Monster Prestige Class : Dragon - Dispassionate Watcher Of Chronepsis
The draconic deity of fate, death, and judgment, Chronepsis silent, unconcerned, and dispassionate. Most dragons respect him, but few revere him or serve him as clerics because of his neutral alignment. Chromatic and metallic dragons are almost always too committed to philosophical extremes to become clerics of Chronepsis, and their passionate adherence to their alignment means they have little interest in the detached attitude of the watchers. Most dispassionate watchers are gem dragons, brown dragons, fang dragons, song dragons, dragon turtles, and wyverns.
True to their name, dispassionate watchers of Chronepsis remain aloof from the events of the world around them, taking the role of observers rather than active participants. They are excellent sources of information and advice, and dragons often appeal to them to judge disputes and complaints. They typically make their lairs in areas that other dragons use as graveyards, embodying their deity's aspect as a god of death and keeping the graves safe from robbers and defilers.
Requirements
To qualify to become a Dispassionate Watcher of Chronepsis, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
- Alignment: Any neutral.
- Skills: Knowledge (any two) 20 ranks.
- Spells: Able to cast divine spells.
- Domain: Knowledge (or able to cast at least three Knowledge domain spells as arcane spells).
Class Skills
The dispassionate watcher's class skills are Concentration, Decipher Script, Knowledge (all skills taken individually), and Spellcraft.
Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.
Class Features
The following are Class Features of the dispassionate watcher of Chronepsis prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A dispassionate watcher gains no proficiency with any weapons, armor, or shields.
Divine Conversion: At 1st level, a dispassionate watcher loses any effective sorcerer level it had previously gained by virtue of its age and draconic variety. Its effective divine spellcasting level increases by the number of sorcerer levels it sacrificed. These effective levels apply only to the dragon's spellcasting, not to other class abilities (such as turning undead).
For example, a very old amethyst dragon/1st-level cleric adopts the dispassionate watcher of Chronepsis prestige class. Its sorcerer caster level of 11th converts into eleven effective cleric levels, giving the dragon the spellcasting ability of a 12th-level cleric.
Calming Aura (Su): Ar 1st level, a dispassionate watcher loses its frightful presence ability (if it had one), gaining instead an infectious aura of calm detachment. This aura has the same radius and Will save DC as the dragon's frightful presence ability if it had one. If it did not possess frightful presence, the radius is equal to 5 feet per 2 HD the dragon possesses (counting only its base dragon Hit Dice, not any class levels). The Will saving throw to resist the effect has a DC of 10 + 1/2 dragon's base HD + its Cha modifier. The effect of the aura is the same as that of a calm emotions spell, but it lasts as long as the dispassionate watcher does not attack.
Draconic Knowledge: A dispassionate watcher gains Draconic Knowledge as a bonus feat. It uses its dispassionate watcher level as an additional modifier on its draconic knowledge checks.
Spellcasting: From 2nd level on, when a new dispassionate watcher level is gained, the dragon gains new spells per day as if it had also gained a level in a divine spellcasting class it belonged to before it added the prestige class. It does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (an improved chance of turning or rebuking undead, wild shape, and so on). This essentially means that the dragon adds the level of dispassionate watcher to the level of whatever divine spellcasting class the dragon has, then determines spells per day and caster level accordingly
If the dragon had more than one divine spellcasting class before becoming a dispassionate watcher, the dragon must decide to which class it adds each level of dispassionate watcher for the purpose of determining spells per day
A very old amethyst dragon/1st-level cleric/2nd-level dispassionate watcher has the spellcasting ability of a 13th-level cleric: 11 from divine conversion of its sorcerer spellcasting levels, 1 from its single cleric level, and 1 from its two levels in the prestige class.
If a dragon advances an age category after taking levels in this class, the added levels of spellcasting ability are added to its effective divine spellcasting level. If the very old amethyst dragon in the example above lives to be ancient, its spellcasting level would increase by 2, so it would cast spells as a 15th-level cleric.
Comprehend Languages (Sp): At 2nd level, a dispassionate watcher gains the ability to use comprehend languages at will.
Stunning Rebuke (Su): A 4th-level dispassionate watcher can deliver a thunderous rebuke that stuns one creature of its choice within 100 feet. If the target creature fails a Will saving throw (DC 10 + dispassionate watcher's class level + 1/2 its Cha modifier), it is stunned for 1d4+1 rounds. This is a sonic effect, but is not language-dependent.
Tongues (Sp): A 5th-level dispassionate watcher can use tongues at will.
Discern Lies (Su): At 6th level, a dispassionate watcher knows when anyone (other than a deity) is deliberately lying. This ability is like the discern lies spell, except that works continuously and applies to any creature the dragon can perceive.
Clearsight (Ex): A 9th-level dispassionate watcher can see illusions, transmuted creatures and objects, and disguised creatures and objects for what they really are, provided they are within 30 feet of the dragon. This ability is similar to the true seeing spell, except that it also foils mundane disguises.
Vision (Sp): At 10th level, a dispassionate watcher gains the ability to use vision three times per day. Using this ability is only a standard action for the dragon.
Analyze Dweomer(Sp): A 12th-level dispassionate watcher can use analyze dweomer at will.
| Dispassionate Watcher Of Chronepsis | Hit Die: d8 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CL | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special | Spellcasting |
| 1st | +0 | +2 | +0 | +2 | Divine conversion, Draconic Knowledge, calming aura, | - |
| 2nd | +1 | +3 | +0 | +3 | Comprehend languages | +1 level of existing class |
| 3rd | +2 | +3 | +1 | +3 | - | +1 level of existing class |
| 4th | +3 | +4 | +1 | +4 | Stunning rebuke | +1 level of existing class |
| 5th | +3 | +4 | +1 | +4 | Tongues | +1 level of existing class |
| 6th | +4 | +5 | +2 | +5 | Discern lies | +1 level of existing class |
| 7th | +5 | +5 | +2 | +5 | - | +1 level of existing class |
| 8th | +6 | +6 | +2 | +6 | +1 level of existing class | |
| 9th | +6 | +6 | +3 | +6 | Clearsight | +1 level of existing class |
| 10th | +7 | +7 | +3 | +7 | Vision | +1 level of existing class |
| 11th | +8 | +7 | +3 | +7 | - | +1 level of existing class |
| 12th | +9 | +8 | +4 | +8 | Analyze dweomer | +1 level of existing class |
Source: Draconomicon