Spell Blade (3.5e Prestige Class)

The Spell Blade

(Original written By: Elativ)

There are warriors, who learn the art of war for personal goals. There are fighters, who continue further down the road and become generals, kings, or legends. Then there is the Spell Blade.

The Spell Blade is a solitary sword fighter who seeks only to perfect his art. They devotes his entire life to the mastery of the blade. In life, the Spell Blade is usually alone, too dedicated to his studies to be swayed by such petty things as society. They wanders the lands looking for fresh new challenges for his skills. In battle, the Spell Blade is both beautiful and deadly, specializing in quick, efficient strikes delivered with grace and accuracy. In time, his abilities transcend those of a normal human, and become supernatural.

During his endless practice, the Spell Blade has unlocked the ability to draw his weapon and strike all in one smooth motion. Using the advantage of surprise and momentum, they can strike with frightening accuracy, speed, and power.

Adventures

Spell Blades adventure only to hone their already formidable skills. Although they may be distracted momentarily by the lure of magic weaponry, their ultimate goal is the perfection of swordplay.

Characteristics

Spell Blades are aloof and occasionally arrogant. However, they respect other combatants of their own calibre and are not so proud as to know when to admit defeat.

Religion

Devotion to a god is often very difficult for a Spell Blade. They are so focused on swordsmanship that they often have no time for religion. When they do worship a deity, however, the god/goddess of roads is the most common, as they/they aids them on their wanderings.

Background

Spell Blades are often orphans. Since they have no ties or obligations to their family, they are free to pursue their ambitions without guilt or hindrance.

Races

Humans make excellent Spell Blades, as they take well to a life of travelling. Elves are also common among the ranks of Spell Blades. Their inborn and cultural skill with blades make them perfect candidates for this class. Half-elves are attracted to this path as well, combining Elven dedication with human ambition. Halflings and gnomes are rarely Spell Blades, as they are too small to wield the more powerful weapons. Dwarves are not often attracted to this fighting style, since they are traditionally attracted to axes and armour. Half-orcs and bestial humanoids are simply too savage to undertake this path.

Classes

Fighters are the most driven to become Spell Blades. They are already halfway down the path to mastery, though any Spell Blade will tell you it is the easy half. Rangers and rogues are sometimes Spell Blades, striking from the shadows or the treetops with deadly force. Barbarians usually lack the focus to seek the art of the blade, but an enraged Spell Blade is a truly unstoppable force. Clerics of militant deities occasionally become Spell Blades to further their patrons cause. Monks are too focused on their own art to be distracted by the path of a Spell Blade. Arcane spellcasters usually lack the physical ability needed to become a Spell Blade, but the few that do rise to the challenge are among the most powerful of all, striking efficiently with both sword and sorcery.

Requirements

To qualify to become a Spell Blade the character must meet the following requirements.

Base Attack Bonus: +5

Feats: Quick Draw, Weapon Focus

Special: When the Spell Blade takes his first level in this class, they must chose one weapon for which they have taken Weapon Focus.

The chosen weapon MUST be a SLASHING TYPE EDGED MEELE WEAPON.

Table: The Spell Blade

Table: The Spell Blade

Hit Die: d8

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Saving Throws			Special
		Fort	Ref	Will
1st	+1	+2	+2	+0	Sudden Strike +1d8, Weapon Finesse
2nd	+2	+3	+3	+0	Improved Critical, Grace
3rd	+3	+3	+3	+1	Evasion, Ghost Cutter 1/day
4th	+4	+4	+4	+1	Weapon Specialization
5th	+5	+4	+4	+1	Sudden Strike +1d10, Ghost Cutter 2/day
6th	+6/+1	+5	+5	+2	Improved Critical
7th	+7/+2	+5	+5	+2	Devastating Critical, Ghost Cutter 3/day
8th	+8/+3	+6	+6	+2	Destiny Step
9th	+9/+4	+6	+6	+3	Sudden Strike +1d12, Ghost Cutter 4/day
10th	+10/+5/+5	+7	+7	+3	Critical Strike
Class Skills (2 + Int modifier per level) The Spell Blade’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are; Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Jump (Str), Ride (Dex), Swim (Str), and Tumble (Dex). See Chapter 4 in the Core Rulebook 1 for skill descriptions.

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the Spell Blade.

Weapon and Armour Proficiency: A Spell Blade gains no additional proficiency in armour or weapons. Also, due to his extensive practice with one type of weapon, all attack rolls with other weapons suffer a -1 competence penalty. Note that wearing armour heavier than leather imposes a penalty to Climb, Hide, Jump, Move Silently and Swim skill checks. Swim checks suffer double the normal armour check and encumbrance penalties.

Sudden Strike (Ex): If a Spell Blade has his chosen weapon sheathed, they may make a swift strike that catches an enemy off guard. This attack may also be made as the first blow of an encounter, weather or not the weapon is sheathed. A sudden strike unbalances the enemy and causes him to lose his Dexterity bonus to AC (but only for this attack), and does extra damage as shown.

Weapon Finesse: The Spell Blade gains the Weapon Finesse with his chosen weapon as a bonus feat, regardless of size.

Improved Critical: The Spell Blade gains the Improved Critical feat with his chosen weapon as a bonus feat These class abilities stack with each other and with the feat if it is acquired in a different way. Consult the Players Handbook for rules on stacking criticals.

Grace (Ex): The Spell Blade fights with a grace and skill surpassing that of normal men. When wielding his chosen weapon, they gains a dodge bonus to AC equal to half his level in this class.

Weapon Specialization: The Spell Blade gains Weapon Specialization with his chosen weapon as a bonus feat. This stacks if already taken, or if taken as a regular or bonus feat in the future.

Evasion: If exposed to any effect that normally allows a Reflex save for half damage (such as a fireball), the Spell Blade takes no damage on a successful saving throw. Evasion can only be used if the Spell Blade is wearing light armour or no armour.

Ghost Cutter (Su): The Spell Blade blinks in and out of existence when making this strike, startling his opponent. When they makes this attack, the Spell Blade gains a +2 bonus to attack, the target loses his Dexterity bonus to AC, and the Spell Blade adds his sudden strike damage to the roll, weather or not his weapon is sheathed.

Devastating Critical (Ex): The critical multiplier of the Spell Blade’s chosen weapon goes up by one (ex. Longsword goes up from 19-20/x2 to 19-20/x3).

Destiny Step (Su): The Spell Blade has now risen to such a level of skill that they can cut even the fabric of reality. By stepping through the folds of space, they can move forward and strike enemies in his path as they moves. As a standard action once per encounter, the Spell Blade may pick any spot within 20 feet. They instantly travels to that spot, visually duplicating a dimension door spell. They do not provoke an attack of opportunity, and may take an attack against any creature whose space they would have moved through if they had taken the shortest possible route to his destination. If they would end his movement in an enemies space, the Spell Blade may take a 5-foot step to vacate said space.

Critical strike (Ex): Any time a Spell Blade’s target would be denied his Dexterity bonus to AC, treat a successful attack as a critical threat.

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