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Rules 3rd Edition D&D or Pathfinder
#42

Sorcerer Monarch [Salient]

You can supply spells to templars that have sworn loyalty to you.

Prerequisites: Evolution score. Elemental vortex.

Benefit: You have templars, to whom you can provide spells. You can select four divine domains from which to provide you templars, so long as these domains do not contradict your nature (for example, the chaos domain when you are lawful).

A Sorcerer Monarch does not respond to prayers or grant spells like a D&D deity does. Instead, each Sorcerer Monarch controls a conduit to the elemental planes and can grant or deny a templar access to spells with a simple ritual. However, a Sorcerer Monarch isn’t aware of which spells a templar is requesting or casting. Sorcerer Monarchs can only grant or deny access to the conduit – they don’t directly control how the energy passing through the conduit is used.

Superior Attack [Salient]

The transformation into a more advanced being allows you to relentlessly attack foes.

Prerequisites: Evolution score. Strength 30. Constitution 30.

Benefit: Your Base Attack Bonus is now +20/+15/+10/+5 (as a 20th level fighter), after which you follow the normal Epic Attack Bonus progression. This replaces the Base Attack Bonus from your classes and racial HD (if you have any).

Superior Hit Dice [Salient]

You have greater Hit Dice and Hit Points than your character classes would indicate.

Prerequisites: Evolution score. Metamorphosis rank 7.

Benefit: All your HD from classes increases to d12, and you have maximum HP per die.

Planar Slavery [Salient]

You can force outsider creatures into bad deals.

Prerequisites: Evolution score.

Benefit: You have a way with words when dealing with extraplanar forces called to the Material Plane to serve you. When bargaining with creatures called via a planar binding or similar spell, you add a bonus equal to your evolution bonus on Charisma checks against the called creature and on caster level checks to prevent the creature from escaping your magic circle. A roll of 1 on the Charisma check does not allow the creature to automatically escape.

Superior Skill Focus [Salient]

An advanced being with this feat finds within its own nature the effortless use of skills to a high degree of proficiency with only a small amount of knowledge. Its abilities are boosted when making skill checks.

Prerequisites: Evolution score.

Benefit: The Advanced Being receives an evolution bonus to all skill checks equal to the evolution score bonus. For example, an advanced being with 30 evolution ranks gets an evolution bonus of +10 to skill checks. Additionally, all skills are considered class skills for the advanced being.

Superior Skills Cap [Salient]

Your cap for skills is higher than that of ordinary creatures.

Prerequisites: Evolution score.

Benefit: Instead of your cap for skill ranks being your HD + 3, your cap for skill ranks is equal to your evolution score ability bonus. For example, an advanced being with an evolution score of 30 has a skill ranks cap of HD +10. As your evolution score increases, your skill ranks cap increases also.

Normal: Skill ranks are capped at your HD +3.

Superior Species [Salient]

As an advanced being, only the long-vanished divinities can rival your strength and wisdom.

Prerequisites: Evolution score.

Benefit: You gain a boost to all of your ability scores of +6. This does not stack with any previous positive ability adjustments from race or templates. For example, Arik has a +8 racial bonus to Strength. In this case, Arik does not receive any boost to his ability score as his racial bonus to Strength already exceeds the bonus from this feat. If on the other hand Arik had a +4 racial bonus to Strength, then Arik would get +2 Strength from this feat.

Inherent bonuses and character level bonuses remain.

Superior Spell Capacity [Salient]

Your capacity for spells above 10th level is vastly superior to that of mortal spellcasters.

Prerequisites: Evolution score. Improved Spell Capacity.

Benefit: You gain spell slots above level 10, like Improved Spell Capacity. This feat is identical to Improved Spell Capacity, except that it grants four iterations of that feat. For example, Arras has Improved Spell Capacity (10th level spell slots), and then takes Superior Spell Capacity. As Superior Spell Capacity provides for four iterations of Improved Spell Capacity, Arras now has spell slots of up to 14th level.

Special: You may select this feat multiple times, each time providing the equivalent of four Improved Spell Capacity feats.

Superior Toughness [Salient]

You are far tougher than anything else.

Prerequisites: Evolution score.

Benefit: For every Hit Die you possess you receive a bonus to your hit points equal your evolution score bonus. For example, an advanced being with 30 evolution ranks gets an evolution bonus of +10 to hit points for each Hit Dice it possesses. The number of bonus hit points changes retroactively as the evolution score bonus increases.

Turn/Rebuke Undead [Salient]

Your advanced magical and psionic abilities, as well as your status as an advanced being, give you control over the undead. You gain the ability to turn undead or rebuke them.

Prerequisites: Evolution score.

Benefit: Rebuke Undead (Su) or Turn Undead (Su): The advanced being can turn or rebuke undead as a cleric of level equal to its evolution score. The advanced being can turn or rebuke undead a number of times per day equal to 3+ its Charisma modifier. If the advanced being could already turn or rebuke undead, this ability increases its effective turning level equal to its evolution score but otherwise has no effect. The advanced being chooses whether it will turn or rebuke undead upon taking this feat, and this choice may not be changed.

Undying [Salient]

It is very difficult to destroy you completely. Unless special measures are taken, you will return from your apparent death.

Prerequisites: Evolution score.

Benefit: You can only be permanently destroyed if you are reduced to minus 10 hit points, then subjected to a wish, reality revision, or miracle spell or power to keep you dead. If you are not subjected to these spells/powers, you return from your apparent death in full health in 2d10 days minus your evolution score bonus (minimum 1 day).

Special: A custom version of undying can be created by DM or player in collaboration with the DM. The method of the special death should not be impossible, just as difficult as what is given above. It could even be something as simple as “a druidical burial”, something that could possibly be discerned through divination magic or other means, but likely impossible to guess.

Undying cannot be combined with the phylactery feat.

Unconventional Specialist [Salient]

No longer do you look on in envy at specialist wizards. You are now a specialist for arcane or divine classes that normally do not have specialization.

Prerequisites: Evolution score. Any class that does not normally have specialization (warmage, beguiler, dread necromancer, cleric, and so on).

Benefit: Select a class that does not normally have specialization (and does not currently have any prohibited schools). You gain the benefits of school specialization even though you are not a wizard, and do not gain any prohibited schools. Henceforth, you no longer gain any prohibited schools for that class even if a class feature or feat indicates that a prohibited school is gained. You are not considered a specialist wizard, even though you have the same benefits as a specialist wizard.

Special : You may select this feat multiple times. Each time you select this feat it must apply to a different class that does not normally have specialization.

Unrestricted Specialist [Salient]

You no longer have barred schools due to your arcane specialization.

Prerequisites: Evolution score. Any number of prohibited schools.

Benefit: Select a class that you have specialized in and has prohibited schools. You are no longer subject to the limitations of school specialization, and may freely learn and cast spells from all your prohibited schools, and use magical items of these schools, as if you had no prohibited schools at all. Henceforth, you no longer gain any prohibited schools for that class even if a class feature or feat indicates that a prohibited school is gained.

Warlock Monarch [Salient]

You have been able to reverse engineer warlock pacts through extensive experimentation with your elemental vortex. If you wish, you may have warlocks as templars.

Prerequisites: Evolution score. Elemental vortex.

Benefit: You can serve as a patron for warlocks, in addition to your normal templars.

Epic Feats

Immunity To Turning [Epic]

Not only are you an advanced being, but you are an undead creature of monstrous power. You cannot be turned or rebuked.

Prerequisites: Evolution score. Undead creature. Improved turn resistance.

Benefit: You cannot be turned or rebuked.

Normal: Undead creatures may normally be turned.

Psionic Enchantments

[Psionic Enchantment] feats allow you to combine magic and psionics in interesting and powerful ways. A psionic enchantment feat can be taken just like other feats if you meet the prerequisites. The more powerful psionic enchantment feats herein have an evolution score as a prerequisite, and as such are reserved for advanced beings.

Arcane Augmentation [Epic] [Psionic Enchantment]

Prerequisites: Ability to cast 9th level spells and manifest 6th level powers.

Benefit: You can spend a prepared spell slot to increase your limit for augmenting psionic powers during manifestation. Using arcane augmentation is a free action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity. Add the level of the spell slot to your manifester level for purposes of determining the maximum amount of power points you can spend while manifesting a single power. For example, Nethas, an avangion with 20 manifester levels, spends an 8th level spell slot to increase the maximum power points it can spend to augment a power by 8 to a total of 28. These additional points cannot be used to apply additional metapsionic feats.

Far Reach [Epic] [Psionic Enchantment]

Prerequisites: Ability to cast 9th level spells and manifest 6th level powers.

Benefit: You can use touch spells and powers on targets up to 30 feet away. Far reach can be selected more than once. Each time it is selected, it increases the touch range by an additional 30 feet, to a maximum of 90 feet.

Metamixture [Epic] [Psionic Enchantment]

Prerequisites: Ability to cast 9th level spells and manifest 6th level powers.

Benefit: You choose one metapsionic feat you possess. You can now apply that feat to our spells. Using metamixture is a free action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity. Treat the spell as a psionic power of equivalent level for purposes of determining the power point cost. You cannot spend more power points than your manifester level. Note: If the metapsionic feat has the same effect as a metamagic feat already applied to the spell, there is no additional effect. Metamixture can be selected more than once. Each time it is selected, it applies to a different metapsionic feat. Its effects do not stack, i.e. only one metapsionic feat can be applied to a spell using metamixture.

Metapotency [Epic] [Psionic Enchantment]

Prerequisites: Ability to cast 9th level spells and manifest 6th level powers.

Benefit: You choose a metapsionic feat and a metamagic feat you possess that grant the same effect on numeric variables, e.g. Extend Spell and Extend Power, and gains synergistic bonuses. When applying either feat, its effects are multiplied by 1.5, e.g. the effect of extending a spell or power increases its duration by 150% percent. If applied to Empower Spell and Empower Power, metapotency increases the spell or power’s damage by 75%. Metapotency has no effect on Maximize Spell and Maximize Power. Metapotency can be selected more than once. Each time it is selected, it applies to a different pair of matching feats.

Path of Least Resistance [Epic] [Psionic Enchantment]

Prerequisites: Ability to cast 9th level spells and manifest 6th level powers.

Benefit: You use the lower of targets’ spell resistance and power resistance if you know both the psionic and arcane equivalent of a power or spell (e.g. charm person and psionic charm person). Whether you use the power or spell, use the lower of targets’ SR and PR when making a spellcaster check to overcome resistance. Path of least resistance applies to all spells and powers for which you know both a psionic and arcane variant.

Exceptional Beckons [Epic] [Psionic Enchantment]

Your understanding of the way of blending magic with psionics shows you how to tempt even more powerful beings into your service with a taste of psionic nectar.

Prerequisites: Ability to cast 9th level spells and manifest 6th level powers. Improved Augment Summoning.

Benefit: The normal HD limit for your gate, planar ally and planar binding spells (including lesser and greater versions) increases by 2. If multiple creatures are conjured, only one of the creatures is advanced.

Note: This feat may be taken multiple times, once for each 10 manifester levels you possess in your highest manifester level psionic manifesting class (round down). Each time it increases the Hit Dice of the creatures affected or conjured by 2 HD.

Avangion Magic [Psionic Enchantment]

You have learned the rudiments of avangion magic, the practice of gently drawing energy for spellcasting from your own life force, using sorcerous and psionic means.

Prerequisites: Able to cast 6th level arcane spells. Able to manifest 6th level powers.

Benefit: You learn to supplement the energy you draw for spellcasting with your own internal renewable energy. This has the effect of having any spell you cast be treated as if it were cast in one terrain type better than the actual terrain, up to abundant. You can also cast spells where there is no plant life (such as in the Obsidian Plains, The Black and The Grey), but in this case the spell is cast as if it were cast in desolate terrain.

Dragon Magic [Psionic Enchantment]

You have learned the rudiments of dragon magic, the practice of drawing magical energy for spellcasting from animal life, using sorcerous and psionic means.

Prerequisites: Able to cast 6th level arcane spells. Able to manifest 6th level powers.

You may choose to use animal life energy in place of, or to supplement, your defiling of plant life to power your arcane spells. You can attempt to drain animal life within the defiler radius as you gather energy for your spellcasting. This can be done in addition to defiling the plant life, which has the effect of having any spell you cast be treated as if it were cast in one terrain type better than the actual terrain, up to abundant. This also means you can choose to cast spells without draining from the plant life at all, but in this case, the spell is cast as if it were casting desolate terrain. All living creatures, save you, within the radius must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 your arcane caster level + your Cha modifier), or take 1 point of Con ability damage. The use of this ability requires a perfect obsidian orb, of no less than 1,000 gp value, as a focus.

Replenish Land [Epic] [Psionic Enchantment]

Your use your psionics bolstered arcane energy to restore the land.

Prerequisites: Ability to cast 9th level spells and manifest 6th level powers.

Benefit: You can reverse the effects of defiling magic. You can sacrifice an arcane spell to revitalize the area by increasing terrain type by one category in a 5-foot radius per spell level sacrificed (a defiled area becomes desolate).

Psionic Raze [Epic] [Psionic Enchantment]

You can drain psionic will while defiling.

Prerequisites: Ability to cast 9th level spells and manifest 6th level powers.

Benefit: You can amplify the effects of your defiling radius to drain the psionic strength of creatures. When casting a spell, you can opt for your defiling radius to drain 1 power point per level of the spell slot expended from all creatures caught in the defiling radius. Using psionic raze costs 1 power point per two spell slot levels, rounded up. For example, an 8th level spell requires you to spend 4 power points and causes all victims to lose 8 power points.

#43

Curious what its responses were.

Also, while I see heavy influence of Mind Mage on Athasian Cerebremancer, do you envision that both classes and the standard (less fun) Cerebremancer are also available - as long as they are not used in the same build? I am thinking through stats for the SM’s on the newest available, and they look boringly the same at the core.

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#44

Yes, they have to coexist. For one, SRD cerebremancers have already been used extensively in material published here at Athas dot org. Therefore, in my fluff I am calling this cerebremancer variant class “prenomancer”. Cerebremancer and prenomancer are different approaches to the same thing. The cerebremancer gets dual 9s more quickly than the prenomancer, but the prenomancer gets some nifty magic-psionic transparency abilities.

Phrenomancer (Variant Cerebremancer)

The phrenomancers belong to a tradition within cerebremancy, and to outsiders the differences are so opaque as to be non-existent. Cerebremancers are called phrenomancers and vice versa by the uninitiated. The phrenomancer being a variant cerebremancer, a character selecting one of these classes must choose whether to be a standard cerebremancer or phrenomancer. Selecting one precludes taking levels in the other.

Phrenomancy emerged as a heresy within the Order. Around 500 years ago, an Order psion, her name stricken from history by the Order, advocated the blended use of magic and psionics. Although cerebremancy was already known for millennia, this Order psion, today known only as the First Phrenomancer, taught a slower, more holistic approach to cerebremancy and called it phrenomancy.

The First Phrenomancer resigned the Order and created the Phrenic Order of Magists. She gathered many followers, but within 5 years of creating her new order, the Phrenic Order of Magists was crushed by the Order as heretics. Despite the Phrenic Order of Magists being forever dismantled, knowledge of phrenomancy was out in the world, passing from master to student over the centuries.

The blending of psionics with magic, whether arcane or divine, has been a longstanding practice. Phrenomancers (and cerebremancers) face levels of oppression from the Sorcerer Monarchs greater than even that of single-classed wizard defilers and preservers. For whatever reason, preventing the blending of arcane magic and psionics is of particular interest to the Sorcerer Monarchs, possibly because they are known to be cerebremancers also. Only the thrallherd is hunted more than the phrenomancer, and for that reason phrenomancers are even more careful to hide their arcane abilities than other arcane casters. Even the defiler servants of the Sorcerer Monarchs are forbidden from following the path of the phrenomancer. Those that do so do it quietly.

This fluff isn’t set in stone and is just an example to justify the existence of this variant class.

1 Like
#45

A mighty new salient feat. Now an advanced being can look cool while still benefitting from wearable items. Adapted from the demilich ability.

Item Transference [Salient]

This ability allows you to remotely benefit from magic items that are kept inside a specially prepared magical circle, even if you and the circle are far apart from each other.

Prerequisites: Evolution score.

Benefit: Item Transference (Su): If you keep headbands, belts, rings, cloaks, or other wearable items inside a specially prepared magical circle costing 10,000 cp to create, you will transfer all their benefits to yourself no matter how far apart you and the circle are located. However, if the magical circle is disturbed, it is destroyed, and the item transference ceases to function until the circle is recreated. Recreating the magical circle requires an additional 10,000 cp and 5 days of preparation time. For example, by keeping bracers of armor, a headband of intellect, a pink Ioun stone, a ring of wizardry, a ring of protection, or gloves of Dexterity inside the circle, you can remotely benefit from them.

The standard limits on types of items utilized simultaneously still apply.

#46

Another - now we know how Dregoth survived as an undead creature.

Death to Undeath [Salient]

Being killed will not result in oblivion. Instead, you become an undead creature.

Prerequisites: Evolution score.

Benefit: Select an undead template (such as kaisharga). When you are killed, instead of passing on, you become a templated undead creature of your choice. You return from death as an undead creature regardless of the condition of your body in 2d10 days minus your evolution score bonus (minimum 1 day).

Special: This feat cannot be combined with undying. It can be combined with phylactery, but not if the phylactery feat is taken before this feat.

#47

Salient Damage Reduction [Salient]

You are difficult to injure.

Prerequisites: Evolution score.

Benefit: You have damage reduction/epic equal to your evolution score bonus. For example, an advanced being with 30 evolution ranks gets DR 10/epic. This does not stack with other sources of damage reduction.

#48

Ascendant Weapon [Salient]

You have the power to create a powerful weapon that can grow with you, becoming stronger as you do.

Prerequisites: Evolution score. Craft Magic Arms and Armor feat.

Benefit: You can create an Ascendant Weapon, a weapon that can be imbued with magical power as you become stronger. This weapon is treated as a part of the advanced being’s body and is always treated as if it is drawn. The advanced being can mentally call its Ascendant Weapon to its hand as a free action. The advanced being can mentally activate and deactivate its Ascendant Weapon as a free action.

You may choose the form of the weapon, for example longsword, mace, or longbow, once every 24 hours. In addition, you may select what special abilities it has every 24 hours as long as the total cost does not exceed your evolution bonus. At least 1 point must be dedicated to an enhancement bonus. The cost of each special ability is based on the Base Price Modifier in the SRD.

For example, Ayrik has an evolution score of 30, which means an evolution bonus of +10. Ayrik can imbue his ascendant weapon with up to 10 points worth of special abilities, and at least 1 point must be dedicated to an enhancement bonus. Ayrik decides this time that he wants a +1 longsword (1 point) that is keen (1 point), vorpal (5 points), and has a speed effect (3 points), for a total of 10 points.

If the weapon is somehow destroyed, such as by disjunction, it can reform in 24 hours.

This is a Supernatural (Su) ability.

Ascendant Armor [Salient]

You have the power to create powerful armor that can grow with you, becoming stronger as you do.

Prerequisites: Evolution score. Craft Magic Arms and Armor feat.

Benefit: You can create Ascendant Armor, armor that can be imbued with magical power as you become stronger. This armor is treated as a part of the advanced being’s body and is always worn. The advanced being can mentally activate and deactivate its Ascendant Armor as a free action.

You may choose the form of the armor, for example plate mail, chainmail, or leather armor, once every 24 hours. In addition, you may select what special abilities it has every 24 hours as long as the total cost does not exceed your evolution bonus. At least 1 point must be dedicated to an enhancement bonus. The cost of each special ability is based on the Base Price Modifier in the SRD.

For example, Ayrik has an evolution score of 30, which means an evolution bonus of +10. Ayrik can imbue his ascendant armor with up to 10 points worth of special abilities, and at least 1 point must be dedicated to an enhancement bonus. Ayrik decides this time that he wants +1 full plate (1 point) that has glamered (2 points), fortification, heavy (5 points), and spell resistance (13) (2 points), for a total of 10 points.

If the armor is somehow destroyed, such as by disjunction, it can reform in 24 hours.

This is a Supernatural (Su) ability.

#49

Already exists, it’s called the Expanded Knowledge feat. It allows one to select any one psionic power from any list.

#50

There are now 54 unique salient feats, and I believe I’ve just created the last one that I intend to create. Every advanced being can have diverse and interesting powers. None will be cookie cutter.

#51

I should probably place the last of the 54 here.

Empowered Stride [Salient]

You can explosively increase your movement rate.

Prerequisites: Evolution score.

Benefit: As a free action, you can activate this ability to gain an evolution bonus to your base speed for all movement types equal to 5 feet times your evolution bonus. This speed increase lasts for a number of rounds equal to your evolution bonus. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to your evolution bonus. This is a Supernatural (Su) ability.

Natural Telepath [Salient]

Your transformation into a more advanced being has granted you the ability to communicate telepathically naturally.

Prerequisites: Evolution score.

Benefit: Telepathy (Ex). You gain the ability to communicate telepathically with any creature within a range of 10 feet per point of your evolution score bonus, as long as the creature has a language. If you already have telepathy from another source, the range of your existing telepathic ability stacks.

This is an Extraordinary (Ex) ability that works in dead magic or dead psionic zones, and even inside antimagic fields.

Charge Item [Salient]

With this ability, you can harness the energy from your mystical reservoir to recharge magical items.

Prerequisites: Evolution score. Any 5 crafting feats. Mystical Reservoir.

Benefit: You gain the power to recharge a magical item, using 300XP per charge from your Mystical Reservoir, up to the item’s maximum capacity. However, this ability cannot be used on items containing spells with an XP cost. For every round that you use this ability, you place one charge in the item, using the XP from your Mystical Reservoir that is normally allocated for casting spells.

This ability is only effective on items for which you possess the corresponding crafting feat. If you try to recharge an item without the necessary crafting feat, your attempt will have no effect. The XP used for recharging items is deducted from your Mystical Reservoir’s daily spellcasting XP.

#52

I thought I was done then had an idea to flesh out the leadership side of the salient feats.

Versatile Companions [Salient]

Advanced beings with the ability to tap into various abilities can extend this power to their trusted cohorts and lieutenants, granting them a flexible advantage.

Prerequisites: Evolution score, Evolved Leader, Floating Feats [Salient], Leadership feat, Recruit Lieutenant feat (if lieutenants are to be affected).

Benefit: All your cohorts and lieutenants gain one floating feat, which can be either non-epic or epic. At the start of each day, each cohort and lieutenant can choose to change their floating feat to any other non-epic or epic feat for which they meet the prerequisites. Additionally, if you possess the Mystical Reservoir [Salient] feat, your cohorts and lieutenants can draw from your mystical reservoir to cover the XP costs of their spellcasting. However, they do so at double the cost, as mystical energies are lost in transmission. You must approve the transmission and open the spigot of power for each request. The versatile companion must inform you somehow about the request; otherwise, it is denied. This feature cannot be used to craft items. Any XP used by your versatile companions is not available for you to use.

Special : You may only select this feat once. This feat affects all current and future cohorts and lieutenants you have while you possess this feat. If a cohort or lieutenant leaves your service, they lose the benefits of this feat.

This feat has been updated.

#53

I had to get rid of elite squad because I couldn’t find a way to balance it. Replaced with Mass Recruit Lieutenant.

Mass Recruit Lieutenant [Salient]

You gain four loyal lieutenants.

Prerequisites: Evolution score. Recruit Lieutenant. Evolved Leadership. Legendary Commander.

Benefit: This feat is identical to Recruit Lieutenant, except that it grants four iterations of that feat.

Special: You may select this feat multiple times. Each time you gain the services of an additional four leiutenants.

Of course, you’ll need this non salient feat.

Recruit Lieutenant [Epic]

Strength in numbers is vital for successful conquest.

Prerequisite: A leadership score.

Benefit: You gain a loyal lieutenant who will follow and assist you in battle and other endeavors. The lieutenant functions similarly to a cohort or thrall, but is less powerful. The maximum level of your lieutenant is equal to half your character level.

Special: You can take this feat multiple times, gaining an additional lieutenant each time.

A salient feat for advanced beings that hold themsleves as above the morals and ethics of mere mortals.

Ethical Ambiguity [Salient]

You embrace moral fluidity to transcend conventional constraints.

Prerequisites: Evolution score.

Benefit: Ethical Ambiguity (Ex): You have an alignment, but your alignment does not result in any negative consequences. You can gain access to alignment-restricted spells, feats, and spell descriptors without restrictions or repercussions. Attempts to detect your alignment return the correct result, but any effects that would penalize or hinder you based on your alignment have no effect on you. If you’re the target of a spell or effect that is based on alignment, you’re treated as the most favorable alignment when determining the spell’s effect on you. Any effects that alter alignment have no effect on you unless you willingly choose to accept the change.

You can also use items with alignment requirements without restrictions or repercussions, as if you had the most favorable alignment for the purpose of using the item. However, this ability does not fool artifacts, including attacks from artifacts that target specific alignments. In such cases, your true alignment is used when determining the effects of the artifact.

#54

Aptitude Mastery [Salient]

You effortlessly adapt combat expertise across various weapon types.

Prerequisites: Evolution score. Proficiency with at least one weapon. Weapon Focus with at least one weapon. Base Attack Bonus +20.

Benefit: Your aptitude mastery allows you to apply your expertise with one type of weapon to any other weapon you wield. When wielding a weapon you are proficient with, you can apply the benefits of Weapon Focus, Greater Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialization, and other similar feats you have for a different weapon type to the weapon you are currently wielding.

#55

Chronal Sovereign [Salient]

You have resistance to abilities that would use time against you and can even usurp control of some time-based effects.

Prerequisites: Evolution score. Ability to cast time stop. Ability to manifest the time travel epic power. Must have fought a phane and been attacked by a temporal duplicate.

Benefit: You gain resistance to spells, supernatural effects, and time-based attacks that manipulate metabolism or time (such as slow, temporal stasis, time stop, and time-based attacks by phanes). When you would be affected by a slow or temporal stasis spell or a similar effect from another caster or supernatural ability, you can attempt to negate the effect by making an opposed caster level check, with an evolution bonus equal to the bonus from your evolution score applied to your check. If you succeed, the spell is negated entirely.

If you would be affected by a time stop spell or a similar effect from another caster or supernatural ability, you can attempt to usurp the time stop effect by making an opposed caster level check, with an evolution bonus equal to the bonus from your evolution score applied to your check. If you succeed, you gain all the benefits of the time stop effect as if you were the original caster, while the original caster becomes a subject of the effect, losing any benefits they would have gained.

If both the caster and the targeted character possess this feat, the resultant temporal paradox causes the time stop spell or supernatural ability to fail.

Additionally, your timeline is safeguarded against time travel manipulation. Your lifeline, which connects your past, present, and future selves, is severed from your past. Consequently, attempts to alter your past, such as traveling back in time and killing your past self, will not impact your current or future existence. Your present and future selves are rendered independent of any changes made to your past, ensuring continuity and stability throughout your life.

Moreover, your unique temporal nature prevents the creation of temporal paradoxes when you encounter your past self through time travel. As a result, you can interact with your past self without causing any disruptions, inconsistencies in the timeline, or destruction to the timestream due to contact with past or future selves.

Example in play: Zara and Xander face off, their eyes locked in a fierce battle of wills. Xander confidently begins casting time stop, believing that he’ll have the upper hand once he freezes time. As he finishes the spell, the power of Zara’s Chronal Sovereign feat automatically comes into play, making an opposed caster level check. Zara, with a base caster level of 35 and an additional +10 evolution bonus from her evolution score, has a total of 45 before rolling. She then rolls a 15 on her d20, which is added to her total. This results in a final caster level check result of 60 (35 base + 10 evolution bonus + 15 rolled).

Xander, on the other hand, has a base caster level of 50. He rolls a 9 on his d20, which is added to his total. This gives Xander a final caster level check result of 59 (50 base + 9 rolled).

Zara successfully usurps the time stop effect. For Xander, it seems as if time has continued without any interruption, while Zara is now operating within the time stop. Zara takes advantage of the situation by casting several spells to put Xander at a disadvantage. First, she casts greater invisibility on herself, making her unseen to Xander when time resumes. Then, she casts a wall of force around Xander, limiting his movement and trapping him within. Finally, she casts a persistent image of herself a few feet away, as a diversion to draw his attention.

When the time stop ends and time resumes its normal flow, Xander is surprised to find himself trapped within a wall of force, unable to see Zara. He catches sight of her illusory image and, believing it to be the real Zara, focuses his attention on it. Little does he know that the true Zara is lurking nearby, invisible and ready to strike. The tables have turned, and now Xander is the one in a precarious position, a testament to the power of the Chronal Sovereign feat.

#56

Since Chronal Sovereign mentions phanes, I have was thinking about what might happen if one of the Sorcerer Monarchs or other advanced being’s like Farcluun came across a phane. Most likely the would try to replicate the phane’s signature power as an epic spell. Here it is.

Summon Temporal Duplicate
Conjuration (Summoning)

Spellcraft DC: 78 (unmitigated base)[regular version], 55 (with Chronal Sovereign feat), 36 (mitigated)[Farcluun’s version]
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: 75 ft.
Effect: One summoned temporal duplicate of a foe
Duration: 20 rounds (D)
Saving Throw: None (see text)
Spell Resistance: None (see text)

To Develop: 702,000 gp; 15 days; 28,080 XP. Seed: summon (DC 14). Factors: summon non-outsider (+10 DC), summon up to CR 25 creature (+46 DC), temporal creature summoning (+4 DC), summoning HD-appropriate equipment (+4 DC) [unmitigated base subtotal: DC 78].
Mitigating factors: Chronal Sovereign salient feat (-30% of unmitigated base DC = -23) [subtotal: DC 55], expend epic psionic power slot (-19 DC) [mitigated total: DC 36].

This spell allows the caster to summon a temporal duplicate of one of their foes from a parallel alternate past, including outsiders. The stolen time duplicate has the same stats, abilities, and skills as the original, but its HD is reduced by 2 compared to the original, capped at a maximum of 25 HD, simulating a less experienced version of the original.

The temporal duplicate’s equipment is HD-appropriate, ensuring that it does not possess overpowered items or artifacts that the original might have. Due to the different timeline, the temporal duplicate may have radically different experiences from the original, and thus, does not necessarily possess the secrets of the original. However, it still serves the caster loyally like any summoned creature.

If the temporal duplicate is slain, the original is not harmed because the duplicate was pulled from a parallel past. However, the original does not necessarily realize this, and must make a Will save (DC 30) or be shaken for 1d4 rounds after witnessing the death of a duplicate for the first time.

Flavour Text

Farcluun, the malevolent wizard-psion, stood atop a raised platform, his eyes gleaming with sinister intent. The walls of Farcluun’s lair were shrouded in an ancient darkness, as if the stones themselves had absorbed the weight of centuries-old secrets. Moss and lichen clung to the cold surfaces, while overhead, jagged stalactites hung like the fangs of some great, slumbering beast. Far beyond the chamber, the surrounding lands were twisted and blighted, bearing the unmistakable mark of the malevolent wizard-psion’s influence. He was a man of fearsome intellect and wickedness, commanding both arcane and psionic might. He had studied the group of adventurers who now entered his lair, savoring the anticipation of the torment he was about to inflict upon them.

The chamber was dimly lit, shadows flickering ominously against the rough stone walls. The air was heavy with the scent of ancient secrets and decay. As the adventurers cautiously stepped inside, Farcluun’s gaze locked onto them, and a malevolent grin spread across his face. “Welcome, my dear adversaries,” he taunted, his voice echoing through the room. “I trust you’re prepared for the surprise I have in store for you.”

Without warning, Farcluun began to weave intricate patterns in the air, his fingers dancing with precision and grace. He uttered an eldritch incantation, his voice low and resonant, his eyes burning with the power of the spell he was about to unleash. The very fabric of time and space seemed to bend to his will as he completed the casting.

A maelstrom of temporal energy erupted before the party, the air crackling with the force of Farcluun’s power. From the vortex, eerie doppelgängers of the adventurers emerged, their faces and forms strikingly familiar, yet subtly different, as if drawn from earlier moments in their lives. The original party members stared in horror at their otherworldly counterparts, who stood before them with an unsettling devotion to the twisted mage.

Farcluun’s laughter reverberated through the chamber, his sadistic delight in the party’s anguish palpable. “What better torment than to face the shadows of your own past?” He ordered the temporal duplicates to attack, reveling in the cruel irony of his scheme.

The ensuing battle was a maelstrom of clashing weapons, the air thick with the tension of a deeply personal conflict. Each adventurer grappled with the uncanny presence of their duplicate, forced to confront not only their own past selves but the fears and vulnerabilities that came with it.

As the adventurers fought, the room seemed to come alive with the energy of their struggles. Swords clashed, spells crackled, and the very air was charged with the intensity of their emotions. In the heat of battle, one of the adventurers was gripped by a sudden flashback. A memory of a time when their fellowship was whole, and a dear comrade fought by their side. But that comrade was now lost to the darkness, ensnared by Farcluun’s insidious manipulation. The memory stung, like salt in a fresh wound, and it fueled the adventurer’s resolve to fight even harder against the forces that had torn their friend away. Through the chaos of battle, the heroes found themselves drawing upon their hard-won experience, using their newfound skills and abilities to ultimately best their temporal counterparts.

When the final duplicate fell, the adventurers were left to face the bitter truth of their own mortality. They had witnessed the deaths of versions of themselves, plucked from alternate pasts and twisted to serve a malevolent master. Some found themselves shaken to their core, struggling to maintain their composure, while others steeled their resolve, determined to avenge the suffering they had endured.

With renewed determination, the party turned their attention back to Farcluun, their eyes blazing with anger and defiance. However, the sinister wizard-psion was far from finished with his torment. His laughter echoed through the chamber, cold and mocking, as he prepared to unleash his twisted power once more.

“Oh, you think you’ve bested me?” Farcluun sneered, his voice dripping with malice. “You’ve merely played into my hands. I’ve seen your strengths, your weaknesses, and now you will face the full extent of my mastery over time itself.”

As the adventurers braced themselves for whatever fresh horror Farcluun had in store, he began another incantation, his fingers weaving complex patterns in the air. The room vibrated with the power of his spell, and once again, the vortex of temporal energy roared to life.

From the maw of the swirling portal, new duplicates emerged, their appearances reflecting the very essence of the party’s past selves. Exhausted and battered from their previous battle, the adventurers now faced the daunting prospect of fighting once again against the shadows of their own history.

Farcluun’s maniacal laughter rang out as he sent the newly summoned duplicates into the fray, eager to watch the heroes struggle against the mirror images of their former selves. The weary adventurers steeled themselves for the grueling battle ahead, each drawing upon their deepest reserves of strength and determination.

As the clash of steel and the crackle of magical energy filled the chamber once more, the adventurers were forced to confront not only the physical manifestations of their pasts but the emotional turmoil that accompanied them. The weight of their past mistakes and hardships threatened to overwhelm them, but they knew they could not falter in the face of Farcluun’s cruelty.

With each swing of their weapons and each spell unleashed, the heroes fought not only for their lives but for the redemption of their past selves. Through the chaos and the pain, they stood united, drawing upon the bonds forged in the heat of countless battles to push back against the darkness that sought to consume them.

Farcluun’s expression shifted subtly as he observed the heroes battling their duplicates with fierce determination that defied his expectations. The adventurers, though battered and wearied, refused to yield, their resolve unbroken by the twisted sorcerer’s machinations.

As the battle raged on, the wizard-psion’s frustration gradually morphed into sinister glee, his grin widening and his eyes glinting with malicious delight. Sensing the opportune moment, he raised his hands, effortlessly silencing the clamor of the chamber, and addressed the party with a voice that chilled them to the bone.

“You fools!” he spat, reveling in their growing despair. “Do you really think you can defeat me? I have journeyed beyond the boundaries of space and time, fought and bested beings that lurk in the shadows between worlds, and learned the secrets of existence that you cannot even fathom. In the face of such power, you are like insects crawling across the pages of eternity.”

Farcluun’s eyes blazed with an unholy light as he continued, his voice echoing through the chamber like a curse. “Your struggles are meaningless, your victories fleeting. Time itself is my plaything, and with each passing moment, I grow stronger while you wither and fade like the mortals you are. You may stand before me now, defiant and proud, but know that in the end, you are nothing more than shadows cast by the flickering flame of existence.”

With a final, scornful laugh, Farcluun gestured once again, and the vortex of temporal energy swirled back to life. The adventurers could only watch in horror as even more duplicates stepped through the portal, their faces contorted with the same dark purpose as their master.

As they steeled themselves for the next wave of battle, they realized that, for now, they had no choice but to flee. The twisted wizard-psion had pushed them to their limits, and with the newly summoned duplicates bearing down upon them, escape was their only hope of survival.

The party scrambled, using every ounce of their remaining strength to break free from the chamber, as Farcluun’s maniacal laughter echoed in their ears. As the party fled, Farcluun’s chilling laughter followed them through the dark corridors. Just as they were about to disappear from his sight, the twisted wizard-psion called out to them with a voice that seemed to creep into their very souls.

“Run, little insects!” he hissed ominously. “Run as far and as fast as you can! But remember this: I am the master of time itself. You may evade me today, but I can find you yesterday, and every day before that. There is no escape from my reach, and our paths will cross again!”

His sinister words reverberated through the air, filling the adventurers with a dread that clung to them as they continued their desperate flight. They knew that Farcluun’s threat was no idle boast, and that as long as he remained at large, they would never be truly safe from his malevolent influence.

How is Farcluun summoning four temporal duplicates at once? Let’s take a look.

Farcluun’s Summon Temporal Heroes
Conjuration (Summoning)
Spellcraft DC: 312 (unmitigated base), 220 (with Chronal Sovereign feat), 145 (post-mitigation)
Components: V, S, F, XP
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: 75 ft.
Effect: Four summoned temporal duplicates, one of each of up to four different foes
Duration: 20 rounds (D)
Saving Throw: None (see text)
Spell Resistance: None (see text)

To Develop: 1,059,000 gp; 22 days; 42,360 XP. Seed: summon (DC 14). Factors: summon non-outsider (+10 DC), summon up to CR 25 creature (+46 DC), temporal creature summoning (+4 DC), summoning HD-appropriate equipment (+4 DC) [subtotal: DC 78], summon four creatures (x4 DC = 312 unmitigated base DC).
Mitigating factors: Chronal Sovereign salient feat (-30% of unmitigated base DC = -92) [subtotal: DC 220], 200,000 gp time crystal focus (-20 DC), use of an epic psionic power slot (-19 DC), expend 3,600 XP (-36 DC).

Focus: A time crystal worth 200,000 gp. The time crystal is not expended during casting but cannot be used for this particular spell again for 1,000 years.

XP Cost: 3,600 XP.

This spell allows the caster to summon four temporal duplicates, one of each of up to four different foes from a parallel alternate past, including outsiders. The stolen time duplicates have the same stats, abilities, and skills as the original, but their HD is reduced by 2 compared to the original, capped at a maximum of 25 HD, simulating a less experienced version of the original.

The temporal duplicates’ equipment is HD-appropriate, ensuring that they do not possess overpowered items or artifacts that the original might have. Due to the different timeline, the temporal duplicates may have radically different experiences from the original, and thus, do not necessarily possess the secrets of the original. However, they still serve the caster loyally like any summoned creature.

If a temporal duplicate is slain, the original is not harmed because the duplicate was pulled from a parallel past. However, the original does not necessarily realize this, and must make a Will save (DC 30) or be shaken for 1d4 rounds after witnessing the death of a duplicate for the first time.

Having the Chronal Sovereign salient feat allows the caster to manipulate time more effectively, resulting in a 30% reduction in the Spellcraft DC before other mitigating factors. The use of a time crystal as a focus, worth 200,000 gp, also contributes to lowering the DC further. The time crystal is not expended during casting but cannot be used for this particular spell again for 1,000 years.

Dark Sun heresy
#57

A potentially brutal ability for an advanced being or Sorcerer Monarch. It comes at a high cost however.

Supernatural Spell [Salient] [Metamagic]

You harness the raw essence of magic to imbue your spells with supernatural power, transcending the limitations of ordinary spellcasting.

Prerequisites: Evolution score. Ability to cast 9th-level spells, Ignore Material Components feat, Still Spell feat, Silent Spell feat, Spellcraft 24 ranks.

Benefit: When you apply the Supernatural Spell metamagic feat to a spell, it retains its original casting time, but once cast, it takes effect with some of the characteristics of a supernatural ability. The spell functions as it normally would and is expended normally, but you do not require any verbal, somatic, or material components, it does not provoke attacks of opportunity, and it ignores the target’s spell resistance, just as if you were using a supernatural ability instead of a spell.

Casting a supernatural spell requires using a spell slot 8 levels higher than the spell’s actual level. If the spell has an XP cost, the cost must still be paid when casting the spell as a supernatural ability.

For example, if you want to cast a supernatural version of a 5th-level spell, you would need to expend a 13th-level spell slot.

Link to the latest version below.

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