D&D 3.5 Homebrew: Runecaster (including new Feats and Prestige Classes)

[Wargamer]

Some D&D themed fun for you all, based on Runescape. Enjoy.

RUNECASTER

Runecasters are wizards schooled in Runecasting; the art of manipulating arcane runes to conjure spell-like abilities. In Gielinor or other worlds where prepared casting is rare (or absent altogether), a Runecaster may be known as a Wizard or Mage. However, they are closer to Rogues than true Wizards; their spellcasting is little more than the manipulation of magically charged items.

Runecasting is by its nature limited to specific combinations of rune. Very few Runecasters have enough true arcane knowledge to discover new spells for themselves, and so the collective spellbook of Runecasters is limited. Most Runecasters focus on four schools of magic: affliction; destruction; enchantment or telekinesis, though more experienced Runecasters have knowledge in all of these disciplines.

Adventuring Runecasters typically serve to provide their party with direct damage in the form of their combat runespells, or else to hinder their enemies via Afflictions. If things turn ugly, an experienced Runecaster can quickly whisk the party away back to Lumbridge or some other safe haven. Compared to the true casters out in the Planescape, a Runecaster has a much more limited set of spells, but because they do not draw from their own inner power for most of their spells they can continue casting long after a Wizard or Sorcerer has exhausted their daily allotment of spells.

Alignment: Any.
Hit Dice: D6.

SKILLS:
Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decypher Script (Int), Knowledge (all, taken individually) (Int), Profession (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), Use Magic Device (Cha).
Skill points at 1st level: (2 + Int modifier) x 4.
Skill points at each additional level: 2 + Int modifier.

Code Select Expand

Level BAB Fort Ref Will Special
1st +0 +0 +0 +2 Runecasting, Air Strike, Water Strike
2nd +1 +0 +0 +3 Earth Strike, Confusion.
3rd +1 +1 +1 +3 Fire Strike, Weaken.
4th +2 +1 +1 +4 Air Bolt, Curse.
5th +2 +1 +1 +4 Water Bolt, Bind.
6th +3 +2 +2 +5 Earth Bolt, Lesser Teleport.
7th +3 +2 +2 +5 Fire Bolt.
8th +4 +2 +2 +6 Air Blast, Telekinetic Grab, Improved Confusion.
9th +4 +3 +3 +6 Water Blast, Improved Weaken.
10th +5 +3 +3 +7 Earth Blast, Improved Curse.
11th +5 +3 +3 +7 Fire Blast, Improved Bind.
12th +6/+1 +4 +4 +8 Air Wave, Greater Teleport.
13th +6/+1 +4 +4 +8 Water Wave, Teleport Object.
14th +7/+2 +4 +4 +9 Earth Wave, Greater Confusion.
15th +7/+2 +5 +5 +9 Fire Wave, Greater Weaken.
16th +8/+3 +5 +5 +10 Air Surge, Teleport Block.
17th +8/+3 +5 +5 +10 Water Surge, Plane Shift.
18th +9/+4 +6 +6 +11 Earth Surge.
19th +9/+4 +6 +6 +11 Fire Surge.
20th +10/+5 +6 +6 +12 Meteor Swarm.

CLASS FEATURES
Weapon and Armour Proficiency: Runecasters are proficient with all simple weapons, light & medium armour and shields (except tower shields).

Runecasting(Su):
Runecasters require Runes to cast their spells, and cannot cast without them unless they have a magic item (such as a wand or staff) that counts as one or more rune types. A Runecaster requires at least one hand free to cast the runes, and so cannot cast spells if he physically cannot reach his runes.
To cast a Runespell, the Runecaster must have an Intelligence score of at least 10. If her Intelligence score falls below this for any reason she can no-longer channel the runes. More powerful runespells require higher Intelligence scores to cast.
Runespells fall into various categories, each requiring their own type of rune. Combat spells require Air runes, plus their elemental rune (ie: fire runes for a fire spell). They also require a catalyst rune (see "Combat spells" below). Transmutation spells require Nature runes. Enchantment spells require Cosmic runes. Teleportation requires Law runes. All of these spells also require elemental runes of some kind.
Unless stated otherwise, it is assumed that a Runecaster can easily and cheaply acquire the runes she requires for her spells. Only Runes with a listed market value
are deemed rare enough that a Runecaster need actively seek them out.
Note that Eschew Materials does NOT remove the need for Runes of any kind unless the Runecaster can spontaneously cast at least one spell with the air, water, earth
or fire descriptors, in which case she counts as having the Eschew Materials feat when casting Runespells.

Unless stated otherwise, all Runespells have a range of 25ft + 5ft per two Runecaster levels. The DC for Runespells is 10 + the caster's Int modifier + 1/2 their runecaster level.

Spell Failure: Runespells counts as Arcane Spells for all intents and purposes. However, a Runecaster only applies Arcane Spell Failure from armour if using metal armour (metal interferes with the runes). A Runecaster ignores Arcane Spell Failure caused by armour made from non-Metallic materials, such as leather or wood.

Runecasters and Item Creation Feats:
Item Creation feats function differently for Runecasters than they do other spellcasters. As such, the following rules apply:

Brew Potion: The Runecaster can apply Confusion, Weaken, Curse or Bind to a potion, treating the result as a poison in all respects. The caster level for materials and xp costs is equal to a 4th level spell, and only the base variants can be used (not the Improved or Greater versions), though the enhanced duration still applies.
A Runecaster can choose to use his own potions as a projectile weapon (range increment 20ft) requiring a ranged touch attack. She is proficient with throwing her own potions.

Craft Runewand: Instead of creating normal wands, a Runecaster with this Feats can construct a Runewand. This is a simple light melee weapon (D4 damage) that can be given an Enchantment bonus as per other Magic weapons. It may not be given any other bonuses, such as Keen, Flaming, etc. This Enchantment Bonus is added to any Combat Runespell cast through the Wand.
If they have the Runes available, a Runecaster may spend eight hours imbuing a wand with charges of up to fifty Combat Spells they know how to cast. Strike spells take up one slot, bolt spells take up two slots, Blast take up three, Waves take up four and Surges take up five. The runes required to cast these spells are consumed upon imbuing the wand.
A Runecaster may make use of spells imbued into a wand by another caster so long as they meet the prerequesits to casting said spell.

Craft Runestaff: A Runecaster may take this Feat providing he has a Caster Level of five or higher. This functions as per Craft Runewand save that it produces a two handed simple melee weapon (D6 damage). A Runestaff is treated as a Wand in all respects save that it must be imbued in order for the Runecaster to cast spells (unless they have the Focused Runecaster Feat).
Runespells cast with a Runestaff have a range of 25ft + 5ft per Runecaster level. This range is determined by the user of the Runestaff, not the creator.

Craft Magic Arms & Armour: A Runecaster may only bestow Enchantment Bonuses to arms and armour they create. They may not bestow special abilities such as Flaming.

Craft Scroll: A Runecaster may only create Scrolls of Teleportation. They must have access to Lesser Teleport and must consume the runes required to reach the chosen destination when making the scroll. Using the scroll requires a Use Magic Item check if the user is not a Runecaster capable of cassing Lesser Teleport. The scroll allows the user to cast the appropriate Lesser Teleport with an Effective Castor Level equal to the creator of the scroll.

No other Item Creation Feats may be used by a Runecaster.

Combat Runespell(Su):
Casting a Combat Runespell is an attack action that consumes runes. The damage dice and rune requirements for Combat Runespells are based on the spells class.
Where two dice are given, the first is for Air spells, the second is for Water, Earth and Fire spells.
All Combat Runespells gain +1 damage per Runecaster level, up to the maximum listed in the "Bonus" column. The Effective Spell Level (ESL) states what equivalent spell level the Runespell has. For example: a Bolt spell is considered a 3rd level Spell.

Code Select Expand

Class Int Req Damage Dice Bonus ESL Catalyst
Strike   10     D4/D6 +1 1st 1 Mind Rune
Bolt   12     D6/D8 +5 3rd 1 Chaos Rune (1gp)
Blast   14     D8/2D6 +10 5th 1 Death Rune (10gp)
Wave   16    2D6/2D8 +15 7th 1 Blood Rune (50gp)
Surge   18    2D8/2D10 +20 9th 2 Blood Runes (100gp)

The Combat Spells are all elementally aligned. The Caster chooses which element to align the spell with at the time of casting. She must choose an element she has
unlocked in her spell list and has runes to cast. Air spells are treated as Sonic attacks for all intents and purposes. Water spells are water projectiles. Earth spells deal Bludgeoning damage. Fire spells can set targets on fire (Reflex DC 10 + runecaster level to negate). Burning targets take damage per round based on the power of the spell; 1 for Surge, 2 for Bolt, 3 for Blast, 4 for Wave and 5 for Surge.

Affliction Runespell(Su):
The spells listed below are classed as Affliction Runespells. The number of Afflictions you may cast per day is equal to 1 + your Int modifier (minimum 1). Afflictions are Ranged Touch Attacks with a duration of 1 minute per caster level. Victims may negate the effect of an Affliction with a successful Will Save.

Confusion: Victim has a 25% chance of taking no actions each round. Victims attacked by the caster or his allies may take an immediate Will save to negate the effects of the spell. Creatures without a mind, such as Undead or Constructs cannot be affected. Against opponents with an Int of 3 or less increase the chance of success by an additional 25%.
At 8th level victims have a 50% chance of taking no action, and at 14th they have a 75% chance of taking no action.

Weaken: Victim becomes Fatigued for the duration of the spell. At 9th level the victim becomes Exhausted for the duration of the spell.
At 15th level the victim becomes Exhausted and is rendered unconscious for 1 minute plus one additional minute per Runecaster's Int modifier.

Curse: Victim is Cursed (see Bestow Curse spell). Curse is automatically removed after the spell duration ends.
At 11th level the Curse remains until it is removed (as per the Bestow Curse spell).

Bind: This spell produces functions as per the Hold Person spell, save it has a range of 25ft + 5 per two Runecaster levels. From 11th level onwards, Bind applies to any living creature with a Will save.

Telekinetic Runespell(Su):
The spells listed below are classed as Telekinetic Runespells. The number of Telekinetic Spells you may cast per day is equal to 1 + your Int modifier (minimum 1).

Lesser Teleport: This functions as per the Teleport spell, save that you may only teleport to one of the following locations: Lumbridge, Varrock, Falador, Camelot, Ardougne or Yanille.
Note that you must have been taught the specific Runic combinations to teleport to these locations. By default, you only know how to access Lumbridge, Varrock and Falador.
Lesser Teleport has no chance of failure; it will always teleport you within the city limits of your chosen destination as close as is safely possible to the default target point.

Telekinetic Grab: This functions as per the Telekinesis spell, with a range of 25ft + 5ft per two Runecaster levels.

Greater Teleport: This functions as per the Greater Teleport spell.

Teleport Object: This functions as per the Teleport Object spell.

Plane Shift: This functions as per the Plane Shift spell.

Teleport Block: Victim cannot teleport or be teleported by others for 1 hour, plus one additional hour per the Runecaster's int bonus. This counts as a Curse (see Bestow Curse).

Meteor Swarm(Su):
The Runecaster gains the Meteor Swarm spell as a Supernatural ability. She may use this ability once per day. Casting requires 2 Blood and 2 Death Runes.


ORDERED RUNECASTER:
Runecasters sometimes align themselves with specific schools, or "Orders". This was more common in the olden days, though these Orders still endure in a limited fashion. Each Order gains bonuses to certain kinds of spell, but penalties in others. If you wish to be an Ordered Runecaster, you must choose an Order when you take your first level in Runecaster. Once you have chosen your Order you cannot leave it - the teachings they have emparted on you will forever dictate how you understand and manipulate the Runes.

Blue Runecaster: You gain a +1 bonus to hit and damage when casting Water type Combat Runespells. You may not cast Fire Combat Runespells.
When casting a Telekinetic Runespell, you may add your Intelligence modifier to your Effective Runecaster Level.
The number of Afflictions you may cast per day is reduced by one. This may prevent you from casting Afflictions at all if you do not have an Intelligence modifier.

Red Runecaster: You gain a +1 bonus to hit and damage when casting Fire type Combat Runespells. You may not cast Water Combat Runespells.
From 4th level onwards, you may add your Intelligence modifier (if any) to attack and damage rolls with your Combat Runespells.
The number of Telekinetic Runespells you may cast per day is reduced by one. This may prevent you from casting Telekinetic Runespells at all if you do not have an Intelligence modifier.
The number of Afflictions you may cast per day is reduced by one. This may prevent you from casting Afflictions at all if you do not have an Intelligence modifier.

Green Runecaster: You gain a +1 bonus to hit and damage when casting Earth type Combat Runespells. You may not cast Air Combat Runespells save for Air Strike.
You gain the Brew Potions metamagic feat as a bonus feat at 3rd level.
When casting an Affliction Runespell, you may add your Intelligence modifier to your Effective Runecaster Level.
The number of Telekinetic Runespells you may cast per day is reduced by one. This may prevent you from casting Telekinetic Runespells at all if you do not have an Intelligence modifier.

Grey Runecaster: You gain a +1 bonus to hit and damage when casting Air type Combat Runespells. You may not cast Earth Combat Runespells.
At 6th level you gain one of the following as a Bonus Feat: Craft Arms and Armour, Craft Runewand, Craft Runestaff.
You may add your Intelligence modifier to your Effective Runecaster Level when using an Item Creation Feat.
The number of Telekinetic Runespells you may cast per day is reduced by one. This may prevent you from casting Telekinetic Runespells at all if you do not have an Intelligence modifier.
The number of Afflictions you may cast per day is reduced by one. This may prevent you from casting Afflictions at all if you do not have an Intelligence modifier.?

[Wargamer]

Ancient Runespells:
Ancient Combat Runespells function the same way as conventional Runespells. They are a Ranged Touch Attack with a range of 25ft + 5ft per two Runecaster levels.
The four classes of Ancient Combat Runespell are given below. The first value is for Bloodfire spells, the second for Gale, Rock and Ice spells.

Code Select Expand

Class Int Req Damage Dice Bonus ESL Catalyst
Rush   13     D6/D8 +10 3rd 2 Death Runes (20gp)
Burst   15     D8/2D6 +15 5th 1 Blood Rune (50gp)
Blitz   17    2D6/2D8 +20 7th 2 Blood Runes (100gp)
Barrage   19    2D8/2D10 +20 9th 2 Blood 5 Death Runes (150gp)

In addition, Ancient Runespells have their own unique "elements". These have additional abilities bestowed upon them. Note the saving throw only negates the additional abilities, not the base damage from the attack itself.

Gale: Creatures hit by a Gale spell suffers a penalty to attack and damage rolls equal to the Runecaster's Int modifier (min 1). Duration 1 minute per Caster Level, Will negates.
Rock: Creatures hit by a Rock Spell suffer a penalty to AC and saving throws equal to the Runecaster's Int modifier (min 1). Duration 1 minute per Caster Level, Will negates.
Bloodfire: Creatues hit by a Bloodfire spell suffer 1pt of Constitution Damage. A successful Fortitude save negates this damage.
Ice: Creatures hit by an Ice spell are trapped in ice. The victim is allowed an immediate Fortitude saving throw to break out, and an additional saving throw each round.
Creatures that fail their Fortitude save take D6 points of Cold damage. Incorporeal, gaseous or similar creatures cannot be trapped in ice. Huge or larger creatures likewise cannot be trapped, but will still take additional cold damage if they fail their Fortitude save. The ice lasts one round per Runecaster level.

For the purposes of Damage Reduction and similar, Gale spells are Air aligned; Rock spells are Earth aligned and Bludgeoning; Bloodfire is Death and Fire aligned; Ice is Cold aligned.

Atuning: At first level, the Ancient Runecaster learns how to attune their mind to accept the lore of the Empty Lord. By spending eight hours meditating in a suitably prepared shrine
the Ancient Runecaster unlocks the ability to cast Ancient Runespells. Whilst Atuned to the Ancient Spells you cannot cast any Runespells from the standard Runecaster class. Likewise,
you may not cast Ancient Runespells whilst unatuned. Unatuning requires a second eight hour ritual performed at a shrine to the Empty Lord.

Price of Power: To take the fifth level in Ancient Runecaster, you must devote yourself utterly to the Empty Lord. Doing so requires you to spend twenty four hours meditating before
a suitably prepared shrine or altar. You may pause to eat, sleep or other basic functions but you must otherwise devote every waking moment to your meditation.
At the end of the ritual you become aligned to the Empty Lord. Your alignment changes to Neutral if you are Good aligned and your deity changes to Zaros.
From this point on you lose all access to the standard Runecaster Spellbook. You may continue to advance in this class to increase your caster level for Ancient Runespells, but gain no additional spells from doing so.
If you have any ranks in Wizard, or any other Arcane spellcaster that relies on prepared spells, you immediately lose all access to these spells and cannot advance further in those classes.
Instantaneous caster levels, such as those granted by Sorcerers, are unaffected.
From now on, until reaching 10th level in Ancient Runecaster, you must take a Fortitude save (DC 15 + your level in Ancient Runecaster) or permanently lose D3 points of Constitution each time
you take a level in any class other than Ancient Runecaster. These lost Constitution points may not be recovered by any means, not even via a Wish or Miracle spell.

Ancient Teleport(Su): Immediately upon completing the Price of Power ritual you gain instinctive knowledge of the precise location of several ancient sites that once belonged to Zaros.
You may teleport to any one of these sites as per the Teleport spell. This spell requires only basic elemental Runes and can be cast a number of times equal to 1 + your Int modifier (min 1).
These locations include Edgeville, Canifis, The Varrock Digsite, Ice Mountain peak, Wilderness Bandit Camp, the Graveyard of Shadows, the Daemonic Ruins and the Ice Plateau.
The DM may also choose to add additional locations at their discretion.

Mastery of Ancient Lore: AT 10th level, the Ancient Runecaster achieves true mastery of Zarosian lore. She immediately changes to an Outsider and her alignment becomes Evil if it was not already.
Her Runespells become Evil aligned and her unarmed attacks and any weapon she holds become Evil and Magic for the purposes of damage reduction.
She may now freely advance in any class she chooses, including classes with prepared Arcane spells (though she does not recover lost spells from class or class levels she previously possessed).
Due to your link with Zaros, Ancient Spells no longer require Runes to cast.
If your alignment changes to non-Evil you may not make use of Ancient Runecaster class abilities until your alignment is returned to Evil. This might be achieved via atonement depending on the circumstances surrounding the alignment shift.
If you ever knowingly or willingly renounce your faith in Zaros, you immediately lose all access to Ancient Spells and suffer D3 points of Constitution damage.
This damage cannot be restored by any means, including a Wish or Miracle spell. You may never again regain your lost Ancient Spell abilities; there is no possible way to atone for your failings.


NEW FEATS:

Focused Runecaster:
Prerequisite: Able to cast 1st level Runecaster spells.
Benefit: You can cast Runespells without a free hand, so long as you have the runes for the spell somewhere about your person.
Without this feat you must have a free hand with which to access Runes in order to cast Runespells.

Intuitive Runecaster:
Prerequisite: 1st Level Character, Intelligence 12.
Benefit: You have an innate understanding of the Runes, and are able to channel their most basic energies intuitively.
You may cast Air Strike a number of times per day equal to your Intelligence bonus, with a caster level of one. If you have levels in Runecaster or another Arcane spellcaster class, you may use this class to determine your spellcaster level when casting these Air Strikes.

Empty Caster:
Prerequisite: Must have completed the Price of Power ritual from the Ancient Runecaster class.
Benefit: You surrender a portion of your soul to the Empty Lord in exchange for immortality. Your Constitution is permanently reduced by 2, but you gain Damage Reduction equal to your level in Ancient Runecaster (Good or Cold Iron negates).