Frost Shaman

[Shadowbranch1]

Frost Shamans

The tribal society of Frost Shamans is an exclusive group of mages and sorcerers dedicated to the elemental forces of water and more specifically ice. They are a tight knit group of people dedicated to their craft. They stand in direct opposition to the Servants of the Flame. The battles and interactions between the two are legendary. The only thing that keeps the more organized and unified group from eradicating the chaotic Servants of the Flame is their low numbers. The Society is only found in the northern continent of Glasswall, although travelers have started to spread the ways.

The originator of the society was a member of the Tribe of the Wolverine, a man named Crandall. He was a vicious warlord and sorcerer of his tribe. He sought to slay the invaders of his homeland led by a powerful Wizard dedicated to the powers of Fire. The wizard was a man by the name of Diovo.

Diovo had been run from his homeland of Cavalcante by the might of the armies of Falx after he tried to overthrow the baron of his province. Taking flight, he ended up in Glasswall. Thinking the continent full of savages, he summoned several of his brothers from the cult known as the Servants of the Flame. They in turn gathered all the support that they could and invaded Glasswall in mass.

The armies of Diovo swept across the plains of Glasswall. They killed everyone and everything that they encountered. Those who were not killed were made slaves, or worse sacrificed to the foul powers of the Flame. The barbarians of the steppes could not gather their strength fast enough to repel the attacks. It seemed that the Servants of the Flame would successfully take the region from the people.

Crandall gathered together the strongest sorcerers of his tribe. He visited the chieftains of the other tribes and suggested a truce be made between the tribes. The tribes, all with the exception of the Tribe of the Elk agreed and the truce was made.

Crandall asked that the tribal warriors advance on the intruders base camps. As the warriors began to advance Crandall and the others called upon the spirits of their ancestors. The pleaded that the ancestral spirits grant them the power over their environment, the one thing that they knew the Flame mages were vulnerable to.

The pleas of the sorcerers worked all too well. The Frost Shamans (As they were soon called) called down upon the flame mages a force more powerful than even they could have imagined. Unfortunately it also caused a major calamity. The life of Crandall was sacrificed (By his own choice) to the ancestral spirits in return for the power to drive off the intruders. The force that the Frost Shamans called was so strong that it not only wiped out the intruders, but it also killed all the warriors of the assembled tribes.

This led to a serious distrust of all the tribes towards one another, and also the purge of the Frost Shamans. The assembled tribes blamed the entire calamity solely on the Frost Shamans, regardless of the end that it accomplished. This nearly led to the extinction of the Society, but several survived. It is they who are the progenitors of the society today.

Requirements

Knowledge (Arcana): 10 ranks
Knowledge (The Planes): 5 ranks
Spellcraft: 5 ranks
(Wizard) Knowledge of at least 3 Cold based spells, one of which must be 4th level or higher.
(Sorcerer) Knowledge of at least 1 Cold spell of levels 1 thru 3
Alignment: Any Lawful
Feats: Empower spell

Class Skills: Concentration, Knowledge (all), Craft, Spellcraft, Perform (Ancestral Rituals), Bluff, Use Magic Device, Diplomacy

Weapons and Armor: The Frost Shamans are proficient with all simple weapons.

Hit Dice: 1D4
Skill points at each level: 2 + Int modifier


Level - Base Attack Bonus - Fort Save - Ref Save - Will Save - Caster Level
1____________+0________________+2_________+0______ ___+0____+0
2____________+1________________+3_________+0______ ___+0____+1
3____________+1________________+4_________+1______ ___+1____+1
4____________+2________________+4_________+1______ ___+1____+1
5____________+2________________+4_________+1______ ___+1____+1
6____________+3________________+5_________+2______ ___+2____+1
7____________+3________________+5_________+2______ ___+2____+1
8____________+4________________+6_________+2______ ___+2____+1
9____________+4________________+6_________+3______ ___+3____+1
10___________+5________________+7_________+3______ ___+3____+1

Special Abilities

1st..........Cold Resistance / 10
2nd.........Cast Water spells as 1 level higher
3rd..........Cold Resistance / 15
4th..........Frost Touch
5th..........Cold Resistance / 20
6th..........Frost Weapon
7th..........Cast Water spells as 2 levels higher
8th..........Summon Water Elemental 1 / day
9th..........Cold Subtype
10th.........Ice Form

Special Penalties:

Caster may not learn or employ any spell that has the "Fire" descriptor.

If the character misses a saving throw versus a fire based spell, they take an additional 1 point of damage per die due to the conflicting energies of Water vs. Fire

Ability Descriptions:

Cold Resistance / 10: The 1st level character gains a cold resistance that absorbs the first 10 points of cold damage done to the character. This ability is always in effect, and does not stack with any other abilities or spells.

Increased Elemental Knowledge: The 2nd level character has increased his knowledge of the element of water (Ice). He is able to cast all cold based spells as if he were 1 level higher than his actual level. This affects range, duration, damage, etc…

Cold Resistance / 15: The 3rd level character gains a cold resistance that absorbs the first 15 points of cold damage done to the character. This ability is always in effect, and does not stack with any other abilities or spells.

Frost Touch: The character has become so in touch with the essence of ice that they can coat their hands with the essence of cold. Anything the character touches will take 1d4 cold damage. Objects will be affected as if they were exposed to freezing temperatures. This can be dispelled at will.

Cold Resistance / 20: The 5th level character gains a Cold resistance that absorbs the first 20 points of Cold damage done to the character. This ability is always in effect, and does not stack with any other abilities or spells.

Frost Weapon: The 6th level character is able to transfer the essence of Ice to any weapon he uses. The weapon is treated as if it were a Frost weapon. This duration of this ability is as long as the Frost Shaman holds the weapon.

Increased Elemental Knowledge: The 7th level character has increased his knowledge of the element of water (Ice). He is able to cast all Cold based spells as if he were 2 levels higher than his actual level. This affects range, duration, damage, etc…

Summon Water Elemental: The 8th level character is able to summon a Water Elemental of great strength 1/day. The elemental will be subservient and friendly towards the character. Control of the summoned Elemental may not be taken away from the character. This ability functions in all other ways as a "Monster Summoning 6" spell. The elemental summoned will be large with maximum hit points. The Elemetal wil be summoned from a part of the Elemental plane that borders the Para-elemental plane of Ice, so it will do an additional +2 cold damage with each hit.

Cold Subtype: The 9th level character has such an understanding of the element of Ice that natural cold will no longer harm him. He has effectively gained the Cold Subtype and all of its bonus' and penalties.


Ice Form: The 10th level character can assume the form of Ice 1/day for a 10 minute duration. During this time he has Immunity to all cold, natural and magical. He also has a Damage reduction of 30 / +1. He may make unarmed attacks for 2D6 damage. Anything he touches will be affected as if it had been exposed to -100 degree temperatures.

[colonialbob]

Interesting, I don't know much about spellcasting, but I do have a few suggestiions for ice form: I would say his unarmed attacks deal 1D6 damage plus an additional 1D6 cold damage (or just 2D6 cold damage). Also, I would think he takes additional damage from fire, like 2x? You might want to add another ability if this makes it too weak, I don't know. Can he return to normal form whenever he likes? Finally, can he still cast spells, use weapons, etc while in ice form? I would assume so, but you might want to make that a bit clearer. Overall, nice job, and a very nice flavor and story.

[Barrok]

A little something about the saves - you have strong REF daves but not will or fort. With it beig a spellcaster they normall have strong will saves, but with it being someone in tune with the cold I would have given them stron Fort and Will saves but weak ref saves. This would show that they have attuned themselves to the cold but also are more impervious to magic as they understand and channel the energies.


hmm does that make sense? If i'm on the wrong track here please just let me know as I love reading about PrC concepts.


BTW I do like the class. ooooo just thought as Ice Elemental are not part of the MM you may have to stat them or say they are like earth or water elementals but with these powers... or somthing like that.

[Shadowbranch1]

I have upped the Fort saves, but left the Will and Ref saves low. (The reason for this is that I did not want to overbalance the class).

The reason for the high Fort save is due to the enviroment that they are accustomed to living in. This also reflects their low will and ref saves. (Its hard to move in the snow and ice, and the scarcity of mystical opponents in their natural enviroment leads them to not honing their mental fortitude as much as one from a kmore civilized land, where the mystical is encountered more.)

I have also changed the Elemental summoning to that of a Water Elemental (With a +2 cold damage factor). I thought that there was stats for an "Ice Elemental" but that might have been in a previous edition.

[Barrok]

Yeah the ice elemental or cold elemental I can remember being in 1st edition monster manual 2

[Shadowbranch1]

Time for my rebuttal:

...why?* I can see Survival ranks, maybe.

The reason for the Knowledge:Planes skill is because the Frost Shaman must know about the plane of water as it is his predominant driving force. In order to summon several of his special abilities he must be able to access power or power(s) from the elemental plane of water.

And clerics who serve ice spirits are just sort of screwed? And bards! Bards would love this class.

The tribal society is actually a closed (Secret) society. Only the strongest Sorcerers or Wizards are given the chance to join. Admitting others in to their ranks (Clerics or Bards) would detract from the flavor IMO.

I wonder about this. Ice is a destructive, powerful element. But why does one have to be rigid and predictable to be a Frost Shaman?

Ice is destructive, but it is not a chaotic element. It follows a specific set of rules. It forms in low temperatures (Natually) and cannot spontaneously form. It is unlike fire which is truly random and chaotic. (I.e. Spontaneous Combustion, Trying to trace the path of a wildfire, etc...)

I'd just allow all performs, honestly. Who cares if the Frost Shaman can perform ancestral rituals?

A lot of the flavor and power of this class comes from the characters link with his ancestral spirits. That is a major part of their history, and why I gave it as a class ability.


And they've already learned Fireball... what happens? The latter half is better employed as a 'cold subtype', which isn't necessary at first level, really, but might be nifty for the capstone ability.

Like I said the membership is secret and not openly available. Those who someday wish to walk the path, must make sure that they live like it, otherwise they would never be considered for admittance anyways.

I'd say start at 5, and build by 5 every other level. Thats me, though.

The reason that I started so high (Honestly) was that they were patterned exactly after another PrC that I made (Servants of the Flame). They were made as a direct opposition to them, so I tried to keep the power scale the same.

I'd alter this to be "all spells with the Cold subtype". At the moment, this means that an ice wizard is good at casting Horrid Wilting!

I will change this to reflect that, as it makes more sense.

This seems quite bad. Is it an Ex, or Su, ability? (In other words, in an antimagic field, can they hold their girlfriends hands?) I'd let it be turned off at will, just for that reason.

I will reflect that this is dispelable at will.

How long does this last? A minute after they let go?

I will add a duration for this.

What elemental size does it summon? Tiny, Small, Medium, Huge, Elder?

TYPO! The size will be added.

That seems kind of sad. The guy has 20 cold resistance by now, and because someone was smart and cast a maximized cone of cold, he only reduces the damage by 20? He can't cast ANY fire spells at all, so he's just kind of sad? I'd give him the Cold Subtype- he becomes immune to all cold, no matter what, and takes half-again as much damage from fire abilities.

Cold Sub-type is a good idea. Would it change the balance issues any?

The DR is no longer applicable. In 3.5, its DR 30/Magic. Either way... thats 30 DR. Thats a WHOLE LOT OF DR. Suddenly. Its kind of frightening. And now his fists do as much damage as a greatsword? What gives? I assume he'd also have the Frost ability, so thats 2d6 slam damage and 1d6 cold damage...

The reason for the high DR is the low duration of the ability. It is usable once per day, and only lasts for 10 minutes a day. That is enough for 1 major fight. By the time that this ability is gained, the character is ECL of 15 or better. By this time the character can cast 7th or 8th level spells (Some of the most powerful available). As for the damage, the 2d6 I will change to include the cold damage. The damage is not only from a slam. It could be a pierce or slice from jagged ice.

Sadly, the Frost Mage (from Frostburn, the cold based supplement) does everything this class does, except Ice Form, autofrost on weapons... and can still cast fire spells. It also has lower prerequisites, so I'd almost always choose Frost Mage over Frost Shaman, especially since Polymorph or Shapechange can make me an Ice Paraelemental.

This PrC is specifc for my homebrew world, but may be used in other game settings as well. I do not have the FrostBurn supplement to compare, so I wont even try. Although the class may be inferior in ability, the players may want it for "Flavor" reasons. To belong to a secret society, or to be in direct opposition to the Servants of the Flames (IF they had a role in the characters background) or a multitude of other reasons.


As a final note, I am not saying or doing any of this to be argumentative. I really do appreciate the help given, as it helps me become better at making PrCs. I am just trying to justify why I made this the way that I did. :D

[Shadowbranch1]

I see your point Gorth. I could understand what you are coming with, but as I said I wanted this group as the polar opposites of the Servants of the Flame (A really Chaotic organization). One final factor was the race of the original Frost Shamans. They are detailed below:

Tribe of the Wolverine (L/E): This tribe is the most warlike of all the tribes. They tend to be openly hostile against all outsiders. Their small numbers are the only thing that keeps this tribe in check. They are of average height and weight 6’ and 180lbs. They are cunning and versatile fighters. They are a wandering tribe much like the Elk, but with a much more military outlook on life. The women of this tribe are treated as second class citizens, or worse. They are viewed more as property than as people. The bonuses for this tribe are as follows… +1 Str, Int, Con -1 Dex and -2 Wis



OOC:
<table class=ooc><tr><td class=ooc style="border: 0px">As a side note, do you think there would be any interest in some other human races? I have about 14 different human races for my homebrewed world.</td></tr></table>