapons (3), and a limited set of Martial and Exotic Weapons (hand crossbow, rapier, sap, shortbow, and short sword, 6).
2nd	25	+1 BAB (6), +1 Ref (3), Fortune/Evasion (6)
3rd	26	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3), +1 Will (3), Augment Attack (3), Awareness/Danger Sense +1 (1)
4th	25	+1 BAB (6), +1 Ref (3), Awareness (6)
5th	13	Augment Attack (3)
6th	26	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3), Awareness/Danger Sense +1 (1) 2
7th	19	+1 BAB (6), Augment Attack (3)
8th	22	+1 BAB (6), +1 Ref (3), Awareness/Flankless (Specialized/not versus characters at with at least four more experience levels than the user, 3)
9th	20	+ Fort (3), +1 Will (3), Augment Attack (3), Awareness/Danger Sense +1 (1)
10th	25	+1 BAB (6), +1 Ref (3), Special Ability (6)*
11th	19	+1 BAB (6), Augment Attack (3)
12th	26	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3), Awareness/Danger Sense +1 (1) 4
13th	19	Augment Attack (3), Special Ability (6)*
14th	19	+1 BAB (6), +1 Ref (3)
15th	26	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3), +1 Will (3), Augment Attack (3), Awareness/Danger Sense +1 (1)
16th	25	+1 BAB (6), +1 Ref (3), Special Ability (6)*
17th	13	Augment Attack (3)
18th	26	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3), Awareness/Danger Sense +1 (1)
19th	25	+1 BAB (6), Augment Attack (3), Special Ability (6)*
20th	19	+1 BAB (6), +1 Ref (3)
		*In point-buy, the various Rogue Special Abilities are all things you can buy normally – usually for 6 points.

   #In Eclipse, skills normally work the same way for everyone (that’s more or less what makes them skills rather than special powers), hence “Trapfinding” is simply a function of Search and there is no arbitrary DC-based restriction. If you want to reserve trapfinding for specialists, the easiest way is to call it a minor Immunity to the (gratuitous) limitation that you cannot use the search skill to locate traps if the DC is higher than 20 – call it an Uncommon situation with a Major impact and a Minor immunity (it is pretty specialized after all), for a net cost of 4 CP.

   The various Special Abilities all translate to six point “Feats” or abilities from the general list. In point-buy, of course, the possibilities are much wider than the list from the system reference document.

   Grand Total: 473 OR 477 (depending on how the game master feels about Trapfinding) out of 504 available.

   Either way, the Rogue is winding up with a few points left over – and Eclipse-style point-buy Rogues shouldn’t have any trouble at all; they can just buy their way up the chart and – at most – have to delay a few skill points for a level or so for the first couple of levels. After that, they’ll have a few extra points to spend.

   This does imply that the classical Rogue is just a bit underpowered – about one levels worth by the time they hit level twenty – but that’s automatically fixed in Eclipse: just spend those extra points!

   My recommendations from back when I wrote Eclipse really haven’t changed: Rogues should get a guild membership if the setting features a “thieves guild” or a few reliable contacts if it doesn’t, pick up an Immunity to Divination (a necessity if they want to do much thieving in the usual quasi-medieval setting with magic and live), and probably pick up a bit of magic – a specialized caster level or two and a few steps on the Paladin/Ranger Spell Progression (mostly devoted to divination and illusion magic) or an Occult Talent or two, simply so that they can tell when they’re up against major magical defenses.

The Wizard, Levels 1-20:

   Every Level: d4 Hit Die (0), +2 Skill Points (2), +1 level of Wizard Spellcasting (one Caster Level, Specialized in Wizardry, 3, and one level of the Wizard Spell Progression, 11) = 16 CP.

Level	Cost	Purchases
1st	48	+2 Will (6), Companion (6), Spell Storing (6), Proficient with a small group of Simple Weapons (2), +6 Skill Points (6), Fast Learner (Specialized in Spells, gains two per level automatically, 6).
2nd	25	+1 BAB (6), +1 Will (3)
3rd	22	+1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3)
4th	25	+1 BAB (6), +1 Will (3)
5th	22	Bonus Feat (6)
6th	31	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3)
7th	16	None
8th	25	+1 BAB (6), +1 Will (3)
9th	22	+1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3),
10th	31	+1 BAB (6), +1 Will (3), Bonus Feat (6)
11th	16	None
12th	31	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3)
13th	16	None
14th	25	+1 BAB (6), +1 Will (3)
15th	28	+1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), Bonus Feat (6)
16th	25	+1 BAB (6), +1 Will (3)
17th	16	None
18th	31	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3)
19th	16	None
20th	31	+1 BAB (6), +1 Will (3), Bonus Feat (6)

   Grand Total: 502 out of 504 available.

   The Wizard’s been around a long time, and has undergone less change than pretty much any other class since first edition. Of the big four, the Fighter’s become deeply entangled in the Feat rules, the multi-attack rules, and the movement rules, the Cleric’s gone from seven levels of spells and a sphere system to nine and a domain system, and the Rogue is virtually unrecognizable – but the Wizard is pretty much the same as ever and an awful lot of the spell list is still recognizable after all this time.

   That’s because it works pretty well. The Wizard starts off relatively weak, but becomes a major figure at higher levels – slightly overshadowing the other characters whom he or she was a bit behind to start with. Very little frontloading and a strong finish – and a nicely balanced build. There are a few levels in there with a high point cost, but they tend to be neatly associated with levels with low point costs. For the most part, an Eclipse point-buy Wizard can just go straight on up the chart, spending their bonus Feats, and any extra points from disadvantages, on picking up special abilities to suit their conception.

3.5 d20 Level-By-Level Base Class Breakdowns, Part III

   Here we have the next segment of the level-by-level breakdowns of the basic d20 character classes for Eclipse: The Codex Persona – in this case the Paladin and Ranger. “Paladins” are always popular; the noble knight, backed by the powers of light, is one of the basic heroic archetypes. The actual class is sometimes a bit disappointing that way, but it’s hard to come up with something practical that really lives up to that imaginary standard.

   The Ranger – the strong (and usually silent) rugged wanderer of the wilderness who knows the hidden secrets of nature – goes all the way back to when people were living as tribal hunter-gatherers. When the Ranger comes to your aid, finds food for the party in the wilderness, or fights off a dangerous beast, it’s hard to get any more classical.

The Paladin, Levels 1-20:

   Every Level: d10 Hit Die (6), +1 BAB (6), +2 Skill Points (2), religious Duties (-2) = 12 CP.

Level	Cost	Purchases
1st	57	+2 Fort (6), Occult Sense/Detect Evil (3*), Smite/Evil once per day (3*), Proficient with all Simple and Martial Weapons (9), Light, Medium, and Heavy Armor (15), and Shields (3), and +6 Skill Points (6). “Aura of Good” doesn’t do anything useful – and therefore isn’t a power.
2nd	36	+1 Fort (3), Augmented Bonus/Improved x3 (add Cha Mod to Reflex Saves, add Cha Mod to Fort saves, add Cha Mod to Will saves, 18* total), Healing Touch (3*)
3rd	27	+1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3), Presence/Aura of Courage (3*), Immunity/Fear (Common, Minor, Major, 3* CP), Immunity to Disease (Uncommon, Major, Major, 3* CP)
4th	27	+1 Fort (3), Positive-Energy Channeling (3 + Cha Mod uses/day, 4*), two Caster Levels Specialized in Paladin Spellcasting (6) and +1 Level of the Paladin Spell Progression (2)
5th	17	+2 Bonus Uses on Smite (1*), Inherent Spell/Summon Mount 1/Day (L3, Corrupted: if the mount is slain, the summoner cannot use this power again for a month and suffers a -1 on attack and weapon damage rolls until he can, 2*), +1 Level of the Paladin Spell Progression (2)
6th	29	+1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3), Healing Touch/Improved (Remove Disease, 3*), +1 Caster Level Specialized in Paladin Spellcasting (3), +1 Level of the Paladin Spell Progression (2)
7th	14	+1 Level of the Paladin Spell Progression (2)
8th	20	+1 Fort (3), +1 Caster Level Specialized in Paladin Spellcasting (3), +1 Level of the Paladin Spell Progression (2)
9th	20	+1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3), +1 Level of the Paladin Spell Progression (2)
10th	21	+1 Fort (3), +1 Bonus Use of Smite (1*), +1 Caster Level Specialized in Paladin Spellcasting (3), +1 Level of the Paladin Spell Progression (2)
11th	14	+1 Level of the Paladin Spell Progression (2)
12th	26	+1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3), +1 Caster Level Specialized in Paladin Spellcasting (3), +1 Level of the Paladin Spell Progression (2)
13th	14	+1 Level of the Paladin Spell Progression (2)
14th	20	+1 Fort (3), +1 Caster Level Specialized in Paladin Spellcasting (3), +1 Level of the Paladin Spell Progression (2)
15th	22	+1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3), +1 Bonus Use of Smite (2), +1 Level of the Paladin Spell Progression (2)
16th	20	+1 Fort (3), +1 Caster Level Specialized in Paladin Spellcasting (3), +1 Level of the Paladin Spell Progression (2)
17th	14	+1 Level of the Paladin Spell Progression (2)
18th	26	+1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3), +1 Caster Level Specialized in Paladin Spellcasting (3), +1 Level of the Paladin Spell Progression (2)
19th	14	+1 Level of the Paladin Spell Progression (2)
20th	21	+1 Fort (3), +1 Bonus Use of Smite (1*), +1 Caster Level Specialized in Paladin Spellcasting (3), +1 Level of the Paladin Spell Progression (2)
		*Specialized for half cost: the character will lost the use of these abilities until he or she atones if he or she fails to remain truly good and pure in faith, knowingly commits an evil act, or fails to adhere to the Paladin’s Code. Since a Paladin’s spellcasting is already subject to the “Conduct” limitation (page 11), you can’t use this to save any points there.

   Grand Total: 459 out of 504 available.

   We actually have two separate designs here: the writeup really shouldn’t have both “Duties” and that big Specialization listed in the last box on the chart. The “Paladin’s Code” should cover most of the Duties, and the Duties should cover most of the Specialization requirements; using both is a arguably a violation of the basic rule of limitations – “if it doesn’t really add to the character’s difficulties, it isn’t worth anything”.

   Dropping the Specialization increases the total cost by 47 points, to 506 out of 504 available, and is the choice I recommend: it offers a lot more room for roleplaying borderline situations and creeping penalties than the all-or-nothing knockout punch you get from that Specialization.

   Dropping the Duties, however appropriate they seem, increases the cost by 40 points, to 499 out of 504 available. Either way, the Paladin will be pretty well balanced.

   Like several of the other base classes, the Paladin is pretty heavily frontloaded. Of course, in 3.0, it was even more frontloaded – to the point where taking one level of Paladin was an excellent multiclassing deal for all kinds of lawful-good-heroic characters. They could trade in one level for adding their charisma modifier to all their saves, +1 BAB, +2 Fort, a d10 Hit Die, Detect Evil, Immunity to Disease, minor healing powers (enough to stabilize people without worrying about first aid – and possibly more if you could talk the game master into reading “the paladins level” as “the characters total level” rather than “the number of paladin levels the character has”), and the ability to use spell-completion items containing a variety of useful spells. In 3.5 it’s still grossly frontloaded, but at least the frontloading is spread over the first few levels.

   On the other hand, the Paladin is dull at higher levels: all you get really get is a better BAB and a few more rather practical and unexciting spells – and most of them are things that the party Cleric got long before.

   It’s also the only base class where you can spontaneously lose a major portion of the character points you’ve invested and which cannot work with large numbers of other characters. You can be quite effective until – suddenly, and sometimes rather arbitrarily – you’re seriously crippled or effectively out of the party. Of course, most game masters don’t do this, since it tends to frustrate everyone at the table and isn’t good for the game – which means that the Paladin is getting a bonus with no particular penalty. That would be bad for game balance if the Paladin had actually spent the points they saved on anything.

   You can play an Eclipse-style point-buy Paladin using the standard progression – and it fixes a part of the problem right up front; you’ll be able to afford the first level with some disadvantages, but you’ll have to put off some of the later abilities for a level or two, or even a little longer if you go ahead and get rid of the Specialization.

   Of course, in practice, there are at least three point-buy sample characters on this site – Matthew Carrington, an anime-themed holy archer, Sem the Sin-Eater, a poverty-stricken keeper of oaths, and Li Kao, an eastern-style spirit master – who consider themselves Paladins. None of them bear much resemblance to the standard build though. That’s partly because being a “Holy Warrior of Generic Goodness” just lacks style somehow and partly because – players being players – they try to squeeze more efficiency out of their builds.

　

The Ranger, Levels 1-20:

   Every Level: +1 BAB (6), d8 Hit Die (4), +4 Skill Points (+2 for Fast Learner, 4) = 14 CP.

Level	Cost	Purchases
1st	80	+2 Fort (6), +2 Ref (6), Favored Enemy (6), Track (6), Lore/Animals (Specialized, only to understand how to get along with them, 3), Proficient with all Simple and Martial Weapons (9), with Light Armor (3), and with Shields (3), Fast Learner (Specialized in Skills, for +2 SP/Level, presumed acquired at level zero to start at level one, 6), and +18 Skill Points (18)
2nd	24	+1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), Combat Feat (Corrupted, only while wearing Light or No Armor, 4)
3rd	19	+1 Will (3), Immunity/Natural Environmental Hazards (Common, Minor, Trivial, 2)
4th	30	+1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), Companion (Specialized/companion bonuses progress as if the user was only half his or her level, 3), two Caster Levels Specialized in Ranger Spellcasting (6) and +1 Level of the Ranger Spell Progression (1*)
5th	15	+1 Level of the Ranger Spell Progression (1*)
6th	31	+1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3), Combat Feat (Corrupted, only while wearing Light or No Armor, 4), +1 Caster Level Specialized in Ranger Spellcasting (3), and +1 Level of the Ranger Spell Progression (1*)
7th	18	Travel/Forest (3), +1 Level of the Ranger Spell Progression (1*)
8th	27	+1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), Celerity (Specialized: only increases tracking speed, 3), +1 Caster Level Specialized in Ranger Spellcasting (3), and +1 Level of the Ranger Spell Progression (1*)
9th	24	+1 Will (3), Fortune/Evasion Variant (6), +1 Level of the Ranger Spell Progression (1*)
10th	24	+1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Caster Level Specialized in Ranger Spellcasting (3), and +1 Level of the Ranger Spell Progression (1*)
11th	19	Combat Feat (Corrupted, only while wearing Light or No Armor, 4), +1 Level of the Ranger Spell Progression (1*)
12th	27	+1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3), +1 Caster Level Specialized in Ranger Spellcasting (3), and +1 Level of the Ranger Spell Progression (1*)
13th	17	Immunity/need to have cover or concealment to use the Hide skill (Common, Minor, Minor, Specialized/only in natural terrain, 2), +1 Level of the Ranger Spell Progression (1*)
14th	24	+1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Caster Level Specialized in Ranger Spellcasting (3), and +1 Level of the Ranger Spell Progression (1*)
15th	18	+1 Will (3), +1 Level of the Ranger Spell Progression (1*)
16th	24	+1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Caster Level Specialized in Ranger Spellcasting (3), and +1 Level of the Ranger Spell Progression (1*)
17th	17	Immunity/inability to hide while under direct observation (Common, Minor, Minor, Specialized/only in natural terrain, 2), +1 Level of the Ranger Spell Progression (1*)
18th	27	+1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3), +1 Caster Level Specialized in Ranger Spellcasting (3), and +1 Level of the Ranger Spell Progression (1*)
19th	15	+1 Level of the Ranger Spell Progression (1*)
20th	24	+1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Caster Level Specialized in Ranger Spellcasting (3), and +1 Level of the Ranger Spell Progression (1*)
		*Specialized: Only usable in light armor despite not having the Components limitation, restricted to utilitarian nature-related spells only; you won’t find a ranger with much in the way of powerful offensive, illusion, or stealth spells.

   Grand Total: 504 out of 504 available.

   The Ranger is well balanced, if a bit erratic in it’s per-level costs. Like so many other classes, however, it’s got far too much loaded into that first level. An Eclipse point-buy Ranger will just have to delay gratification on a few things for a couple of levels or restrict (Specialize or Corrupt) a few items to start with and buy off the limitations later.

   Unlike the Paladin, the basic Ranger type has been reasonably popular in our point-buy games – although most of those characters throw in a few disadvantages, throw in “Adept” so they can get along with fewer skill points, and throw in a Spirit Weapon or some archery enhancements or some such.

   The 3.5 Ranger is also notable for being the only base class build that has been notably revised since Eclipse was published. At that point in the writing process – not so long after 3.5 came out – the Class Breakdown appendix was being rather hurriedly finished up so that we could get the book out for people to use, and the 3.5 Ranger writeup wound up using a near-unique modifier that was then edited out of the rest of the book in favor of simply using Specialization and Corruption – which were far more powerful tools for designing characters anyway. Ergo, here we have the corrected version.

3.5 d20 Level-By-Level Base Class Breakdowns, Part II

   Here we have the next segment of the level-by-level breakdowns of the basic d20 character classes for Eclipse: The Codex Persona – in this case the Druid, Fighter, and Sorcerer. Why those three? Well, mostly it’s for the sake of contrast. The Druid is one of the most heavily frontloaded classes around, the Sorcerer is more or less the opposite – and the Fighter is one of the few classes to have a sizeable chunk of unspent points available.

   They also neatly demonstrate one of the major features of using Eclipse: there’s nothing wrong with using a classical design for a bit and then using point-buy to build on the abilities you’ve already got – or with mixing classical and point-buy characters. Characters with classical classes will have a few more points, but the point-buy builds will generally spend the points they have more efficiently and will have exactly the abilities they want. In practice, it doesn’t usually lead to much of a disparity – or at least to no more of a disparity than the usual mixture of builds and objectives you find in any group.

The Druid, Levels 1-20:

   Every Level: d8 Hit Die (4), +1 Druid Magic Level (one Specialized Caster Level for the Druid Spell Progression only, 3, and one level of the Druid Spell Progression, 5), +4 Skill Points (4), religious Duties (-2), religious restrictions on Weapons (-1) and Armor (-1) = 12 CP.

Level	Cost	Purchases
1st	72	Fort +2 (6), Will +2 (6), Companion (6), 2x Skill Focus/”Nature Sense” (6), Lore/Animals (Specialized: only covers how to get along with them, 3), +12 Skill Points (12), Spell Conversion (Summon Natures’s Ally, 6), Proficient with Light and Medium Armor and Shields (12) and with Druidic Weapons (a limited group, 6).
2nd	27	+1 BAB (6), Fort +1 (3), Will +1 (3), Travel/Forest (3)
3rd	21	+1 BAB (6), Ref +1 (3), Traceless/Travel (Specialized; in natural surroundings only, 3).
4th	30	+1 BAB (6), Fort +1 (3), Will +1 (3), Resist/+4 on saves versus the Fey (6)
5th	18	Shapeshift (6)
6th	27	+1 BAB (6), Fort +1 (3), Will +1 (3), Ref +1 (3)
7th	20	+1 BAB (6), +1 Bonus Use of Shapeshift (2)
8th	27	+1 BAB (6), Fort +1 (3), Will +1 (3), Shapeshift/Growth (3)
9th	21	Ref +1 (3), Immunity/Poison (Common, Major, Minor, 6).
10th	24	+1 BAB (6), Fort +1 (3), Will +1 (3)
11th	21	+1 BAB (6), Shapeshift/Shrinking (3)
12th	30	+1 BAB (6), Fort +1 (3), Will +1 (3), Ref +1 (3), Shapeshift/Plant (3)
13th	15	Shapeshift/Variants (3)
14th	24	+1 BAB (6), Fort +1 (3), Will +1 (3)
15th	21	+1 BAB (6), Ref +1 (3), Immunity/Aging (Common, Major, Trivial, 3 or free, depending on the campaign; I’m rating it as free since relatively few campaigns go on long enough for the characters to worry about aging. Effectively the same as the Timeless Body power, but why do things the same way each time?)
16th	27	+1 BAB (6), Fort +1 (3), Will +1 (3), Shapeshift/Elemental (3)
17th	12	None
18th	27	+1 BAB (6), Fort +1 (3), Will +1 (3), Ref +1 (3)
19th	18	+1 BAB (6)
20th	24	+1 BAB (6), Fort +1 (3), Will +1 (3)

　Grand Total: 506 CP out of 504 available (counting the disadvantages as negative costs).

   It doesn’t look like that could come out to be balanced overall does it? The impression is a lot of high numbers – and it does have a few extremely high ones, especially that first level. That’s a full twenty-four character points overspent. Of course, there are also a few really low numbers in there – and a lot that are just a little low.

   The trouble with the Druid – and what makes for that expensive first level – is that they’re pretty good at everything. They can fight pretty well, provide backup even better, summon creatures, get information from animals, heal, entrap enemies, and more. They aren’t the best – but they can fill in for almost any role.

   Point-buy Druids work out the same after the first few levels, but generally start out at first level with less in the way of wilderness abilities (first level characters generally don’t belong out in the wilderness anyway) and a bit less in the way of skills and saves. You can usually expect to find them investing bonus feats in upgrading their companions and / or their shapechanging, which can make them quite formidable very quickly.

The Fighter, Levels 1-20:

   Every Level: d10 Hit Die (6), +1 BAB (6), +2 Skill Points (2) = 14 CP.

Level	Cost	Purchases
1st	59	+2 Fort (6), Bonus feat (6), Proficient with Light, Medium, and Heavy Armor (15), Shields (3), and All Simple and Martial Weapons (9), +6 Skill Points (6).
2nd	23	+1 Fort (3), Bonus Feat
3rd	20	+1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3)
4th	23	+1 Fort (3), Bonus Feat (6)
5th	14	None
6th	29	+1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3), Bonus Feat (6)
7th	14	None
8th	23	+1 Fort (3), Bonus Feat (6)
9th	20	+1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3)
10th	23	+1 Fort (3), Bonus Feat (6)
11th	14	None
12th	29	+1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3), Bonus Feat (6)
13th	14	None
14th	23	+1 Fort (3), Bonus Feat (6)
15th	20	+1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3)
16th	23	+1 Fort (3), Bonus Feat (6)
17th	14	None
18th	29	+1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3), Bonus Feat (6)
19th	14	None
20th	23	+1 Fort (3), Bonus Feat (6)

   Grand Total: 451 out of 504 available.

   Here we have one of the few significantly underpowered base classes: the first level – despite being frontloaded as usual – could be easily matched by a point-buy character, and it rapidly gets worse from there. It’s not that the fighter isn’t good at small-scale combat; it’s that they’re have no abilities at all that are of use in anything else and very little in the way of skills to fall back on if fighting is not appropriate. If the game master happens to be running a stealth mission, or a bit of political intrigue, or an investigation, or a diplomatic effort, or any of a dozen other kinds of missions that don’t call for combat, the fighter might as well be sick in bed. The player will have to content himself or herself with making suggestions.

   My recommendation hasn’t changed from when I wrote Eclipse: spend some of those fifty-three left over points getting some noncombat abilities to work with – or, if you MUST focus on combat – make sure that no one else does it nearly as well as you do. How much better is a Wizard at casting spells than the Fighter? That’s how much better the Fighter should be at combat than the Wizard is.

The Sorcerer, Levels 1-20:

   Every Level: d4 Hit Die (0), 2 SP (2), One Sorcerer Magic Level (one step on the Sorcerer Spellcasting Progression, 13, and one Caster Level specialized in Sorcerer Spellcasting, 3) = 18.

Level	Cost	Purchases
1st	39	+2 Will (6), Companion (6), Proficient with All Simple Weapons (3), +6 Skill Points (6)
2nd	27	+1 BAB (6), +1 Will (3)
3rd	24	+1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3)
4th	27	+1 BAB (6), +1 Will (3)
5th	18	None
6th	33	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3)
7th	18	None
8th	27	+1 BAB (6), +1 Will (3)
9th	24	+1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3)
10th	27	+1 BAB (6), +1 Will (3)
11th	18	None
12th	33	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3)
13th	18	None
14th	27	+1 BAB (6), +1 Will (3)
15th	24	+1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3)
16th	27	+1 BAB (6), +1 Will (3)
17th	18	None
18th	33	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3)
19th	18	None
20th	27	+1 BAB (6), +1 Will (3)

   Grand Total: 507 out of 504 available.

   The Sorcerer isn’t especially frontloaded. That’s one reason why it’s so rare for anyone to take a level or two of Sorcerer unless they need it to qualify for a prestige class of some kind. It also means that – since the point totals are tolerably well balanced – they’re weaker and / or less versatile than many of the other core classes at low levels and pick up steam later on.

   Point-buy Sorcerer builds are pretty simple: you just buy the stuff for each level as you come to it, and you’ll never be more than a few points off the standard design. Of course, people who want to be that boring rarely bother with point-buy designs anyway.

3.5 d20 Level-By-Level Base Class Breakdowns, Part I

   It’s been requested a couple of times, so for today it’s a level-by-level breakdown of some of the basic d20 character classes for Eclipse: The Codex Persona. Sadly, most of them aren’t actually very exciting: the standardized saving-throw progressions and BAB progressions get dull pretty quickly and quite a few of the classes otherwise progress in pretty standard increments.

   It does nicely serve to illustrate, as noted in Eclipse in the section on class breakdowns, that a lot of the standard d20 classes are rather frontloaded, with a disproportionate number of abilities and bonuses assigned to the first few levels. Eclipse partially simulates this by providing 24 character points at level zero and an additional 24 more per additional level – giving first level characters a total of 48, plus any derived from disadvantages. That still won’t match some of the standard classes, but the freedom to take only the abilities you want, and to modify them to suit your character conception, usually more than makes up for it.

The Barbarian, Levels 1-20:

   Every Level: d12 HD (8 CP), +1 BAB (Warcraft, 6 CP), and 4 Skill Points (4 CP) = 18 CP. This has been included in the level-by-level “Cost” figure on the chart below.

Level	Cost	Purchased
1’st	65	Proficient with Simple and Martial Weapons, Light and Medium Armor, and Shields (21 CP), +12 Skill Points (12 CP), +2 Fort (6 CP), Celerity/Corrupted, not when seriously encumbered (4 CP), Berserker (6 CP), and a standard disadvantage: Illiterate (-2 CP)
2′nd	27	+1 Fort (3 CP), Awareness (6 CP).
3rd	25	+1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3), Awareness/Danger Sense +1 (1)
4th	21	+1 Fort (3)
5th	21	Awareness/Flankless, Specialized (will not work against high-level foes) (3)
6th	28	+1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3), Awareness/Danger Sense +1 (1)
7th	19	DR 1/Non-Physical (1)
8th	21	+1 Fort (3)
9th	25	+1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3), Awareness/Danger Sense +1 (1)
10th	22	+1 Fort (3), DR 2/Non-physical (+1)
11th	21	Berserker/Odinpower (3)
12th	28	+1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3), Awareness/Danger Sense +1 (1)
13th	19	DR 3/Non-Physical (+1)
14th	24	+1 Fort (3), +4 on Will saves to resist Enchantment spells, Specialized/Only while berserk (3)
15th	25	+1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3), Awareness/Danger Sense +1 (1)
16th	22	+1 Fort (3), DR 4/Non-Physical (+1)
17th	21	Berserker/Enduring (3)
18th	28	+1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3), Awareness/Danger Sense +1 (1)
19th	20	DR 5/Non-Physical (+2)
20th	24	+1 Fort (3), Berserker/Odinmight (3)

   Grand Total: 506 CP out of 504 CP available.

   The Barbarian is pretty well balanced overall, and has reasonably consistent level costs after first level – but it takes awhile to make up for the over-expenditure of those early levels. Eclipse point-buy Barbarians builds usually take some disadvantages to get a few more points early on and / or skimp a bit on skill points and saving throws for the first few levels – either making up for it later or investing the points in various exotic talents.

The Bard, Levels 1-20:

   Every Level: D6 Hit Die (2), +6 Skill Points (6), +1 Caster Level (Specialized in Bardic Magic only, 3), +1 level of the Bardic Spell Progression (3 after the Noncombative limitation is applied) = 14 CP. This has been included in the level-by-level “Cost” figure on the chart below.

 

Level	Cost	Purchased
1st	69	Ref +2 (6), Will +2 (6), Mystic Artist/Musician (6), Lore/Rumors and Secrets (6), +18 Skill Points (18), Proficient with Light Armor (3), Shields (3), and all Simple and Martial Weapons (Corrupted/martial weapons are limited to light swords, the Sap, Shortbow, and Whip) (7).
2nd	26	+1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3), +1 BAB (6)
3rd	23	+1 Fort (3), +1 BAB (6)
4th	26	+1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3), +1 BAB (6)
5th	14	None
6th	29	+1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3), +1 BAB (6)
7th	20	+1 BAB (6)
8th	26	+1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3), +1 BAB (6)
9th	17	+1 Fort (3)
10th	26	+1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3), +1 BAB (6)
11th	20	+1 BAB (6)
12th	29	+1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3), +1 BAB (6)
13th	14	None
14th	26	+1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3), +1 BAB (6)
15th	23	+1 Fort (3), +1 BAB (6)
16th	26	+1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3), +1 BAB (6)
17th	14	None
18th	29	+1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3), +1 BAB (6)
19th	20	+1 BAB (6)
20th	26	+1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3), +1 BAB (6)

   Grand Total: 503 CP out of 504 CP available.

   The Bard is balanced overall, but it’s level costs fluctuate wildly and it overspends considerably in the first few levels before making up for it later on. Just as with the Barbarian, point-buy Bards usually take some disadvantages, and usually take a level of Adept, allowing them to get along on fewer skill points for the same results. From observation, most of them drift away from the base class outline later on – buying contacts and enhancements to social and knowledge skills to become social adepts while neglecting combat, neglecting magic in favor of combat skills and mystic artist powers, or neglecting combat in favor of additional magical powers and knowledge enhancements. Personally, I think that’s a good thing; the portrayals of bards in historical and fantasy sources vary wildly. Why shouldn’t bards in the game do the same?

   If your Bard wants to duplicate the standard “Bardic Music” progression, take a musical Perform skill and the following abilities at the following Perform skill levels:

   3; Manipulation I/Fascinate, 4; Synergy I/Block, 5; Inspiration I/Emotion, 6; Inspiration II/Competence, 9; Manipulation III/Suggestion, 12; Inspiration III/Greatness, 15; Manipulation IV/Emotional Auras (a bonus ability not on the standard list), 18; Either Manipulation V/Freedom or Inspiration VI/Mass Excellence, and 21; Whichever of Freedom or Mass Excellence was not taken for the previous ability.

   Note that several of these abilities call for a Perform skill level 1-3 points higher than the values in the SRD. This is because this list is NOT limited by level, only by the user’s skill – and his or her attribute bonus, racial bonuses, inherent bonuses, and feat bonuses all apply to his or her effective skill level. If you want to work on that perform skill, you can get many of those abilities a good deal earlier than usual.

The Cleric, Levels 1-20:

   Every Level: d8 Hit Die (4), 2 Skill Points (2), +1 Level of Clerical Magic (+1 Caster Level specialized in Clerical Magic, 3, and +1 level of the Cleric Spell Progression, 7), and various religious Duties (-2) = 14 CP. This has been included in the level-by-level “Cost” figure on the chart below.

Level	Cost	Purchases
1st	68	+2 Fort (6), +2 Will (6), Turn/Rebuke Undead with (3 + Cha Mod) uses/day and a +4 bonus to Intensity (15), Proficient with Light, Medium, and Heavy Armor (15), Shields (3), and All Simple Weapons (3), +6 Skill Points (6)
2nd	26	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3), +1 Will (3)
3rd	23	+1 BAB (6), +1 Ref (3)
4th	26	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3), +1 Will (3)
5th	14	None
6th	29	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3)
7th	20	+1 BAB (6)
8th	26	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3), +1 Will (3)
9th	17	+1 Ref (3)
10th	26	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3), +1 Will (3)
11th	20	+1 BAB (6)
12th	29	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3)
13th	14	None
14th	26	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3), +1 Will (3)
15th	23	+1 BAB (6), +1 Ref (3)
16th	26	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3), +1 Will (3)
17th	14	None
18th	29	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3), +1 Ref (3), +1 Will (3)
19th	20	+1 BAB (6)
20th	26	+1 BAB (6), +1 Fort (3), +1 Will (3)

   Grand Total: 502 CP out of 504 available (treating the Duties as a subtraction):

   The Cleric is – once again – balanced overall (at least ignoring the perpetual debate over their spell list being too powerful to make up for the common lack of interest in playing the party healer), but that first level is overbuilt by twenty points. Even with some disadvantages to help out, when you’re building a point-buy Cleric, something is going to have to wait for a few levels.

   In our games it usually depends on just what god or faith the Cleric is serving. Quite a lot of the more peaceful faiths don’t teach quite that much in the way of combat skills to start off with. More combative faiths often skimp a bit on the magic. Others cut down on either or both to throw in some minor special ability.

   Now, if the game master wants to encourage the standard classes, the easiest way to do so – and to make it easy to take them without modification – is to make part of their abilities a set of Package Deals (Eclipse, page 18). That will give people who decided to stick with the standard roles a small bonus and help pay for those expensive early levels.

Duskblades, Hexblades, and other Magically-Enhanced Fighters

   The question has come up of “How to build a Duskblade in Eclipse: The Codex Persona Classless d20 rules” (available in print HERE and in a shareware edition HERE). The answer is, you can’t; they haven’t been released under the Open Game License – but you can easily create an almost-identical build. After all, the “fighter with some specialized combat magic” is a pretty common idea, and – not too surprisingly – they all work a lot alike. They want a good BAB, a fair amount of relatively low-level magic that can enhance their combat abilities, decent hit points, not a lot of skills, and some way to use enhancement spells while using weapons.

   So here’s the build – or at least one way to do it. As usual, there are lots of other ways.

   Every Level: d8 Hit Die (4), 2 Skill Points (2), +1 BAB (6), +1 Caster Level Specialized in the Adept Spellcasting Progression (3), three instances of the Adept Spellcasting Progression using the Spontaneous Caster variant and the Components and Studies limitations. All Specialized and Corrupted: all progressions must use the same list of known spells (this effectively simply multiplies the number of spell slots available), the user may only have small-scale combat and melee-combat assistance spells (no utility magic, communications, healing, or anything else of any real use outside of combat), and his or her spells will generally be somewhat weak by the usual standards of arcane magic (3). Base cost per level = 18 CP, for a total of 360 at level twenty.

   Looking at first level, most such characters are proficient with all Simple and Martial Weapons (9), Light, Medium, and Heavy Armor (15), and Shields (3). That’s a bit silly – since they usually only actually wear light and medium armor – but I’ll stick with the tradition. Other people may want to save those six character points from the heavy armor proficiency for something else or at least buy it later on; it’s not like a first-level character will be able to start with heavy armor. They’ll also need +6 Skill Points (6), for a net cost of 33 character points.

   Saving Throws are going to be expensive. In general, we’ll be wanting two good saving throws – for a net cost of 90 CP at level twenty.

   Finally, we’ll be needing some Special Abilities. Not too many though; out of the 504 CP that will be available at level twenty, we’ve already spent all but 21 of them – although we can effectively scrape up another 14 by taking Fast Learner at level “zero” (or even, if the game master will let us get away with it, an extra 34 by specializing it for double effect). Given that this type of hybrid character is usually found as a prestige class or as a later-published (and usually somewhat more powerful) class, we may need to do so.

• Occult Talent (Improved): Specialized (half cost)/does not actually get any first level spells to use, Corrupted (for a 50% increase in the number of slots)/can only use a total of (Int Mod + 3) spells per day. That provides a selection of five 0-level spells to use and a total of 12 slots to use them with – enough to accommodate a +9 Intelligence Modifier, which should suffice for most characters. (6 CP).
  • If necessary, at higher levels, you can spend another 2 CP to make it Specialized to increase the number of slots and Corrupted to decrease the cost, and accommodate a +13 Intelligence Modifier – or even spend another 4 CP to get both, and accommodate a +21 Intelligence Modifier. Of course, if you have a +21 Intelligence Modifier, why are you worrying about how many bonus cantrips you get?
• For would-be Armored Mages there are a couple of ways to get around the problem of casting spells in armor: Most directly, buy the “Smooth” modifier on your armor proficiencies (page 49), probably specialized in allowing spellcasting only, for a total of 6 CP for Light and Medium Armor and Shields. If you only want it to apply to a particular spell progression, you can count it as “Corrupted” as well – reducing the cost to 4 CP if the game master will let you get away with it. Less directly, you could buy off the “Components” limitation on your magic levels (page 11). This is more effective – it gets around the need for fancy gestures, odd components, and lengthy incantations – but it will be more expensive at higher levels since it will increase the cost of each magic level. You could also buy an Immunity, but that’s more complicated and expensive than buying the “Smooth” modifier anyway.
• Combat Casting – getting a +4 bonus to rolls to cast spells on the defensive, or while grappling or pinned, is also easy: Skill Emphasis/Concentration Specialized (for double effect)/only to cast spells on the defensive or while grappling or pinned. (3 CP).
• Innate Enchantment: Eldritch Blade (unlimited use-activated, level one at caster level one, 2000 GP. Causes a weapon to act as a channel for magical energy: the wielder may release any single available touch-based spell with a casting time of one standard action or less into the blade as a free action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity, such a spell will affect any creature struck by the blade during the attack or attack sequence, but will then be discharaged even if it would normally last for more than one round) (3 CP and – in theory – 80 XP if anyone wants to worry about that). Normally Innate Enchantment has a 6 CP minimum, but we can certainly take it as “Specialized; only provides half the base enchantment value” if anyone objects. Flexibility is the point of Eclipse after all.
• Reflex Training/Extra Actions Variant, Specialized in Spellcasting for double effect (six extra actions per day) and Corrupted for reduced cost (extra actions only become available at one per every full five levels) (4 CP). Since this doesn’t provoke an Attack of Opprotunity, we’ll also need Evasive (When casting a spell with an extra action, an Uncommon Action, 3 CP).
• +2 Caster Levels: Specialized/only to overcome spell resistance, Corrupted/only works on an opponent you’ve injured with a melee attack in the current encounter. By shuffling around the Corrupted and Specialized modifers on this, you can get anything from +2 for 4 CP (all used to reduce cost) to +3 for 6 CP (one Caster Level with Doubled Effect on a specialization), +4 for 8 CP (one Caster Level with Doubled and 1.5x Effect for instead of reduced cost or both with doubled effect for the specilization and reduced cost for the corruption), +5 for 10 CP, and +6 for 12 CP. For this build, we’ll need a total of +5 at level 18, for 10 CP.

   Those special abilities cost 33 CP, or 35 CP if whoever’s running the game doesn’t let us get away with Corrupting the “Smooth” modifier on the armor proficiency. It looks like we will need that level of Fast Learner, although it doesn’t have to be specialized in anything. Interestingly enough, given that level of Fast Learner, the point cost comes out exactly right. That’s rather interesting considering that Eclipse came out a year before the Players Handbook II. It’s always nice to have beaten out the official books.

   Of course, this character isn’t quite identical to the Duskblade: this character gets +3 Cantrips, -1L1, -1L2, and -1L3 spells, and +1L4 Spell per day (although this can be made up with one level of Specialist at 6 CP/one Feat – or by the fact that this character gets to triple any bonus spells for high Intelligence), but gets to know a few more spells at every level. They’ll also get to pick the five cantrips that go with their Occult Talent rather than having a predetermined list – and if they want to, they’ll be able to spend bonus Feats buying more spell slots by buying more instances of the Adept spell progression quite easily. They can also skimp a bit on BAB to buy more special abilities, spend a bonus Feat to hype up their ability to penetrate magic resistance, buy some Healing Touch, or exploit any of the other options to modify or alter their abilities in point buy.

   Finally, the development will be a little different: Eclipse characters aren’t so front-loaded as basic d20 characters; that’s the price of being able to customize things so extensively.

Continuum II: Mindsending Cantrips

   Here we have the next section of the Continuum II Cantrip list – in this case, Mindsending Cantrips. As it happens, Mindsending is the most powerful branch of Cantrip Magic (which isn’t necessarily saying much), since this group of cantrips draws on the user’s innate psychic strength as well as on his or her personal mana. Sadly, unless you’re a professional psychic or possess some major psychic talent, psychic strength is just as limited a resource as personal mana.

   Mechanically, using Mindsending cantrip requires the expenditure of both a point of personal mana and a psychic strength point. If the user has no psychic strength available, these cantrips will be ineffective.

   For those who haven’t been reading this series, here’s a repeat of the basic information on Cantrip Magic. For those who have been, it’s been offset for easy skipping.

   Cantrip Magic, drawing upon the modest reserve of magical energy which accumulates in any living creature, is the simplest and easiest of all forms of magic. That power is immediately to hand, focused, and attuned. It is inherently readily handled by the user – and the mere desire to use it is enough to get it partially shaped. Minor talents, basic magical training, or comparatively trivial talismans – such as the infamous “Cantrip Rings” – will suffice to channel it. Even more usefully, the simple instinct for self-preservation allows anyone with defensive cantrips available to use on of them per round as a reflex action, albeit at the cost of a “+2″ on the user’s next initiative check.

   Unfortunately, Cantrip Magic is also the weakest form of spellcasting. The complexity of any given effect is moderate at most, and the personal mana which powers it is a very limited resource. Gods, fey, and spellcasters may build up substantial reserves – the residue of the energies they channel in other ways – but everyone else will only have a little based on their Endurance and the level of natural magic in the world they live in.

   On the other hand, Cantrip Magic is by far the most common form of magic in Continuum II. Minor mages, dabblers, and laymen use it, minor talismans and amulets produce and sustain cantrip effects for a time, embedded cantrips affect whatever inanimate object they’re embedded in permanently, and focusing talismans – such as those aforementioned “Cantrip Rings” – can focus their wearer’s personal mana into a list of up to seven cantrips whose patterns are embedded in item.

   The stuff is everywhere – and so a list of cantrips can be quite important. Their classification is somewhat arbitrary, but here’s the section on Mindsending Cantrips – spells which draw on both the user’s personal psychic and personal magical energy, and are thus somewhat more powerful than most other cantrips.

1. Amplify: This cantrip clears the users mind, improving his or her focus and concentration. Using it before undertaking some small task gives the caster a “+2″ bonus if he or she is undisturbed, allows him or her to ignore minor disturbances, and reduces the penalties for major disturbances. It also leaves the user slightly abstracted and far more vulnerable to surprise.
2. Anticipations: Heightens the users innate ability to “read” and anticipate the reactions of any one being of a similar species within thirty feet for 2D6 minutes. During this time he or she receives a +2 bonus on attempts to evade or predict the target’s actions – including evading or resisting their attacks.
3. Auric Massage: Allows the user to “feel” a “targets” aura, revealing the location and seriousness of disturbances resulting from injuries, strains, cramps, “major” illnesses, excited nerve clusters, energy imbalances, and erogenous zones, by their disruption of the targets aura. This also lets the user give amazing massages, therapeutic or otherwise. Expending an additional six points of psychic strength allows the user to gently manipulate a targets aura with results similar to those claimed for acupuncture and physical therapy, adding bonuses of up to +3 on any appropriate rolls. The charm works for up to an hour, but only on a single target per casting.
4. Bardic Visions: Allows any listeners to “see” the images associated with a story, epic, or other work by broadcasting the users mental images. Any careful comparison between listeners will reveal that many of the fine details were provided by their imaginations however.
5. Barrage: Telekinetically hurls one “rounds worth” of hand – propelled missiles such as; chakram, shuriken, daggers, darts, javelins, spears, or whatever. As the charm channels the force of the users own muscles into the attack, this is treated exactly as if the user had thrown the weapon(s) normally, save that it allows him or her to cast another cantrip during the same action. He or she may repeat this charm if he or she so desires. Sadly, using this charm on missiles larger then daggers costs three points of psychic strength, rather then one.
6. Calm: This cantrip affects up to six levels of nonsapient higher animals, and lasts for up to ten minutes. While under the influence of this cantrip, such animals will not attack without good reason.
7. Compensation: Lets the recipient use his own psychic energies to temporarily compensate for some “handicap” or disorder, such as paralysis, blindness, or even an old amputation. The cantrip remains active as long as the user can power it and desires to do so. The power required to maintain the charm varies drastically with the damage, “jumping” nerve signals past a spinal scar and such costs one point of psychic strength per hour, overriding grand mal epilepsy or “seeing” without eyes costs one per minute, creating a phantom limb to replace an amputation costs one per initiative count (about six seconds). Having “something to work with” such as a prosthetic limb or a glass eye makes the charm far easier to maintain, increasing the time factor by one level (counts to minutes to hours to days). Working against a curse or counterinfluence decreases the time factor one level, effects which would cost “per count” become effectively impossible. A specialized version increases the duration by one level.
8. Dreamsending: Sends any acquaintance a brief message in a dream. The message is subject to normal dream -distortions and forgetfulness after waking, so many recipients don’t figure it out for weeks – even after many repetitions.
9. Dreamvision: Lays the user open to a prophetic, clairvoyant, or meaningful dream described by the game master. It can only be used once per “situation” since, unless some major factor (in the opinion of the game master) changes, repeating the spell will only lead to repeating the dream. It has the side effect of leaving the user “open” to psychic disturbances, sometimes producing nasty nightmares instead of meaningful dreams if there is something going on nearby or if it’s used in an area carrying strong psychic impressions.
10. Empathy: Allows the user to read and send emotions in a sixty-degree cone up to thirty feet long for ten minutes. While this allows the user to readily sense the general tone of the emotions of those in the area, and to effectively communicate his or her own emotions, it does not force the receiver to share them; you can tell if those in the affected area are frightened, let them know that you’re frightened, or suggest that they should be frightened – but you can’t actually force them to be frightened.
11. Extend Sense: Lets the caster “displace” one of his senses, transferring his point of view to a psychic construct up to ten feet away. While the construct is basically invulnerable, it can transmit a watered-down sensation of pain if it encounters anything that would normally harm the user. The effect persists for up to 1D4+2 initiative counts (about six seconds each), but can only “transmit” a limited amount of data. This isn’t usually a problem for touch, scent, taste, and balance, but tends to limit the clarity of extended hearing (-3 penalty on perception checks) or (especially) vision (-6 penalty on perception checks).
12. Focusing: There are many different “focusing” charms, but all of them rely on concentrating and projecting the users innate energies – making them probably the most potent of all cantrips. The strain manifests as temporarily reduced characteristics, which recover at one characteristic point per hour. If more then one is drained the total recovery remains one point per hour, applied to whichever characteristic is currently reduced the most (the character may break ties as desired). Resistance rolls apply normally and the “projection” range is about three feet unless otherwise specified, but touching a target is more efficient, gaining one “free” point of effect. Variants include, but are not limited to:
    1. Beguilement: Draws on Presence, allowing the user to “project his personality” so strongly that he can effectively enthrall his or her target for 1D6 rounds per point expended – although this effect is limited to targets of the same basic species.
    2. Bewilder: Draws on Intellect, channeling the users energies into a blitzkrieg of verbal logic. Any victim who can be drawn into conversation will be left utterly confused for 1D6 initiative counts (about six seconds per count) per point expended, or temporarily persuaded of almost anything – although a completely unreasonable notion permits a save.
    3. Bioelectrics: Draws on Dexterity, channeling the bioelectricity of the nervous system. Each point so used allows the user to do one point of electrical damage to his or her target.
    4. Deduction: Draws on Intellect, channeling it into an intense analysis of some situation or a particular set of facts. Every two points of intellect “expended” in mental exhaustion entitles the user to one helpful correlation, suggestion, or reminder from the game master – although the user may have trouble actually making effective use of such insights until after he or she recovers from the strain.
    5. Great Hurl: Draws on Strength, manifesting as a terrific shove, capable of hurling a target three feet per point expended as well as inflicting 1D4 damage per four points of strength or part thereof so used. A successful resistance check can reduce the distance, but will not affect the damage; being hit really hard is being hit really hard, no matter what you do.
    6. Great Shout: Draws on Strength and Endurance to project an earthshaking yell. While such a yell is audible for great distances, at close range it is loud enough to deafen and injure, causing one point of damage per three attribute points so expended to everyone and everything within a thirty foot cone. The yell will partially deafen everyone in a forty foot radius for 3D6 initiative counts (about six seconds each), and may do minor incidental damage (breaking glass, shaking down ripe fruit, snapping harpstrings, or even starting avalanches) at the game master’s whim. The “Sonic Lance” variant only affects a single target within thirty feet, but does structural damage to objects or twice the usual damage to living things. Note that the ratio of points drawn from Strength and Endurance is entirely at the option of the user.
    7. Orate: Draws on Presence to give great passion and emotional intensity to a speech or plea. For every three points expended the user’s effective presence is boosted by two above its base value for the purposes of the speech. The charm actually makes the user believe intensely in his own appeal for the duration, hence it has a side effect of evading most attempts to read his or her surface thoughts and common “detect truth” spells and effects. For the duration of the speech, the user truly believes in whatever he or she is saying.
    8. Psychic Lance: Draws on Wisdom, hurling a crude “bolt” of psychic energy. While this does little damage (1D4 per six points of wisdom expended) it will stun it’s victim for one count (about six seconds) per point expended unless they successfully resist. Those with active psychic powers may substitute Psychic Strength points for points of Wisdom at a ratio of two Psychic Strength to one Wisdom to a maximum of 48 (4D4 damage and stunned for 24 counts. There are usually better things to do with that much psychic strength).
    9. Search: Draws on Perception, channeling it into an intense search for anomalies, clues, and sensory cues. This allows the caster to reroll a failed perception check. Simply getting a reroll costs two points, each additional point of Perception expended on the roll reduces the number of dice to be rolled by one.
    10. Sprint: Draws on Dexterity, each point expended increases the users movement rate by 25% for one minute, although this charm alone cannot more then double the user’s base movement rate.
    11. Strength: Draws on the users Strength, allowing brief bursts of hysterical (rated at 21 for most humans, +3 if this would be higher than that) strength. A single action at this level costs one point of strength, a minute at this level costs three. Beyond that point both the cost and risk of serious injuries – such as breaking your own bones – increases rapidly.
    12. Thermal Pulse: Draws on Endurance and the heat of the users metabolism. While this will swiftly exhaust the caster, each point of endurance expended allows him or her to do one point of heat damage to his target.
        1. Focusing Cantrips can be quite powerful at lower levels, and especially in heroic-scale (lower vitality level) games; a character who is willing to cripple himself for a day or two may well be able to do quite a bit of damage or hold off what would be – at that level – a fairly serious threat. Of course, such activities rapidly become far less attractive at higher levels. A youngster with a high dexterity and access to the Bioelectrics cantrip may well be able to blast a normal human abductor into unconsciousness and crawl out to get help – but even a normal abductor may well resist and vocational character, or modestly experienced professional one, will simply shrug it off.
13. Govern Mount: Creates a very weak mental link with a riding animal, giving the user a +3 bonus on timing jumps, staying on, maneuvering, and otherwise controlling the animal for up to eight hours. Sadly, the cantrip ineffective on undomesticated mounts which aren’t trying to oblige you and don’t care what you want and on sapient mounts, since their minds are too complicated and full of competing thoughts for such a simple link to be effective.
14. Helots Tempestuous Tantrum: This charm turns loose an uncontrolled telekinetic storm affecting up to a thirty foot radius of the caster. The “storm” tends to target one specific enemy for special attention, but also affects all those within the radius. It sets up to twenty-five pound of randomly selected junk whizzing around madly, although no one item will mass more then a pound. While this is relatively harmless in reality, it’s very distracting, inflicting a -1 penalty on those within its radius. The actual target suffers a -2 penalty and takes (1D4-1) points of damage over the storms three-round duration. This may be modified or to applied everyone if the area happens to be littered with caltrops, shards of glass, or some other light-but-dangerous material. There is no practical effect if there’s nothing much to throw around; minor gusts of wind can be annoying, but won’t hinder anything but insects much.
15. Hypnotism: The classical, noncombat, stage variety, or a slight improvement. Use can take up to tenminutes and is usually limited to a single target within ten feet. Still, if someone is cooperative, it’s easy to make them temporarily forget things, believe things well enough to fool most simple detection effects, and pull off similar tricks.
16. Influence: Allows the user to telepathically suggest a “feeling”, simple thought, or slight sensation. It can be used to make someone feel a bit thirsty, itchy, apprehensive, safe, trusting, or nervous. Such subtle suggestions can affect any one being within thirty feet and allows no active resistance roll – but also have very limited effects. The target may act on such “feelings”, but is usually only slightly (+/-1 on relevant rolls, if any) influenced. Using this cantrip to “plant” a thought makes said idea occur to the target “in passing”, differing from a verbal suggestion only in that the target won’t be aware of outside interference
17. Lastthought: Lets the user tap the last thoughts and /or sights of a being dead less then 24 hours. Use of this cantrip requires a wisdom roll to succeed and may – on a serious failure – result in various psychological disturbances or simply getting the wrong information. Final thoughts tend to be hazy, confused, and often agonized or terrified.
18. Microkinesis: Gives the caster telekinetic abilities sufficient for the slow manipulation of items weighing up to a total of about twenty pounds for six minutes – although using this ability takes concentration. The basic version is somewhat “clumsy” and poor at fine manipulation, variant forms include; Waldo (includes enough feedback for the user to tie or loosen knots, write or type, and so on, but only lasts for 1D4+2 initiative counts), and Remote Playing (lets a musician play any instrument [or instruments, although only one at a time] within range for 2D4+2 minutes)
19. Mindlink: Forms a mental link between the caster and a small animal for up to ten minutes. The link resembles, a “familiar link” – but is far less drastic. It is limited to sharing senses, basic communication, and influencing the animals actions.
20. Mindscream: Lets the user project either a broadcast telepathic signal or a telepathic “yell” at any target within thirty feet. “Broadcasts” are limited to a simple image or word, but they are automatically received by any character within a mile who is fairly sensitive on the psychic level. Anyone who receives this broadcast can get a fair idea of the direction and distance to the sender with a perception roll. “Yells” are uninformative but startling; the targets next action will be delayed by 1D4 initiative counts barring a successful resistance roll. The Mindbolt variant is related to the various “focusing” charms given above (QV), it causes one point of damage to the target per point of intelligence “expended” (in neural fatigue) to power the bolt, as well as causing a delay of one count in the targets next action per point of damage it inflicts. Sadly, a resistance roll applies.
21. Mistmove: Lets the user telekinetically manipulate mist, fog, gas, and so on. It affects such materials within anything up to a five foot radius within thirty feet and lasts for 1D6+6 minutes. It’s often combined with Alteration cantrips to make detailed moving shapes and displays.
22. Moodweaving: Lets the user create a mood or “atmosphere” through some sort of artistic effort. The exact nature of that effort – storytelling, music, dance, or some similar activity – is irrelevant. The effect is subtle but quite pervasive, resistance requires a new check for each minute exposed and the effect can continue for as long as the artist can keep it up.
23. Mori’s Orgami Animation: This charm channels a tiny portion of the casters own vital energy into any small figurine, giving it with a limited “life” of it’s own. Sadly, this is a terrible drain on the user – only the smallest and lightest figurines can be animated without great difficulty. The strain is measured in points of damage, figurines of up to a few grams can be animated for “free”, animating a man-sized statue might cost 40 points of vitality. The charm has a duration of (3D4 minutes plus one hour per additional point of vitality expended on duration). Unfortunately, like other forms of “shadow casting” those vitality points cannot be recovered until the charm ends – and even then must heal normally or with the aid of effects capable of healing spirit-level damage. The caster can control the figurines mentally at ranges of up to thirty feet, beyond that range they must be given instructions in advance. Figurines act like the creatures they represent within the limits of their construction; even the best paper origami “fish” will tend to fall apart in water unless you wax them first.
24. Noise: This cantrip lets the user telekinetically vibrate air, albeit crudely and at low volume. It does allow the user to create any noise he desires, although the poor quality may make it unrecognizable. The charm has a thirty foot range, within which the user can produce faint, eerie, background music, various mysterious creaks, thumps, taps, footfalls, rattles, moans, groans, muffled “voices”, and so on for the next 2D4 minutes. Variants which produce only a particular type of sounds have the advantage of higher clarity, a charm limited to producing music makes fairly good music – provided only that the user can remember or imagine such music. Such variants remain effective for 2D4+2 minutes.
25. Outreaching: Creates a psychic “extension” for the casters arm, allowing him to launch a blow at range, push, pull, twist, and otherwise make a nuisance of himself for the few seconds the charm lasts. The range is about thirty feet and the “extension” is still subject to the limitations of leverage; pushing and pulling is easy, lifting is very difficult.
26. Persuasion: Allows the caster to sense his listeners reactions to his arguments, giving him a +3 bonus on persuasion and oratory while the charm lasts – a period of about ten minutes.
27. Sending: Sends a brief (one or two sentence) tele-pathic message to any one being within sixty feet. This does not bypass language barriers, and requires a line of sight. On the other hand, it’s a lot more private then shouting.
28. Sensitive: Gives a vague, generalized, ability to perceive magical and psychic forces, auras, entities, and residues. This sensitivity usually lasts for 3D6 hours, but may be, and often is, voluntarily negated earlier, as it leaves the user uncomfortably “open”. A variant form gives far more definite results, often extending to brief visions, hearing phrases, and reading psychic impressions, but lasts for only one minute and “scans” only a 20 foot radius of its casting point.
29. Slumber: This charm can put to sleep any cooperative creature, be applied to any sleeping creature within 30 feet to keep it asleep (inflicting a -3 penalty on any rolls to wake up), or put to sleep 1D4 extremely minor (rats, sparrows, housecats) creatures or one larger (up to large-dog sized) creature. Sentient or hostile victims must not be actively resisting.
30. Speech: Gets a basic message or short sentence (such as “where’s the bathroom” or “We need ten days worth of rations, how much ?”) across a language barrier as long as the target has a reasonably comprehensible mind and is within sixty feet.
31. Speedart: Telekinetically “guides” missiles, giving the user a +1 AR (Attack Rating) and DB (Damage Bonus) with any he or she uses in the same round. Variants give +2 bonuses, but are specialized for use with particular weapons. Some variants produce trancelike concentration allowing an extra shot at the cost of a -2 penalty to the users DR (Defense Rating) and RR (Resistance Rating). Some either extend the range, or allow the user to make remarkable trick shots, such as shooting around a corner. Such variants are only “good” for one attack. Such variants include Slaying Blade (+2 AR/DB with daggers), Archers Trance (+2 AR, +2 DR, +1 attack), Tailwind (One arrow shot, +1 AR, +1 DB, +60 feet to each range category), and Daggerseye (+1 AR, +1 DR, Allows turns totaling up to 120 degrees).
32. Subjective Time: Warps the users perception of time, allowing the user to either stretch a few seconds into subjective minutes or to make hours pass like moments. Stretching subjective time makes the world, and even the casters own body, seem to be moving in “slow motion”. This gives the user 3D4×6 subjective seconds to study a situation or consider something in a few seconds of real time. Compressing time makes it seem to pass at about five times the normal rate until something of significance happens to disturb the users reverie. This partial trance can allow the user to go without sleep or wavering of attention for quite a while, an effect especially useful when standing long, dull, late-night watches.
33. Talespinning: Lets a storyteller virtually mesmerize his audience by subliminally augmenting his skills and talents. This gives him or her a +3 on any relevant rolls.
34. Trance: Allows the user to sink go into a trance for up to (Endurance) hours, during this time his or her metabolism is drastically slowed, he or she is insensitive to pain, and so on. While the trance can be voluntarily terminated at any time the process requires 1D6-2 minutes. It’s best not to use this charm if you expect to have to spring into action.
35. Trip: Forces any single victim within twenty feet to resist or stumble slightly, suffering penalty of -1 on his or her DR (Defense Rating) and AR (Attack Rating) for one combat round. Serious resistance failures indicate a fall, while a disastrous one may actually cause some damage.
36. Unbuckle: Undoes one buckle, a knot, or up to six buttons, at a range of up to twenty feet unless the target is living – in which case a resistance roll applies.

Continuum II: Alteration Cantrips

   Here we have the next section of the Continuum II Cantrip list – in this case, Alteration Cantrips. We also have a repeat of the basic information on Cantrips, but – for those who’ve read the previous post – it’s been offset for easy skipping.

   Cantrip Magic, drawing upon the modest reserve of magical energy which accumulates in any living creature, is the simplest and easiest of all forms of magic. That power is immediately to hand, focused, and attuned. It is inherently readily handled by the user – and the mere desire to use it is enough to get it partially shaped. Minor talents, basic magical training, or comparatively trivial talismans – such as the infamous “Cantrip Rings” – will suffice to channel it. Even more usefully, the simple instinct for self-preservation allows anyone with defensive cantrips available to use on of them per round as a reflex action, albeit at the cost of a “+2″ on the user’s next initiative check.

   Unfortunately, Cantrip Magic is also the weakest form of spellcasting. The complexity of any given effect is moderate at most, and the personal mana which powers it is a very limited resource. Gods, fey, and spellcasters may build up substantial reserves – the residue of the energies they channel in other ways – but everyone else will only have a little based on their Endurance and the level of natural magic in the world they live in.

   On the other hand, Cantrip Magic is by far the most common form of magic in Continuum II. Minor mages, dabblers, and laymen use it, minor talismans and amulets produce and sustain cantrip effects for a time, embedded cantrips affect whatever inanimate object they’re embedded in permanently, and focusing talismans – such as those aforementioned “Cantrip Rings” – can focus their wearer’s personal mana into a list of up to seven cantrips whose patterns are embedded in item.

   The stuff is everywhere – and so a list of cantrips can be quite important. Their classification is somewhat arbitrary, but here’s the section on Alteration Cantrips – one of the groups which is most commonly used as tools.

   Alteration Cantrips:

   These cantrips deal with making small changes in what you’ve already got – whether that means some lesser transformation, rearranging things, or imbuing the target with new or unusual properties. They do not create, summon, or animate things, materials, or conditions. Cantrip-level magic lacks the power to make major permanent alterations, but with the entire environment to work with, there’s always something that can be done.

1. Alter Slickness: Affects an area up to 3 feet across, making it either far more, or far less, slippery then usual for up to an hour. A reasonably smooth surface can be made either extremely slippery or to offer excellent traction. An area which is already either extremely slippery or rough can either be made even more so or be reduced to ordinary levels of traction, it cannot be changed to the opposite extreme. Creating a slippery area directly under someone, or making an item in someone else’s possession slippery allows both a resistance roll and then a roll to compensate in time – but creating a slippery spot in front of a running creature only allows a roll to compensate, not one to prevent the effect. Making a surface rougher usually improves the footing, but the effect may be resisted if desired. Variant forms include Bozo’s Banana Peel (increases slipperiness only, but affects an area five feet across) and Griptight (improves the users traction – granting a +2 bonus on climbing and applicable balance rolls).
2. Alter Temperature; Chills or warms an inanimate object by up to forty degrees Fahrenheit. Living targets are better able to maintain their body temperature, and receive a resistance check. Even if they fail, the charm only inflicts mild chills or fever. There are two exceptions; using this charm to return a creatures body temperature to normal is fully effective, while such very small creatures as individual mice and clouds of bugs have too little mass to resist effectively, and can be killed using this charm. It works normally on masses of up to sixty pounds, larger masses are affected proportionately less.
3. Antivenin: This charm requires a “dose” of whatever poison is to be countered and one vitality point worth of the casters blood. Prompt administration of the resulting antitoxin will permit another resistance roll. If used in advance, the recipient’s next resistance check versus said poison gains two bonus levels of success. Sadly, the antitoxin’s effects only last for three hours.
4. Ardath’s Psycho-Sensitive Surface: Makes the surface pigment of an area of up to 20 square feet sensitive to psychic energy, causing it to reflect images from the nearest mind. While most often used for entertainment, this is sometimes used as an interrogation tool, a display, an aid in psychoanalysis, or to create transient art. Sadly, very few minds are capable of projecting clear images; the results are often tangled up with symbols, extraneous material, and blurred memories. This can be reduced with high intellect or wisdom – or simply by staring at the image and concentrating on correcting it. The charm lasts for up to an hour. Variant forms include Mindbrush (the surface only remains sensitive for three minutes, after which the image “freezes” permanently), Mirror Of The Depths (attuned to subconscious images rather then to conscious ones, the effect is sometimes useful in meditation, recovering lost memories, or when “chasing” fugitive thoughts), and Soulshadow (makes mirrors draw occasional subliminal images and influences from the darker depths of the subconscious. It remains active until an hours worth of material has been presented, which often takes weeks of split-second snatches. It can lead to greater stability and self-knowledge in those with high wisdoms – but tends to induce discord and misery in most victims.)
5. Bandage: Neatly seals and disinfects a wound, curing one point of damage and eliminating both any existing infection and any danger of future infection barring major contamination of the site of the injury.
6. Bludgeon: Alters the inertial properties of a blunt weapon, making it less massive when swung and more massive on impact. A weapon so treated gains a +1 damage bonus for the next ten minutes. The Streak variant gives a +3 damage bonus, but only works for a few seconds. It’s usually applied to missile weapons.
7. Cleanflame: Causes a small (such as a modest campfire at a maximum) fire to burn “clean”, without producing soot or excess fumes, for up to twelve hours. Such fires have unusually hot, dim, blue, flames and are slightly more fuel efficient then normal fires.
8. Condense: Will promptly condense up to a thousand cubic feet of mist into water in a vial held by the caster. This can be reversed to create a mist from a vial or other source of water. The “Dry” variant draws off dampness and excess water from an area of five cubic feet within a range of ten feet. It’s commonly used on herbs, after it rains, to season wood, and to unstick doors. “Dry” can be reversed to dampen things, with the obvious results.
9. Corrosion: Subjects an object to the effects of a small vial of acid, applied to whatever point the caster touches, without actually producing the acid. Living things susceptible to such attacks will take 1d4 points of damage unless they successfully resist the effect.
10. Cure: Affects up to ten pounds of fish, meat, hides, or other unliving organic materials, drying and preserving the material – albeit relatively crudely and for a limited time; the material will start to degrade again after a month or so unless further measures are taken. Greater masses will require multiple applications.
11. Deodorant: Erases the users scent for thirty minutes, although it will not erase any scents picked up after the initial casting.
12. Engrave: Removes up to one cubic inch of material from a surface according to the pattern envisioned by the user. This is commonly used to engrave lines or simple pictures on an item or to “finish” a surface by removing irregularities.
13. Fireproof: Renders any single object weighing up to 12 pounds “fireproof” – or at least resistant to heat and flame. While such objects may be ruined by heat, they cannot be set alight and will resist minor amounts (the first four points of damage) of heat and flame.
14. Fireveil: “Spreads” the flames of a small (up to one foot in diameter) fire into a sheet or dome of up to 2000 square feet. The charm will remain in effect for ten minutes or until the user cannot spare the minimal concentration needed to maintain it.
15. Flavor: Alters the flavor of anything even remotely edible, making it taste like whatever the caster wants it to. It can affect up to ten pounds of material (”food” is more or less optional) per casting, beyond that point it only serves as seasoning.
16. Float: Provides sufficient buoyancy for even badly encumbered characters to stay afloat for up to twelve hours. This cantrip is designed for water, attempting to use it in substances of lesser density is proportionately less effective – to the point where attempting to “float” in gases is generally pretty useless.
17. Fractionate: Allows the user to simply “pour off” or precipitate out any single component from up to a pint of liquid. It’s effectiveness is usually (88+1D12)% and it doesn’t work on subatomic particles and such; you can’t “pour off all the electrons”. You could, however, pour off the water and leave the salt behind.
18. Glasshape: Causes up to half a pound of glass to “flow” into whatever form the user envisions, so long as none of the desired dimensions exceed two feet. It can also be used on plastics, clays, and other semi-liquids, as well as liquids – but liquids tend to simply revert to puddles as soon as the user ceases to concentrate.
19. Iceflame: Causes a small (1 foot diameter maximum) fire to “burn” cold for up to four hours. This does not affect it’s other combustion products, including light and smoke.
20. Join: Fuses or bonds together two pieces of similar, inanimate, materials provided that the two pieces fit together reasonably well. The actual area affected can be anything up to one square foot and the seam will be almost undetectable, but the objects to be affected cannot be moving, resisting, or in the possession of a creature who wishes to resist.
21. Lase: Projects a thin, but high intensity, beam of light up to sixty feet, doing (Caster Level/3) points of damage to its target (roll an attack at +10 Attack Rating to hit). It requires a tiny gem or crystal in a reflective metal setting (five silvers from any jeweler in desperate need of work or 4.95$ from a junk shop). Use of the cantrip destroys the crystal. A gold-sheathed crystal rod worth five hundred silver pieces can be reused indefinitely, but if you can afford that, why are you bothering with this?
22. Lighten: Alters the weight of an object, commonly to lighten it, although the charm can be “reversed”. The charm can alter the weight of an object by up to forty pounds, but cannot reduce it below 10% of reality. It remains effective for up to twenty minutes. The Powerlift variant can reduce the weight of an object by up to 200 pounds but only lasts for thirty seconds. It has a range of twenty feet, if it targets an item in the possession of another creature, that creature is entitled to a resistance check, as is any creature directly affected.
23. Melding: This cantrip fuses 2 small items together, such as a gem and a ring. The charm interlinks their surface molecules harmlessly, but quite permanently. This is about equal to using a drop of “super glue”. Unlike the Join cantrip, the interface will be obvious, and the area affected will be much smaller, but the materials need not be similar or unresisting.
24. Mistweaving: Allows the user to mentally mold a rough form out of fog, mist, smoke, etc. The shape may not exceed ten feet in any dimension, and lasts up to a maximum of twenty minutes.
25. Patch: Neatly seals over small holes in cloth or leather items by “stretching” and rejoining the edges of the material. These repairs can be detected if the item is examined closely, but are still of excellent quality. A variant form which stitches seams or joins is known; like patch, it can be reversed.
26. Phase: Allows the caster to turn a part of his body briefly immaterial, commonly the hand. Anything fully enclosed in the hand also becomes immaterial, this can be used to remove an object from a closed box. Common variants include Daggerphase (Makes a dagger or other small item immaterial for a single throw through armor, a door, or whatever), Piercing Thrust (Lets the user strike a single blow through an obstacle, such as a door, wall, tree, or shield, by momentarily making a weapon “out-of-phase” with a small patch of the obstacle), and Shed (Lets the user “step out” of his clothing, armor, or whatever). Despite many attempts, you can’t “enclose” something which extends through your phased hand, so you can’t use this charm to pull out people’s internal organs or pieces thereof. However, as a side effect, the user can touch things which are using a similar intangibility technique.
27. Pickle: Promptly pickles up to twelve pounds of appropriate unresisting stuff, impregnating it with vinegar (the variety is optional). Minor variants can infuse appropriate targets with salt, sugar, or a variety of other simple compounds. The Infusion variant impregnates an unresisting object with whatever substance you happen to have handy, an is used in making everything from scented candles to assorted medicines.
28. Press: Leaves the recipients clothes dry, pressed, and adequately starched. Sadly, it doesn’t remove stains and dirt, you need the Veneer cantrip for that.
29. Shadowflame: Causes a small (up to a maximum of one foot in diamater) fire to burn “black” for up to 12 hours, producing no light. The fires production of heat, smoke, etcetra, is unaffected.
30. Sharpen: Puts a fine edge on about six linear feet of metal – enough for a sword, two or three daggers, or a selection of smaller items. Due to the residual effects of the charm such weapons gain a +1 damage bonus on their next hit, provided that it occurs within the next seventy-two hours – and that the weapon is not dulled somehow beforehand.
31. Stack: Manipulates small-scale odds affecting an item the user is manipulating for one minute – long enough to shuffle and stack a deck of cards, to roll dice several times, or to flip a few coins. Sadly, the result is as the user directs, not as he or she might desire; you can “randomly” shuffle the cards into the order you want; you can’t have the noodles in your alphabet soup spell out the secret of life when you stir them unless you already know it. (Sadly, this influences character-based rolls, not the ones the player makes).
32. Stiffen: Renders up to ten pound of material – typically a length of rope or piece of cloth – rigid for ten minutes. Such materials are, sadly, limited by their original strength. Rope is about as difficult to break as a wooden stave, rigid cloth can usually be shattered fairly easily, and so on.
33. Sympathy: Places the casters nervous system briefly in “resonance” with that of a reasonably similar being within thirty feet. As the user is prepared for the feedback involved, he can try to trigger some basic movement or action during these few seconds. Barring a successful resistance roll, targets can be made to twitch, giggle, sneeze, scratch, cough, wink, yawn, step forward, jerk slightly, start, or whatever. Successfully inducing such a problem in combat gives the victims opponents a +2 advantage for the round. Remember that the attempt to cause such an action requires some gesture towards it on the part of the user. Specific variants (Twitch, Yawn, et al) bypass this need and inflict a -2 penalty on the opponents resistance check.
34. Tailor: Makes minor alterations on clothing according to the pattern envisioned by the caster. A minor variant (Cobble) makes similar alterations on such things as shoes and leather accessaries.
35. Tinker: Makes minor repairs or alterations on small metal objects, such objects will show traces of skilled repair if examined. A minor variant (Potter) works similarly on ceramics. Unsurprisingly, many other variants exist.
36. Unspill: Regathers the contents of a small, recently spilled, container, provided that the contents are no more then thirty feet away and could reasonably be restored to their container. You can’t recover liquid which has soaked into the ground, but you can collect seeds, the contents of a puddle, or tacks.
37. Veneer: Alters a very thin layer of surface material on an object or small group of objects. Some possible effects include; removing or adding dust, grime, dirt, and tarnish, polishing or dulling things, removing paint or varnish, changing the color (this usually wears off in a month or so), smoothing out scratches, and so on. The Glaze variant has somewhat deeper effects but only affects the color, it can require many months to wear off. Herkin’s Unseen Clothing turns objects of up to the thickness of heavy cloth transparent for 1D6+14 minutes. As usual, items in someone else’s possession allow them to make a resistance check, and all versions of Veneer have a range of about 30 feet.
38. Waterproof: Renders any single item of up to ten pounds “waterproof” – as resistant to water as if it had been thoroughly oiled or waxed. The effect will persist until the surface is seriously damaged on a solid surface, such as wood, but will fade within a few months on porous surfaces, such as cloth.
39. Weaken: This cantrip expands any natural weaknesses in a few ounces of material – a section of rope, a bowstring, a link of chain, the center of a staff, the bolt of a lock, or the base of a dagger are all likely targets – with a 50-50 chance of causing a failure next time it’s stressed. Sadly, this will not work on enhanced objects, on anything more than thirty feet away, or have much effect on really large objects (although it may result in a nasty chip), and characters may make resistance checks for objects in their possession.
40. Woodworking: “Softens” up to a cubic foot of wood, allowing the user to do up to the equivalent of three hours of work on it in a mere ten minutes.