Spiritcaller

Requirements

Spellcasting: Must be able to cast conjuration arcane spells of 4th level or higher and may not have necromancy and conjuration as schools of opposition.

Feats: Spell Focus (conjuration)

Skills: Knowledge (arcana) 10 ranks, Knowledge (the planes) 10 ranks.

Statistics: Constitution 14+.

Special: The spiritcaller must have been brought to –1 hit points or more and then stabilised by any means before death.

Summary

There is a dimension beyond those that conjurers normally contact, a place that most spells never reach, most plane travellers never go, and most who find it never return. This dimension is the home of the dead, where spirits go when loosed from the mortal coil. Even on worlds where the deceased have specific places to go, like the domains of their gods, this ephemeral realm touches the physical plane at the moment of death and provides the route for passage onward.

This bleak dimension is tied to the ethereal plane, sometimes existing as a shadow of the material world. At other times, it has a completely different reality of its own and those who enter it upon their demise become its denizens and forget the waking lands above. No matter what the nature of this land of death, its existence is known to few and understood by fewer still.

One of those rare scholars with knowledge of the spirit dimension is the spiritcaller. Spiritcallers have a rare combination of gifts; they possess the knowledge of the death plane, the magic to contact and call beings from it, and the physical fortitude to withstand the terrible demands this art makes of them. To extend one’s reach into the realm of the dead, one risks being pulled into it fully. Once there, even a spiritcaller has little hope of escape.

Though the nature of a spiritcaller suggests necromancy as his primary art, the magic of life and death is secondary to what he does. A spiritcaller usually begins walking this path trying to comprehend the truth of spirits as creatures to be conjured. This art quickly transcends these simple goals and leads the seeker to deeper revelations - the truth of mortality and the secret of eternal life.

Role: Spell Utility

Characteristics: Casters unravelling the secrets of death and undeath through ghosts

Source: Encyclopedia Arcane: Conjuration

Game Rule Information

The Spiritcaller has the following game statistics.

Abilities: Either dexterity and Charisma for your arcane casting stat,

Alignment: Any

Hit Die: d4

Starting Gold: N/A

Class Skills

The Spiritcaller's class skills are Alchemy (Int), Concentration (Con), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (all skills, taken individually) (Int), Listen (Wis), Scry (Int), Search (Int), Spellcraft (Int) and Spot (Wis)

Skill Points at 1st Level: (2 + Int modifier) × 4

Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 2 + Int modifier

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the Spiritcaller.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A Spiritcaller is proficient with whatever they were already proficient with prior to taking levels in this class.

Spells per Day: A spiritcaller continues training in magic to understand the ephemeral nature of spirits and the plane of the dead. Thus, when a new even numbered spiritcaller level is gained, the character also gains spells as if he had also gained a level in a spellcasting class he belonged to before he added the prestige class. He does not, however, gain any additional benefits a character of that class would have received, only the new spells.

This essentially means that he adds half his level of spiritcaller (rounded down) to the level of another spellcasting class the character already has and then determines spells per day and caster level accordingly. If the caster had more than one spellcasting class before he became a spiritcaller, he must decide to which class he adds each even numbered level of spiritcaller for the purposes of determining spells per day when he adds the new level.

Death Lore Ex: The spiritcaller is an amazing repository for knowledge involving death, undead and spiritual entities. This knowledge is gained from old tomes, forgotten lore gained in dreams, and the whispers of spirits in the dark places of the night. The spiritcaller gains Bardic Knowledge concerning these things only, using his spiritcaller level, as the class ability of the same name.

Spirit Sight Su: The signature energies of incorporeal creatures are as plain to a spiritcaller as anything in his physical reality. Incorporeal creatures can never hide or benefit from invisibility when in the spiritcaller’s line of sight. This ability can also be used as a detect undead, usable at will, that only functions to sense and locate incorporeal undead.

Grey Secret Su: The spiritcaller learns more about the connections between the worlds of the living and the dead each time he gains Grey Secret. This knowledge lets him learn a special form of magic that transcends the boundaries between arcane and divine spells. Each time the spiritcaller gains a Grey Secret, he can choose any level of spell he can cast. He loses one spell slot cast per day of that level, but receives any divine conjuration magic of the same level as a known spell.

Rite of Spiritcalling: When summoning or calling creatures, the spiritcaller can opt to conjure a spiritual version instead. The Rite of Spiritcalling adds an additional full round to the spell’s casting time and applies the Ghost template to any creature he would have normally received. The template does not provide any option powers except Manifestation and can be applied for the purposes of this power to any creature except elementals, even if the base creature type would not normally allow it.

This rite can alternately be used to conjure a deceased being to communicate with. This resembles speak with dead and can be done once a day. The spirit cannot be summoned for any other purpose through this rite, but it will always answer to the best of its ability any questions put to it by the spiritcaller.

Forced Manifestation Su: By making a touch attack on an incorporeal creature, even one made incorporeal by a spell effect, the spiritcaller can force it to make a Will save opposed by his own. If the targeted creature does not succeed in beating the spiritcaller’s save, it is immediately forced to manifest for one round per spiritcaller level. In the case of magical incorporeal effects, the effect is negated if temporary or suspended for one round per spiritcaller level. This power also gives the spiritcaller the constant ability of ghost touch. If necessary, the spiritcaller can suspend this power for 1 round as a free action on his turn, but otherwise, it is always active.

The Rite of Soulfire Su: The spiritcaller has learned to conjure pure spiritual energy. By working the Rite of Soulfire as a full-round action, he can sacrifice any spell slot he currently has available to create a blast of pale grey flames. This power works like the spell fireball, but it does 1d6 per spell slot level of holy or unholy damage, half on a failed Reflex save. This only affects living creatures, though holy damage will also affect undead. The spiritcaller can choose which type of damage to inflict when each soulfire blast is thrown.

The Rite of Unbinding Su: The final secret a spiritcaller can learn is the Rite of Unbinding. This rite, which takes 1 full day to perform and consumes 50,000 gp in rare material components, must be performed in a most unpleasant place - the grave of an ancestor. The ritual is arduous and requires three successful Spellcraft checks at DC 30 to perform correctly. Failing any of these checks returns the spiritcaller to the experience point total required for the level prior to achieving 10th level in this prestige class, along with a commensurate loss of all the 10th level benefits.

The risks and difficulties are made up for by the Rite of Unbinding’s potency. If completed successfully, the spiritcaller breaks any connection he has with the plane of the dead, preventing it from ever taking him upon his death. The ritual locks the spiritcaller at his current physical age and prevents him from ageing by any means. The caster can continue to function up to –10 hit points as if he was unharmed and he does not need to try and stabilise at negative hit points as this occurs automatically.

The spiritcaller dies normally if he reaches –10 hit points, but he immediately leaves his body and becomes a Ghost as per the template with 2 optional powers in addition to Manifestation. Destruction of this ghost form is oblivion for the spiritcaller, who dies permanently and cannot be raised or resurrected after the death of his mortal body. Even a wish will not suffice to bring the spiritcaller back.

Table 1-1: Spiritcaller Progression

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special	Spellcasting
1st	+0	+0	+0	+2	Death lore, spirit sight	—
2nd	+1	+0	+0	+3	Grey secret	+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
3rd	+2	+1	+1	+3	The rite of spiritcalling	—
4th	+2	+1	+1	+4	—	+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
5th	+2	+1	+1	+4	Forced manifestation	—
6th	+3	+2	+2	+5	Grey secret	+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
7th	+3	+2	+2	+5	The rite of soulfire	—
8th	+4	+2	+2	+6	—	+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
9th	+4	+3	+3	+6	Grey secret	—
10th	+5	+3	+3	+7	The rite of unbinding	+1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class