Trying some more Prestige Classes for Witches. This one is actually quite near and dear to me. It was also one of the first Prestige Classes I ever wrote.
The Imbolc Mage is a special sort of witch infused with the divine vengeance of the Goddess. They are nominal leaders of the
Imbolc Guard. I wanted to create something that felt it could have been a part of witch history for a long time and work in the game. I had help from a good friend Lisa Countryman and her ideas on the original Imbolc Mage. The Imbolc Mage is her baby so I have kept the name closed for the OGL, but the rest is all fair game.
Section 15: Imbolc Mage, Copyright 2013, Timothy. S. Brannan & Lisa Countryman.
OGC Declaration: The terms "Imbolc Mage" and "Lady Imbolc" are closed in terms of the OGC. All other content is considered Open.
Art is
Copyright © Anne- Claire PAYET 2009 and used under Creative Commons
Imbolc Mage
Witches speak of Warlocks in hushed tones. Most are disgusted by these betrayers of the Goddess' law, but more
than few also fear them. But there is one witch that even the darkest Warlocks
of the Scholomance fear, for she is the righteous fury of the Goddess made mortal.
She is the Imbolc Mage.
The
Mages of Imbolc are so rare that every single one has been recorded.
Most have died in the pursuit of the Goddesses’ vengeance. Imbolc Mages
exist to destroy evil, and they save a special hatred for those who call themselves
warlocks.
Like
becoming witch, one does not chose to become an Imbolc Mage, the Goddess makes
that choice.
If
the witch has the potential to become an Imbolc mage a series of tests and trails
are performed by a coven 19 witches trained in the martial use of the sword. The
witches who train the prospective are always of the strongest Neutral Good alignment.
The test is a small price to pay and only a fraction of the battles the new Imbolc
Mage will certainly face. The training is tough and many do not succeed. There
is no dishonor in failure, it simply means the prospective was not destined to
bear the mantle of the Imbolc mage. If the prospective does succeed, she is filled
with the power of the Goddess and is known to all as Lady Imbolc.
History
records that nearly all Imbolc Mages have come from the ranks of strong witches.
Amazon and Celtic Classical traditions being the most representative, but few
chaste Tantric witches and a fewer number of Lorelei have served as well. Some druids and sorceresses have also become Imbolc Mages. With the rise of evil becoming
greater more Imbolc Mages have been chosen and some have come from nonwitch backgrounds.
In most cases the Imbolc Mage will join the Daughters of the Flame (q.v.) coven
dedicated to the Goddess Brigit, but the Imbolc Mage works alone and is not considered
to be a full member of that coven. Game Masters can choose a coven that suits
their game the best.
Hit Dice: d8
Requirements
To qualify as an Imbolc
Mage, a character must fulfill all of the following criteria.
Alignment: Any Good.
Feat: any metamagic feat, except Spell Kiss.
Knowledge
(religion): 7
Ranks
Knowledge (Witchcraft):
7 Ranks
Spell casting: Ability
to cast 5th level spells
Special:
Imbolc Mages can only be female.
In
order to understand the nature of her foe, the potential Imbolc Mage must have
survived an attack from an evil outsider. Note, survived does not mean she won
or succeeded in defeating the outsider. Preferences are also made to witches that
come from a strong family line of witches and have high Wisdom.
Imbolc
Mages are not made, they are chosen. So the GM and the Player who wishes to play
an Imbolc Mage must decide on the particulars of this calling. Were her ancestors
powerful witches? Did she have an Imbolc Mage in her family tree? Is there some
new evil that requires a new Imbolc Mage be called? What were the circumstances
with her battle with the evil outsider?
Class
Skills
The Imbolc Mage’s class skills (and the key ability
for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Knowledge
(witchcraft) (Int), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int).
Skill points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier
| Imbolc
Mage Progression |
| Class
Level |
Attack
Bonus |
Fort
Save |
Ref
Save |
Will
Save |
Special |
Spells per Day |
| 1st | +1 | +0
| +0 | +2
|
Awesome Presence |
+1 level of existing class |
| 2nd | +1 | +1
| +0 | +3 |
Favored
enemy +1 |
+1 level of existing class |
| 3rd | +2 | +1
| +1 | +3
|
Bilocate |
+1
level of existing class |
| 4th | +2 | +1
| +1 | +4
|
Favored enemy +2 |
+1 level of existing class |
| 5th
| +3 | +2
| +1 | +4
|
Wild Shape
1/day |
+1 level of existing class |
| 6th
| +3 | +2
| +2 | +5 |
Favored
enemy +3 |
+1 level of existing class |
| 7th
| +4 | +2
| +2 | +5
|
Ethereal Shift |
+1 level of existing class |
| 8th | +4 | +3 | +2
| +6 |
Favored
enemy +4 |
+1 level of existing class |
| 9th
| +5 | +3 | +3 | +6 |
Astral
Shift |
+1 level of existing class |
| 10th | +5 | +3 | +3
| +7 |
Favored
enemy +5, Extended Life |
+1 level of existing class |
Class Features
All
of the following are class features of The Imbolc Mage prestige class.
Weapon
Proficiency: Once becoming an Imbolc Mage, training in the sword begins.
Regardless of original class, the Imbolc Mage can choose the sword and attack
without penalty. Often the sword becomes the new ritual tool of the Imbolc Mage,
replacing the athame. Unlike the athame, the sword is sharp and will be used for
combat purposes.
Most
Imbolc Mages eschew the use of armor since it interferes with their spell casting
abilities. Many will have several piece of magical protection in place.
Special:
The Imbolc Mage gains special powers at each level of her progression.
Awesome
Presence (Su): At first level, the Imbolc Mage is infused with the power
of her Goddess. This supernatural ability has two main effects. First all witches
can “see” this presence as a bright aura. Witches that know of the
Imbolc Mage will treat her with deference and respect. Enemies, in particular
warlocks, can also detect this aura. Any morale checks made by enemies are at
a –1 penalty. Natural animals are also calmed by her presence.
As
a side effect of this change in her aura even the most good and lawful Imbolc
Mages will appear to any magical scrying techniques as have a “touch of
evil” about them. In all cases anyone who can see auras will see the Imbolc
Mage’s aura is blinding bright.
Favored
Enemy (Ex): The Imbolc Mage gains Warlocks as a favored enemy as per
the ranger ability. All attacks, mundane, magical or martial, are done at a +1
bonus at second level and gain by +1 for every two levels. GMs who wish to have
more flexibility or do not wish to use warlocks might extend this favored enemy
status to any type of evil witch, wizard or spellcaster.
Wild
Shape (Su): At fifth level the Imbolc Mage may Wild Shape once per day
(take a shape and revert back). The shape maybe to any size that is one step removed
from the Imbolc Mage. A medium-sized Imbolc Mage may wild shape to a small, medium
or large creature. Unlike the Polymorph Self spell or druid ability, the Imbolc
mage is restricted to natural animals. She may wild shape to a large dog, a lion
or even a wolf, but never a wyvern or an owlbear. Typically the Imbolc Mage chooses
one shape and sticks with that. This is a supernatural ability.
Bilocate
(Sp): The Imbolc Mage can astral project (as the astral projection spell)
onto the same plane she is currently occupying, in effect being in two locations
at once. The projection is semi-real and may do anything the Imbolc Mage could
do, including cast spells and assume a Wild Shape. The Imbolc Mage cannot do anything
other than rest, though both incarnations are aware and conscious of the others
surroundings. The Imbolc Mage may hold this projection a number of minutes equal
to her level plus 10, or until the projection reaches zero hit points. Any damage
to the projection also damages the Imbolc Mage at one half the amount loss. She
may do this once per day. This is a spell like ability.
Ethereal
Shift: The Imbolc Mage can enter the Ethereal Plane. For spell effects
this is the same as if an Ethereal Jaunt spell were cast by a sorcerer of the
same level. This may be performed once per day. This is a spell like ability.
Astral
Shift: The Imbolc Mage can enter the Astral Plane. For spell effects
this is the same as if an astral projection spell were cast by a sorcerer of the
same level. This may be performed once per day and is a spell like ability.
Extended
Life: Similar to the druid ability Timeless Body, the Imbolc Mage stops
aging normally. Her aging is slowed to 75% of what is normal for her race. This
supernatural ability also effects magical aging. Though this rarely aids her normal
aging since most Imbolc Mages die due to violence rather than age.
Spells
per Day: The Imbolc Mage continues training in magic as well as the sword.
Thus, when a new Imbolc Mage level is gained, the character gains new spells per
day as if she had also gained a level in a spell-casting class she belonged to
before she added the prestige class. She does not, however, gain any other benefit
a character of that class would have gained (new Occult powers, metamagic or item
creation feats, and so on). This essentially means that she adds the level of
Imbolc Mage to the level of some other spell-casting class the character has,
then determines spells per day and caster level accordingly.
If
a character had more than one spell-casting class before she became an Imbolc
Mage, she must decide to which class she adds each level of Imbolc Mage for purposes
of determining spells per day when she adds the new level. Generally speaking
this will be her highest spell casting class.
For
example, Fionna is a 10th level witch and 2nd level sorceress. She is called to
become an Imbolc Mage. She gains a level of Imbolc Mage and is now known as Lady Imbolc, and is a witch 10, sorceress 2, and Imbolc Mage
1. She opts to continue receiving witch spells, so she gains spells as an 11th
level witch/2nd level sorceress, if she goes up a level in witch or Imbolc Mage
then she will cast as a 12th level witch/2nd level sorceress. Typically though,
the new Imbolc Mage will forgo any advancement in any other class she has and
concentrate solely on her advancement as an Imbolc Mage.
Imbolc
Mages use the same spell list as witches.
“A Bhrigid, scar os mo chionn, Do bhrat fionn dom anacal.
Oh, Brigid, spread above my head, your mantle bright to guard me.”
-
Prayer to Brigid |
