General Prestige Class : Spirit Speaker
by Monte Lin, Dragon #323
A realm exists outside the normal cosmology of the planes that few know of and fewer still can reach. In this hidden place exist myriad creatures known as spirits, guides and allies to those who can comprehend their inscrutable ways, and those few who can speak to them are called spirit speakers. Spirit speakers unlocked the secrets of breaking down the barriers between the spirit world and the natural world. They travel there without fear, entering trances that let their minds journey in both worlds simultaneously.
The spirit world echoes, in many ways, the natural world. Spirit speakers explain that a spirit exists not only for every individual creature, plant, river, or stone, but there also exist grandfather spirits that represent an entire race, species, or element. When a spirit speaker enters her first trance, she meets a spirit who bonds with her, as a familiar bonds with a sorcerer or wizard. The spirit speaker has no control over which spirit bonds with her, although the spirit typically has some connection to the spirit speaker's past, such as an ancestor's spirit or perhaps the spirit of the small stream that runs by her home village.
A spirit speaker has spellcasting abilities, but her true power lies in the special abilities granted to her by her spirit guide, both in and out of trance. From her connection to the spirit world, she can gain a tremendous amount of knowledge. Unlike the loremaster, who diligently pores through countless tomes, the spirit speaker gleans information from her forays into the spirit world as well as from her own experiences in the natural world. In a party, a spirit speaker works well as a fifth character, one who augments her base class with the spirit speaker's unique abilities. Typically, a spirit speaker shifts her focus to a support role in the party, providing her group with some of the abilities of bards and clerics, as well as her unique spellcasting abilities and peerless spiritual knowledge.
Because a spirit speaker casts so few spells, this class appeals mostly to the non-spellcasting classes. Barbarians and monks make up the majority of spirit speakers, each exploring the spirit world for different reasons. Barbarian spirit speakers seek to serve their tribes as advisors and wise men, whereas monk spirit speakers see their communes with the spirit world as an indication of the power of their meditations. Fighters and rogues also take up this class in great numbers, to gain flexibility (skills, spells, and special abilities) and overall survivability (saving throws). Of the spellcasting classes, rangers and bards most often take up the spirit speaker way.
NPC spirit speakers rarely live alone and often work within a village or in league with a group of druids or rangers. A party might seek a spirit speaker for her unique knowledge or run across one while in the depths of the wilderness.
Requirements
To qualify to become a Spirit Speaker, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
- Skills: Diplomacy 3 ranks, Knowledge (arcana) 1 rank, Knowledge (nature) 1 rank
- Base Attack Bonus: +4 / Base Will Save: +2
Class Skills
The spirit speaker's class skills are Bluff, Concentration, Craft, Diplomacy, Handle Animal, Heal, Intimidate, Knowledge (all skills taken individually), Listen, Ride, Search, Sense Motive, Spellcraft, Spot, Survival, and Swim.
Skill Points at Each Level: 6 + Int modifier.
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the spirit speaker prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Speakers gain no proficiency with any weapons or shields. They are proficient with light armor.
Spells: A spirit speaker has the ability to cast divine spells. To cast spells, a spirit speaker must have a Charisma score of at least 10 + the spell's level, so a spirit speaker with a Charisma of 10 or lower cannot cast spells. Spirit speaker bonus spells are based on Charisma, and saving throws against these spells have a DC of 10 + spell level + the spirit speaker's Charisma modifier. The spirit speaker uses the ranger spell list. A spirit speaker has access to any spell on the ranger spell list and can freely choose which to prepare, just as a ranger. A spirit speaker prepares and casts spells just as a ranger does.
Enter Trance (Su): By making a DC 15 Concentration check, the spirit speaker can enter a trance that allows her to communicate with the spirit world. She may enter a trance once per day per spirit speaker level, which lasts a number of rounds equal to the spirit speaker's Charisma score. The spirit speaker can end the trance at any time before this by succeeding at a DC 10 Concentration check. She may not take 10 or take 20 for either of these checks, but she can retry a failed check after 1 round. Entering a trance is a full-round action that provokes attacks of opportunity. Once in a trance, the spirit speaker does not need to make Concentration checks to maintain it.
While in trance, the spirit speaker opens to the vast possibilities of the spirit world and makes herself somewhat removed from her surroundings. This duality splits her attention but heightens her magical senses. A spirit speaker in trance casts her spirit speaker spells at +1 caster level, and she gains access to her spirit guide. However, while in trance, the spirit speaker cannot run or charge, and she suffers a -2 penalty on all Wisdom- and Charisma-based skill checks.
A spirit speaker may remain in trance when her current trance's duration ends by making a DC 15 Concentration check and expending another of her daily trances. This prolonged trance counts as one trance for the purposes of abilities that work once per trance.
Spirit Guide (Su): When the spirit speaker enters a trance, her spirit guide appears. While the spirit speaker remains in this dual existence, the spirit guide manifests an unseen servant effect, as the spell cast by a spellcaster of the spirit speaker's class level, except that the servant has hit points equal to the spirit speaker.
While in trance, the spirit guide grants its spirit speaker special abilities depending on its master's levels in the spirit speaker class, as shown on the table below. The granted special abilities are cumulative, so a 10th-level spirit speaker gains all of the abilities on the table. However, the spirit speaker only gains access to these abilities while in trance.
| Speaker Level | Special Ability |
| 1st | Spirit sight |
| 3rd | Deliver touch spells |
| 5th | Remove curse |
| 7th | Ability enhancement |
| 9th | Scrying |
Spirit Sight (Su): While in trance, the spirit speaker gains darkvision to 60 feet (if she did not already have it) and can see magical auras as if continually under the effect of a detect magic spell.
Deliver Touch Spells (Su): A 3rd-level spirit speaker's spirit guide allows a spirit speaker to deliver touch spells from afar. If the spirit speaker has line of effect to a creature within range of the unseen servant effect, the spirit speaker may deliver a touch spell to that creature as though it were within reach.
Remove Curse (Su): At 5th level, the spirit speaker gains the ability to use her connection with her spirit guide to petition the spirit world to remove a curse. Once per trance, the spirit speaker may attempt a DC 20 Diplomacy check to convince the spirits to help her, having the effect of casting remove curse on a subject the spirit speaker designates. If she fails her Diplomacy check, she may not use this power for 24 hours.
Ability Enhancement (Su): At 7th level, the spirit speaker gains the ability to enhance one of her physical ability scores while in trance. Once she enters a trance, the spirit speaker gains a +4 enhancement bonus that she may apply to her Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution score. She must choose one at the beginning of the trance, and she cannot later change the ability score to which the bonus applies (although leaving the trance and entering a new one allows her to select a different ability score). A spirit speaker who prolongs a trance with additional daily trance uses cannot choose a new ability score to apply the bonus to (she is still considered in the same trance as when she began).
Scrying (Sp): Once she becomes a 9th-level spirit speaker, the spirit speaker can cast scrying once per trance as a 10th-level caster. Because of her connection to the spirit world, the spirit speaker can cast the spell without material components or a focus by using a full-round action and succeeding at a DC 25 Diplomacy check. If the spirit speaker fails her Diplomacy check, she may not use this power again for 24 hours. A spirit speaker who prolongs a trance with additional daily trance uses cannot use this ability more than once in that trance (she is still considered in the same trance as when she began).
Skill Insight (Su): Beginning at 2nd level, the spirit speaker's spirit guide remains in contact with her at all times in a tangential way, even outside of trance. This grants the spirit speaker a +2 insight bonus on all skill checks for a skill, as listed in the Spirit Speaker Advancement table. At 2nd level, the spirit guide grants a bonus on Heal checks, and at 4th and later levels, the bonus applies to a different Knowledge check that the spirit speaker has at least 1 rank in.
Sense Ailments (Su): At 3rd level, the spirit speaker's spirit guide can help her tell if a creature suffers from the effects of a disease or a poison, even if that creature is unaware of it, by the spirit speaker succeeding at a DC 15 Heal check. The spirit speaker can only use this ability when not in trance.
Sense Curse (Su): At 5th level, the spirit speaker can listen to the whisperings of the spirit world to tell if someone suffers from a curse, such as from bestow curse, the evil eye ability of sea hags, and similar effects, even if that person is unaware of it, with a DC 20 Knowledge (arcana) check. The spirit speaker can only use this ability when not in trance.
Legend Lore (Sp): At 9th level, the spirit speaker's spirit guide grants her the ability to cast legend lore once per day at her caster level. The spirit speaker can only use this ability when not in trance.
| Spirit Speaker | Hit Die: d6 | Spells per Day | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CL | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th |
| 1st | +0 | +2 | +2 | +2 | Enter trance, spirit guide (spirit sight) | 1 | - | - | - |
| 2nd | +1 | +3 | +3 | +3 | Skill insight (Heal) | 2 | - | - | - |
| 3rd | +2 | +3 | +3 | +3 | Sense ailments, spirit guide (deliver touch spells | 2 | 1 | - | - |
| 4th | +3 | +4 | +4 | +4 | Skill insight (Knowledge [nature]) | 3 | 2 | - | - |
| 5th | +3 | +4 | +4 | +4 | Sense curse, spirit guide (remove curse) | 3 | 2 | 1 | - |
| 6th | +4 | +5 | +5 | +5 | Skill insight (Knowledge [history]) | 3 | 3 | 2 | - |
| 7th | +5 | +5 | +5 | +5 | Spirit guide (ability enhancement) | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 8th | +4 | +6 | +6 | +6 | Skill insight (Knowledge [arcanal) | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| 9th | +6 | +6 | +6 | +6 | Legend lore, spirit guide (scrying) | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| 10th | +7 | +7 | +7 | +7 | Skill insight (Knowledge [the planes]) | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
Source: Dragon #323