General Prestige Class : Argent Savant

Of all the energies summoned or shaped by magic, force is perhaps the most pure. No analog for this power exists in the physical world; it comes into being only through the medium of spells, and therefore represents a perfection of intent that contradicts the imperfection of the everchanging world and its mutable elements. Sometimes referred to as the "force mage," the argent savant regards spells that evoke or apply magical force as the noblest and most fascinating spells at her disposal, and she seeks to increase her understanding and control of this mystical power at every opportunity.

Most argent savants are evokers or abjurers, or sorcerers who choose a number of force spells as they advance in level. Without some facility at the manipulation of magical force, a spellcaster cannot embark on the secret studies of the argent savant.

NPC argent savants sometimes join groups that aim to take on a powerful wizard or sorcerer who has protected his domicile with powerful wards of force. Argent savants of sufficient ability can dissolve the force effects of others.

Adaptation: One way to make the argent savant different is to redirect her focus to the manipulation of energy other than force: acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic. For instance, a fiery argent savant would gain a +2 competence bonus on attack rolls made with fire spells and a +2 bonus to Armor Class when casting any defensive spells due to a halo of protective flame. Fire spells with a duration longer than instantaneous would last longer, she could subtract her class level from any fire damage she takes, and she could dispel other fire spells.

Requirements

To qualify to become an Argent Savant, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:

Class Skills

The argent savant's class skills are Concentration, Craft, Knowledge (all skills taken individually), Profession, and SpellCraft.

Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.

Class Features

All the following are class features of the argent savant prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Argent savants gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.

Spells per Day/Spells Known: At each level after 1st, an argent savant gains new spells per day (and spells known, if applicable) as if she had also gained a level in an arcane spellcasting class to which she belonged before adding the prestige class level. She does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (such as the bonus feat sometimes gained by a wizard). If she had more than one arcane spellcasting class before becoming an argent savant, she must decide to which class to add each level for the purpose of determining spells per day and spells known.

Force Specialization: An argent savant gains a +2 competence bonus on attack rolls made with her force spells. She also adds a +1 bonus to each die of damage dealt by spells she casts with the force descriptor. If the force spell doesn't deal damage expressed by dice, she adds only a +1 bonus to the total damage dealt. For example, a magic missile cast by a 9th-level wizard/1st-level argent savant deals 1d4+2 points of damage per missile. A 9th-level wizard/4th-level argent savant deals 4d6+7 points of force damage with her Mordenkainen's sword spell.

Force Armor (Ex): At 2nd level and higher, an argent savant gains more benefit from defensive force spells than other characters. If she casts a force spell that provides an armor bonus or a shield bonus to Armor Class, she increases the spell's normal armor bonus by 2. For example, mage armor normally adds an armor bonus of +4 to the caster's AC, but an argent savant with this ability who casts mage armor adds an armor bonus of +6 to her AC.

Enduring Force (Ex): Force spells cast by an argent savant of 3rd level or higher linger longer than normal, and they are more difficult to counter or dispel. The duration of a force spell cast by the savant is doubled, as if the Extend Spell feat had been applied to it. However, the spell's level and casting time are unchanged. The same restrictions that apply to extended spells apply to spells affected by enduring force. In addition, the DC required to counter or dispel the argent savant's force spells increases by 4.

Ablate Force (Ex): Due to her improved understanding of magical force, an argent savant of 4th level or higher can prevent force damage to herself. She subtracts her class level from damage dealt by any force spell or effect. A force spell producing multiple attacks, such as magic missile, is considered a single attack for this purpose; deduct the savant's level from the total damage dealt by the spell, not the damage dealt by each individual missile.

Unbind Force (Su): At 5th level, an argent savant learns how to unweave a force spell or effect and liberate its magical energy. As a standard action, she can attempt to dispel a single force spell or effect within 60 feet (even those normally immune to dispel magic, such as wall of force). If she succeeds on a caster level check (DC 11 + opposing caster's level), the force effect is unbound. This immediately dispels the effect and deals 1d6 points of force damage per level of the dispelled spell to all creatures and objects within 10 feet of the unbound spell. For example, if an argent savant unbound another caster's wall of force, the liberated spell energy would deal 5d6 points of force damage to anyone within 10 feet of the wall's former location.

Argent SavantHit Die: d4
CLBABFortRefWillSpecialSpells
1st+0+0+0+2Force specialization-
2nd+1+0+0+3Force armor+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
3rd+1+1+1+3Extended force+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
4th+2+1+1+4Ablate force+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
5th+2+1+1+4Unbind force+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class

Source: Complete Arcane

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General Prestige Classes