Augmentor (3.5e Prestige Class)

Augmentor

“	Yes, I am the person who just threw that fireball at you. Now I'm going to rip off your head & send another one down your throat - let's see you dodge that...	”
—Damian Loki, Human(ish) Augmentor, The last thing Thump, the Ogre Warlord heard before his untimely demise.

The Augmentor is a master of using arcane energies to enhance the physical abilities of himself & (to a lesser extent) others.

Becoming an Augmentor

The path of the Augmentor is a curious one - other paths may mingle spellcasting with combat, but the Augmentor is unique in their ability to transform themselves bodily into a powerhouse of muscle & sinew, while retaining the ability to engage in the more subtle arts of magic. At the highest level, an Augmentor is able to stand his ground with all but the most highly skilled of frontline warriors, enhance the combat abilities of his allies & shower the enemy with arcane destruction at the same time.

Depending on their base caster type, either Intelligence or Charisma is the key ability score for the Augmentor. Due to the high minimums required in physical ability scores, elves, gnomes & halflings rarely follow this path, though there are exceptions. For some reason a disproportionately large number of Augmentors are of half-elven stock - scholars believe that this may be due to their often awkward upbringing which can create an increased need to prove their worth to others within their group.

Entry Requirements

Arcane Casting:	Must know & have the arcane ability to cast Bulls Strength, Cats Grace & Bears Endurance in the same day.
Ability Scores:	Strength 13, Constitution 13, Dexterity 13.

Table: The Augmentor

Hit Die: d8

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Saving Throws			Special	Spellcasting
		Fort	Ref	Will
1st	+0	+2	+2	+2	Enhance Augmentation 50%, Lingering Augmentation, Physical Augmentation 1/day
2nd	+1	+3	+3	+3		+1 Level of existing Arcane spellcasting ability.
3rd	+2	+3	+3	+3	Phased Augmentation (personal), Physical Augmentation 2/day
4th	+3	+4	+4	+4		+1 Level of existing Arcane spellcasting ability.
5th	+3	+4	+4	+4	Enhance Augmentation 100%, Physical Augmentation 3/day
6th	+4	+5	+5	+5	Heroic Augmentation	+1 Level of existing Arcane spellcasting ability.
7th	+5	+5	+5	+5	Phased Augmentation (ally), Physical Augmentation 4/day
8th	+6	+6	+6	+6		+1 Level of existing Arcane spellcasting ability.
9th	+6	+6	+6	+6	Enhance Augmentation 150%, Physical Augmentation 5/day
10th	+7	+7	+7	+7	Personal Augmentation	+1 Level of existing Arcane spellcasting ability.
Class Skills (2 + Int modifier per level) Concentration, Craft, Decipher Script, Intimidate, Knowledge (all), Profession, Spellcraft.

Table: The Epic Augmentor

Level	Special	Arcane Spellcasting
11th	Physical Augmentation 6/day
12th	Heroic Augmentation becomes Phased	+1 Arcane Caster Level
13th	Physical Augmentation 7/day
14th	Enhance Augmentation 200%	+1 Arcane Caster Level
15th	Physical Augmentation 8/day
16th	Bonus Feat (Epic Fighter)	+1 Arcane Caster Level
17th	Physical Augmentation 9/day
18th	Enhance Augmentation 300%	+1 Arcane Caster Level
19th	Physical Augmentation at will
20th	Super Heroic Augmentation	+1 Arcane Caster Level

Class Features

As Augmentors are focused around the physical augmentation of themselves & others, their abilities reflect this. All of the following are class features of the Augmentor.

Enhance Augmentation: Whenever the Augmentor is the target of a spell or spell-like ability that has the effect of enhancing any or all of his physical ability scores (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution), the effectiveness is increased by a percentage (50% at 1st level, 100% at 5th level, 150% at 9th level). eg Damian Loki, L5 Augmentor is the target of a Cats Grace spell courtesy of another spellcaster. Instead of gaining +4 to his Dexterity, he instead gets +8, as his Enhance Augmentation ability is at 100%. 4 levels later, he has the same spell cast on him again, this time the effect is +10 to his Dexterity.

Lingering Augmentation: Whenever the Augmentor casts or is the recipient of any spell or spell-like effect that enhances any or all of his physical ability scores (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution), the duration is staged up one level (rounds become minutes, minutes become hours, hours become days, days become weeks, etc.)

Physical Augmentation (Sp) The Physical Augmentation spell-like ability allows the caster to generate the same effect as though casting Bears Endurance, Bulls Strength & Cats Grace simoultaneously, either on himself or another.

Spellcasting: At each even level, you gain new spells per day and an increase in caster level (and spells known, if applicable) as if you had also gained a level in an arcane spellcasting class to which you belonged before adding the prestige class level. You do not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained. If you had more than one arcane spellcasting class before becoming an Augmentor, you must decide to which class to add each level for the purpose of determining spells per day, caster level, and spells known.

Phased Augmentation (personal): Spells & spell-like effects that enhance any or all of his physical ability scores (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution) now count as Phased bonuses when applied to the Augmentor. Phased bonuses stack with all other types of bonus (eg circumstance, divine, luck, etc.).

Heroic Augmentation: Physical Augmentation now also applies the effect of the spell Heroism in addition to its other effects. The duration of the Heroism is extended by the Lingering Augmentation ability, but not Phased Augmentation.

Phased Augmentation (ally): Spells & spell-like effects cast by the character that enhance any or all of the physical ability scores (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution) now count as Phased. Phased bonuses stack with all other types of bonus (eg circumstance, divine, luck, etc.).

Personal Augmentation: The effects of Physical Augmentation are now permanently applied to the Augmentor.

Super Heroic Augmentation (Epic): The effect of Heroic Augmentation is replaced with the same effect as the spell Greater Heroism. This effect counts as a Phased bonus.

Ex-Augmentors

If an Augmentor loses the ability to cast one or all of the required spells, they lose both the ability to cast Physical Augmentation & the Personal Augmentation ability (assuming they had reached level 10) until the ability to cast all 3 spells on the same day is regained. If any or all of their required base ability scores drop below 13, the Physical Augmentation spell-like ability no longer applies its bonus to that ability score. In either of these situations, no further levels in Augmentor can be taken until the prequisits are once again fulfilled.

Campaign Information

Playing an Augmentor

Combat: At lower levels, the Augmentor is primarily a spellcaster, albeit one who is has a focus on enhancment of his allies. As the augmentor progresses, he moves more into a frontline combatant role, though he retains his talent for enhancing others.

Advancement: Characters passing beyond level 10 of Augmentor can take several routes, though most focus on combat. If Lawful, the life of a Monk is often attractive & can be very potent, due to the continued lack of dependance on armour, while if chaotic, an Augmentor that becomes a Barbarian can be truly devastating when raging. Moving to rogue can be interesting, especially if the Augmentor was originally a Wizard rather than a Sorcerer, as the high Intelligence will allow such a character to truly dominate at skilled abilities, while the bonuses to Dexterity & Strength make sneak attacks even more effective & the high Constitution modifier makes the relatively small hit-die less of an issue.

Resources: Augmentors rarely work together & there are no known Augmentor institutions. Due to their unusual area of expertise, they are rarely members of formal colleges of magic & most are self-taught, though some do offer their services out to organisations which they may have been a part of before gaining the Augmentor class, as bodyguards & journeymen who can be better relied upon to understand the intricacies of complex arcane missions than regular hired muscle.

Augmentors in the World

“	First I'm going to let my friend here beat you up a bit. If that doesn't work, I'm going to start hitting you. Then you'll be dead.	”
—Damian Loki, Human(ish) Augmentor. Transcript from the interrogation of ######* *Name removed pending war crimes tribunal.

Augmentors are powerful supporting casters, who often travel with members of combat classes who can get the most benefit from their abilities early on. More powerful Augmentors may instead choose to travel alone or with less combat oriented characters as they can depend on their combination of physical & arcane might to ensure their safety in a dangerous world. Due to their Phased Augmentation ability, some Augmentors spend significant lengths of time searching out magical implements to push their abilities still further, or research how to construct such items for themselves from scratch.

NPC Reactions: Augmentors are often looked down on by most pure arcane spellcasters due to their lack of focus on the arcane - many feel that using ones magical talents in this way is a debasement of the art. Other characters, especially monks & other combatants with lower than maximum BAB progression, often welcome an augmentor into their company for the significant edge he can give them.

Augmentor Lore

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can research Augmentors to learn more about them. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs.

Knowledge (arcana)

DC	Result
11	Augmentors are a type of arcane caster.
16	Augmentors specialise in physical enhancement, both of themselves & their allies.
21	The most powerful Augmentors have physical abilities significantly beyond the usual limits of their race, but their ability to enhance their allies plateus before they reach their personal peak.
26	The enhancements provided by powerful Augmentors don't interfere with other sources of physical enhancement.

Augmentors in the Game

Augmentors are arcane casters that give up some of their casting ability to become good at hitting things, while also improving their ability to enhance the capabilities of their allies. They often fit in well with groups whos front-line combat types want to progress along paths other than pure destruction, bolstering their capabilities & eventually possibly surpassing them.

Adaptation: If the group lacks a strong combatant, either through poor rolls or unusual class choices, having a caster take the Augmentor path can provide much-needed punch.

Sample Encounter: While on a quest to retrieve a powerful artifact from an evil Warlock, the party encounters a human-seeming mage deep in a dangerous, monster-infested forest. Despite being alone in the woods, the mage is calm about his surroundings & seems unpeturbed by the fact that he is surrounded by wild animals that could eat him with a moments notice. Hailing the party, the mage enquires about them & their quest, directing them towards the evil Warlock's base of operations if necesary. As the party are heading away, an arcane ice storm suddenly breaks out in their midst, followed by the mage himself, charging the group with wild abandon & murderous intent...

EL 17: Damian Loki

Damian Loki

CR 17

	Male Kaylik wizard 9/augmentor 8
	CN Medium humanoid (Kaylik)
Init/Senses	+5/+9A/Listen +5, Spot +18
Languages	Common, Draconic, Gnome, Undercommon
AC	24/28A, touch 18/22A, flat-footed 16 (+4 Armor, ,+2 Natural, +5/+9A Dex, +3 deflection)
hp	94/162A (17 HD)
Fort/Ref/Will	+11/+15A/+14/18A/+13
Speed	30 ft. (6 squares)
Melee	Kukri 1d4 +6/+10A +D6 (fire)
Base Atk/Grp	+10/+10
Combat Gear	flaming, keen kukri +2 (2), vestment of mage armor, bracers of deflection +3
Spells Prepared	(CL 13th): 7th—delayed blast fireball 6th—mass cat's grace, greater heroism, wall of iron 5th—Baleful Polymorph (3), telekinesis 4th—dimension door, fire shield, ice storm, greater invisibility, wall of fire 3rd—flame arrow (2), tongues, vampiric touch (2) 2nd—bear's endurance, bull's strength, cat's grace, knock, melf's acid arrow, scorching ray (+13 ranged touch) 1st—burning hands, endure elements, feather fall, Identify, magic missile, unseen servant 0—acid splash, detect magic, read magic, ray of frost
Abilities	Str 18/26A, Dex 20/28A, Con 14/22A, Int 22, Wis 13, Cha 11
SQ	Enhance Augmentation 100%, Lingering Augmentation, Heroic Augmentation, Phased Augmentation (personal & ally), Physical Augmentation 4/day
Feats	Martial Weapon Proficiency (kukri), Expertise, Spell Mastery (bear's endurance, bull's strength, cat's grace), Craft Wonderous ItemB, Two-Weapon Fighting, Scribe Scroll, Weapon Focus (Kukri), Ambidextrous
Skills	Appraise +14/+16, Concentration +16, Craft (Bladesmith) +17, Decipher Script +18, Diplomacy -1, Disguise -1, Intimidate +10, Knowledge (arcana) +26, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +13, Knowledge (history) +13, Knowledge (the planes) +25, Listen +5, Move Silently +10/+14A, Spellcraft +29, Search +14, Spot +18, Survival +2/+4
Possessions	combat gear plus amulet of natural armor +2, goggles of night & Spot +5, ring of Intellect +3, Gloves of Dexterity +4, Belt of Giant Strength +5, boots of expeditious retreat & move silently +5, Greater Ring of Regeneration
Spellbook	spells prepared plus 0—all cantrips 1st—animate rope, expeditious retreat, light, mount, shield, summon monster I 2nd—continual flame, flaming sphere, levitate, see invisibility, spider climb 3rd—heroism, fireball, lightning bolt, greater magic weapon, summon monster III, water breathing 4th—remove curse, stone shape, stoneskin 5th—dismissal, passwall, teleport, transmute mud to rock, transmute rock to mud 6th—analyze dweomer, bull's strength, mass 7th—plane shift, reverse gravity

Description

Through force of arcane might & physical violence, Damian Loki seeks challenge, adventure & fortune across the known worlds of the multiverse & beyond.

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