Grey Seer (3.5e Class)

The Grey Seer provides the party with magical support and firepower, but is also rather fragile in combat.

Abilities: Wisdom is needed for learning spells , thus Charisma powers the spells of the Grey Seer. A good Dexterity and Constitution help the Grey Seer to stay alive in the heat of combat.

Races: Grey Seers are exclusively Skaven, as the Horned Rat rarely grants his gifts to anyone other than his favored children.

Alignment: Any evil.

Starting Gold: 5d4×10 gp (125 gp).

Starting Age: Moderate.

All of the following are class features of the Grey Seer.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Grey Seers are proficient with simple weapons and light armor, as well as short swords, scimitars, and kukris. They are not proficient with heavier armor or shields.

Spells: A grey seer casts divine spells, which are drawn from the grey seer spell list. Like a sorcerer, he can cast any spell he knows without preparing it ahead of time. When a grey seer gains access to a new level of spells, he automatically knows all the spells for that level given on the grey seer spell list. Grey seers also have the option of adding to their existing spell list through their advanced learning ability as they increase in level.

To cast a spell, a grey seer must have an Wisdom score of 10 + the spell's level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a grey seer's spell is 10 + the spell's level + his Charisma modifier. Like other spellcasters, a grey seer can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. In addition, he receives bonus spells for a high Wisdom score. Grey seers choose their spells from the following list:

0—acid splash, detect magic, flare, light, ray of frost, ghost sound, electric jolt, prestidigitation, arcane mark, guidance

1st—grease, mage armor, obscuring mist, summon monster I, unseen servant, benign transposition, comprehend languages, identify, magic missile, doom, color spray, disguise self, shield of faith, magic weapon

2nd—glitterdust, melf's acid arrow, summon monster II, baleful transposition, summon swarm, see invisibility, spiritual weapon, scorching ray, mirror image, invisibility, reflective disguise, divine protection, aid

3rd—stinking cloud, summon monster III, clairaudience/clairvoyance, fireball, lightning bolt, contagious fog, nauseating breath, unluck, displacement, blindsight, mass aid, major image, tongues

4th—dimension door, evard's black tentacles, summon monster IV, scrying, ice storm, greater invisibility, phantasmal killer, fire shield, arcane eye, mass shield of faith, poison, know vulnerabilities, greater magic weapon

5th—cloudkill, summon monster V, prying eyes, cone of cold, flame strike, prismatic ray, mass fire shield, nightmare, persistent image, teleport, insect plague

6th—acid fog, summon monster VI, true seeing, legend lore, chain lightning, veil, programmed image, contingency, harm, analyze dweomer, banishment

7th—summon monster VII, greater scrying, vision, prismatic spray, mass invisibility, project image, stun ray, blasphemy, greater bestow curse

8th—incendiary cloud, earthquake, summon monster VIII, discern location, greater prying eyes, moment of prescience, trap the soul, unholy aura

9th—gate, summon monster IX, foresight, meteor swarm, weird, reality maelstrom, energy drain

Scribe Scroll At 1st level, a grey seer gains Scribe Scroll as a bonus feat.

Run Away (Ex): At first level, the grey seer gains the ability to teleport out of danger quickly. By making a concentration check DC 15, the grey seer can teleport 10 feet away from any danger. This jump can increase to 15 feet at 3rd level and 20 feet at 9th level, at DC 20 at 3rd, and a DC 25 at 9th. The grey seer may choose to jump the 10 feet instead of the 15 or 20. If the grey seer was damaged in combat in the previous round, the grey seer must make the concentration check based on the damage dealt as if he were damaged while casting a spell.

Know Your Enemy (Ex): Grey seers study as much as they can about a specific race or creature type in order to help the Skaven achieve dominance over the lesser races of the world. At 1st level, a grey seer may select a type of creature from among those given on table below, similar to the Ranger's Favored Enemy. The grey seer gains a +2 bonus on Bluff, Listen, Sense Motive, Spot, and Survival checks when using these skills against creatures of this type. Likewise, he gets a +2 bonus on weapon damage rolls against such creatures. The grey seer also grants this attack bonus to his allies when in combat against creatures of this type.

At 5th level and every five levels thereafter (10th, 15th, and 20th level), the grey seer may select an additional favored enemy from those given on the table. In addition, at each such interval, the bonus against any one favored enemy (including the one just selected, if so desired) increases by 2.

If the grey seer chooses humanoids or outsiders as a favored enemy, he must also choose an associated subtype, as indicated on the table. If a specific creature falls into more than one category of favored enemy, the grey seer’s bonuses do not stack; he simply uses whichever bonus is higher.

Advanced Learning (Ex): At 4th level, a grey seer can add a new spell to his list, representing the result of personal study and experimentation. The spell must be a cleric or wizard spell of the conjuration, divination, evocation, or illusion schools, and of a level no higher than that of the highest-level spell the grey seer already knows. Once a new spell is selected, it is added to that grey seer's spell list and can be cast just like any other spell he knows. If a spell is both a cleric spell and a wizard spell, use the lower of the two spell levels (when different) to determine what level the spell is for a grey seer. A grey seer gains an additional new spell at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 20th level

Consume Warpstone (Ex): At 11th level, a grey seer is allowed access by his superiors to utilize warpstone, a chaotic mutagen that can enhance his spellcasting. As a move action, a Grey Seer may consume a warpstone. Upon eating the warpstone, roll a d8. Roll: 1: Empower Spell 2: Enlarge Spell 3: Extend Spell 4: Heighten Spell 5: Maximize Spell 6: Quicken Spell 7:Widen Spell 8: Roll twice, ignoring further 8's, roll again if the metamagic feat doesn't apply to the spell. Afterwards, make a Will save or suffer 1d4 Wisdom damage.

Bonus Feat: At 6th, 13th, and 18th levels, a grey seer gains a bonus feat. At each such opportunity, he can choose a metamagic feat, or an item creation feat. The grey seer must still meet all prerequisites for a bonus feat, including caster level minimums.

These bonus feats are in addition to the feat that a character of any class gets from advancing levels. The grey seer is not limited to the categories of item creation feats or metamagic feats when choosing these feats.

If a grey seer was to stray from the worship of the Horned Rat or ceases being evil, the grey seer will lose all spellcasting ability and the Run Away extraordinary ability. His access to warpstone will be cut off by his superiors, and he may not take any more levels in grey seer until he atones (see the atonement spell description).. He retains his Know Your Enemy ability, as this is a result of his personal research and observational studies, as well as any of his weapon proficiencies.

Know Your Enemy: The epic grey seer gains one additional favored enemy, and his or her bonuses against one category of favored enemies goes up by +2, every five levels higher than 20th.

Advanced Learning: The epic grey seer gains another advanced learning every four levels after 20th.

Bonus Feats: The epic grey seer gains a bonus feat (selected from the list of epic wizard bonus feats) every three levels after 20th.

Weapons: Scimitar (1d6, crit 18-20/×2, 4 lb., one-handed, slashing). Light Crossbow (1d8, crit 19-20/×2, range inc. 80 ft., 4 lb., piercing).

Skill Selection: Pick a number of skills equal to 2 + Int modifier.

Feat: Combat Casting.

Gear: Backpack with waterskin, one day's trail rations, bedroll, sack, and flint and steel. Three pages of parchment, ink, and inkpen. Spell component pouch. Case with 10 crossbow bolts.

Gold: 2d4gp.

Religion: Acting as agents for the Horned Rat, the grey seer will often utilize the religion of his people to advance his own goals. The Horned Rat smiles on such actions, as they exemplify true Skaven values of deception and betrayal.

Other Classes: As far as a grey seer is concerned, all other classes are meant to serve. The grey seer respects and is suspicious toward sneaky characters like rogues and stealthy rangers. They despise paladins and good clerics. Fighters and barbarians are treated with the assumption that they will follow the grey seer's orders or suffer the consequences. Grey seers consider themselves superior to other arcane spellcasters, however, grey seers treat them with a slight bit more respect, lest the sorcerer or wizard be more powerful than he or she may seem.

Combat: The role of the grey seer is that of a spell caster and a tactician. His special abilities help keep him out of danger and help his allies take down his favored enemies more quickly. His spell selection is mostly offensive based, but a wise grey seer does not forget the defensive and support spells in his spell list.

Advancement: Most grey seers do not multiclass, as they feel that their god has granted them the most powerful gifts in their race. Those who do multiclass often try to improve their martial abilities.

Scheming, cowardly, sinister villains, the grey seer is a class designed to be a bad guy in a campaign or a fun choice as an evil playable character. They embody the classic megalomaniac villain that a DM may be looking for.

Daily Life: A grey seer spends his day planning his next plot, watching his back for any attempts from his underlings to seize his power, and interpreting the will of his god for the advancement of his people.

Notables: Some notable grey seers include Thanquol and Gnawdoom. Like all skaven, grey seers aspire for dominance, even over members of their own order.

Organizations: The grey seers are an order of their own. There are 169 grey seers in the order. Initiates are chosen at a very young age. Grey seers often rarely meet one another, as each one is on a mission from the Council of Thirteen. These missions take them all across the world to far-flung outposts and skaven garrisons.

NPC Reactions: Most NPC's that are familiar with the skaven hate and fear grey seers. Races that live underground know all to well the destructive power of the grey seers, and are wary around them. A grey seer is likely to draw attention to himself in a city, considering that he is a giant pale rat with horns.

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

Adaptation: .

Sample Encounter: .

EL : .

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