General Prestige Class : Planeshifter
The planeshifter is a magical scholar and expert in planar travel, and through arcane research develops not only the ability to sense planar portals, but also the ability to create his own demiplane. (Being around long enough to use it is another matter.)
Wizards and sorcerers, steeped in their arcane knowledge, make the best planeshifters, and some degree of arcane spellcasting ability is required to join their numbers. They form loose organizations with titles such as the Eternal Book or the Study Group of Planar Entities. These organizations are more like fraternal organizations than guilds or power groups, and they seem to appear (and disappear) with great frequency.
NPC planeshifters are rarely in the same place for long. They're always going to see some new planar sight or phenomenon. They sometimes hire adventurers as bodyguards, assistants, or troubleshooters.
Requirements
To qualify to become a Planeshifter, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
- Skills: Concentration 10 ranks, Knowledge (the planes) 4 ranks, Spellcraft 10 ranks.
- Feats: Craft Wondrous Item,
- Spells: Able to cast 5th-level arcane spells.
- Special: Must have visited an Inner or Outer Plane before taking this prestige class.
Class Skills
The planeshifter's class skills are Concentration, Craft, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Intimidate, Knowledge (all skills taken individually), Perform, Profession, Ride, Search, Speak language, Spellcraft, Survival, and Swim.
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.
Class Features
All the following are class features of the planeshifter prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Planeshifters gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.
Plane Shift (Sp): A planeshifter has the ability to plane shift (as the spell cast by a sorcerer of his character level) once per day At 8th level, the planeshifter can use this ability at will.
Spells per Day: A planeshifter continues training in magic as well as gaining power in the planes. Thus, when a new level is gained (except for 1st, 5th, and 9th), the character gains new spells per day as if he had also gained a level in whatever arcane spellcasting class he belonged to before he added the prestige class. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained. This essentially means that he adds the level of planeshifter to the level of whatever other spellcasting class the character has, then determines spells per day accordingly
If a character had more than one arcane spellcasting class before he became a planeshifter, he must decide which class he adds each level of planeshifter for the purposes of determining spells per day when he adds the new level.
Analyze Portal (Sp): At 2nd level, a planeshifter gains the ability to use analyze portal as a spell-like ability. He may do this once per planeshifter level per day. This ability otherwise functions as the spell cast by a sorcerer of a level equal to the planeshifter's highest caster level.
Planar Survival (Ex): A planeshifter of 3rd level or higher becomes attuned to the nature of the planes he visits and personally immune to their natural planar effects. Any effect that would be negated by the avoid planar effects spell is negated by the planar survival ability as well.
The planeshifter is immune to the "normal" fires of the Elemental Plane of Fire, but fire-based attack forms and unusually fiery areas there still affect him. Because this extraordinary ability is the result of attuning himself to a particular plane, the planeshifter remains vulnerable to the same sort of damage in other planes where that attack form is not part of the natural order. Fires on other planes, including the Material Plane affect him normally.
Morphic Stability (Ex): At 4th level, a planeshift gains the ability to impose his will on his surroundings to a limited extent. On planes with the highly morphic trait (such as limbo in the D&D cosmology) or the magically morphic trait (such as the Plane of Shadow), the terrain stabilizes around the planeshifter. The planeshifter automatically calms the terrain within a radius of 30 feet per planeshifter level. This area moves with the planeshifter and is centered on him. Permanent structures within the plane are unaffected, and the terrain can still be changed through normal activity.
Grant Planar Survival (Su): A planeshifter of 5th level or higher can extend the planar survival ability by touch to a number of others equal to his planeshifter level. Once granted, the survival ability lasts for 24 hours. Should the planeshifter's companions wind up on a different plane than the planeshifter, their protection fades immediately.
Control Planar Flux (Su): At 6th level, a planeshifter gains an intuitive understanding of how creatures interact with the planes they're on, and he can exploit small changes in the barriers between planes. The planeshifter's caster level is considered four levels higher when casting dimensional anchor and dismissal spells.
Telepathy (Su): A planeshifter of 7th level or higher can communicate telepathically with any creature within 100 feet that can speak a language.
Planar Area Swap (Sp): At 9th level, a planeshifter gains the ability to move sections of the landscape from one plane to another. A spherical area of up to a 100-foot radius per planeshifter level, centered on the planeshifter, may be so moved. Any unwilling individuals within the sphere can make a Will saving throw (DC 20) to negate the swap completely. As with the plane shift spell, fine control of the destination is impossible. When the fragment is brought onto the new plane, the traits of the new plane apply themselves within 1d4 rounds. A part of the Elemental Plane of Fire brought onto the Material Plane burns briefly (1d4 rounds), for example, then dissipates. Because it's a swap, an equal area of the destination plane appears in the plane of origination. The plane of origination applies its planar traits to the new area in 1d4 rounds. The swapped areas switch back in a number of days equal to 10 + planeshifter level.
Demiplane Seed: The demiplane seed is a small pocket dimension grown by a planeshifter who has reached 10th level. This pocket dimension is often used as a base of operation. A planeshifter can own only one demiplane at a time, and cannot construct a new one unless all portals to the old one are destroyed. The planeshifter must have a single flawless gemstone of at least 1,000 gp value and work on the demiplane for 100 consecutive days, for 8 hours per day.
Upon completion of the work, the seed opens into a minuscule spherical demiplane, 1 foot in radius. It grows quickly, gaining 1 foot in radius per day up to a maximum radius of 10 feet x the planeshifter's highest caster level. After reaching that size, the demiplane continues to grow slowly, gaining 2 feet of radius per year. If its creator perishes, the demiplane stops growing.
The planeshifter's demiplane has the following planar traits: normal time, alterable, and normal magic. At creation, the planeshifter can set whatever gravity trait, elemental traits, and alignment traits he likes, and can choose whether the plane is finite or self-contained. While the demiplane isn't morphic, the planeshifter has total control over the landscape at the moment of creation, so he can decide whether it will be a foreboding, mountainous wasteland or a bucolic forest. The terrain set at creation extends itself as the demiplane grows. While it's not possible to fir jagged peaks into a 1-foot sphere, cliffs and summits appears as the demiplane grows.
The demiplane grown from the seed is unfurnished, so the planeshifter must provide what construction is necessary. It has a single portal entry, which the planeshifter may control for access. Demiplanes are often used as hiding places, research labs, and prisons for particular beasts.
| Planeshifter | Hit Die: d4 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CL | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special | Spells |
| 1st | +0 | +2 | +0 | +0 | Plane shift 1/day | - |
| 2nd | +1 | +3 | +0 | +0 | Analyze portal | +1 level of existing class |
| 3rd | +1 | +3 | +1 | +1 | Planar survival | +1 level of existing class |
| 4th | +2 | +4 | +1 | +1 | Morphic stability | +1 level of existing class |
| 5th | +2 | +4 | +1 | +1 | Grant planar survival | - |
| 6th | +3 | +5 | +2 | +2 | Control planar flux | +1 level of existing class |
| 7th | +3 | +5 | +2 | +2 | Telepathy | +1 level of existing class |
| 8th | +4 | +6 | +2 | +2 | Plane shift at will | +1 level of existing class |
| 9th | +4 | +6 | +3 | +3 | Planar area swap | - |
| 10th | +5 | +7 | +3 | +3 | Demiplane seed | +1 level of existing class |
Source: Expanded Psionics Handbook