Frost mages usually hail from lands of cold, snow, and ice: tundra, glaciers, even outer planes perpetually shrouded in winter. Others become obsessed with the power of glacial cold and focus all their energy into discovering the mysteries of the frostfell and its magic. All frost mages, however, eventually become adapted to cold environments as their skin slowly turns to frost. They learn to take advantage of the natural or magically enhanced frostfell environment, harnessing the existing cold to further empower their own spells.

As members of this prestige class must have the ability to cast arcane spells, frost mages come from a narrow group, usually bards, sorcerers, and wizards. Some frost mage sorcerers believe silver dragon blood runs in their veins, while others feel they possess an innate talent for works of cold and ice magic. Most wizards who become frost mages see the frostfell as a mysterious and undiscovered frontier of arcane power, one from which they can draw strong magic for their own purposes.

As frost mages live and study in complexes of ice caverns, towers constructed in frozen reaches of the outer planes, or within dungeons they have magically altered into frostfell environments. Sometimes they serve more powerful evil characters singly or in a group, such as frost giants, cryohydras, or deities of cold or ice. More often, the evil frost mage commands his own forces of ice and cold, growing a frostfell army as he prepares to bring about a new ice age and become overlord of a frozen world.

Role: Spell DPS

Characteristics: One with the cold, these mages learn how to pierce through like the winds of an icy blizzard.

Source: Frostburn

Game Rule Information

The Frost Mage has the following game statistics.

Abilities: Intelligence and Charisma for casting, Intelligence for skill points, and Dexterity for survival.

Alignment: Any

Hit Die: d4

Starting Gold: N/A

Class Skills

The Frost Mage's class skills are Alchemy (Int), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Knowledge (all skills, taken individually) (Int), Listen (Wis), Profession (Wis), 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 Frost Mage.

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

Spells per Day/Spells Known: At every level gained in the frost mage class, the character gains new spells per day (and spells known, if applicable) as if he had also gained a level in a spellcasting class he belonged to before adding the prestige class. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (metamagic or item creation bonus feats, hit points beyond those he receives from the prestige class, and so on), except for an increased effective level of spellcasting. If a character has more than one spellcasting class before becoming a frost mage, he must decide to which class he adds the new level for purposes of determining spells per day and spells known.

Natural Armor Increase Ex: At 1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th level, a frost mage's body becomes more like the ice he venerates. His skin turns whiter and colder to the touch as the permanent layer of frost grows deeper. This provides an increase to the character's existing natural armor, as indicated on Table 3—5 (the numbers represent the total increase gained to that point) and he takes no damage from cold environments. In warm temperatures, the frost continually evaporates and replenishes itself, enshrouding the frost mage in a wispy vapor.

Resistance to Cold Ex: Starting at 2nd level, the frost mage's icy skin grants him resistance to cold 10.

Gain Knowledge: Beginning at 3rd level, the frost mage gains knowledge of the spell Conjure Ice Beast I, if he does not already have it. Former wizards get to add this spell to their spellbooks for free, and former sorcerers and bards get to add this spell to their spells known, even if this takes them over their normal limit. For each two levels gained in the prestige class, he gains knowledge of the next higher level in the conjure ice beast spell progression (Conjure Ice Beast II at 5th level, Conjure Ice Beast III at 7th level and Conjure Ice Beast IV at 9th level). At 7th level, in addition to gaining Conjure Ice Beast III, the frost mage gains Animate Snow as a spell known. At 9th level, in addition to gaining Conjure Ice Beast IV, the frost mage gains Frostfell as a spell known. This class feature does not change the level of the spell. A frost mage still must have a spell slot of the appropriate level to prepare or cast a spell acquired through the gain knowledge ability.

Piercing Cold: At 4th level, the frost mage gains Piercing Cold as a bonus metamagic feat. In addition to the normal benefits of the feat, the frost mage bypasses all resistances and immunities to cold granted by spells and spell-like effects of magic items (for example, a ring of minor energy resistance [cold]).

One with Cold Ex: At 10th level, the frost mage's body has become perfectly adapted to cold energy. He gains the cold subtype, granting him immunity to cold. His oneness with cold, however, makes him more susceptible to flame. Just like any other creature with the cold subtype, he gains vulnerability to fire, which means he takes half again as much (+50%) damage as normal from fire, regardless of whether or not a saving throw is allowed, or if the save is a success or a failure.