Quasiclass: Entropic Savant (Druid/Shadowdancer)

[unwitting1]

The Entropic Savant
(Druid/Shadowdancer)

Some druids take the long view.

In their eyes, the majority of druids have mistaken one phase of the natural order as the thing in itself. Life is not the end-all, be-all that most take for granted: It is merely a phase between two eternities, and the multiverse will dissolve into entropy over time.

Those few druids who arrive upon this revelation choose the path of the entropic savant. After learning what they can about the natural way from the hierophants, they seek to take a portion of entropy into themselves, and to use their new-found powers to groom the multiverse for its gradual descent into nothingness.

They are not destructive, nor do they hold any bad blood for the druidic orders: Life is a thing to be revered while it lasts, but entropy is that which will follow. Their invisible ministrations to their surroundings rarely make sense to outsiders, nor is that the intent. Patience is a virtue, as every gardener knows.

Requirements

• The character must have 15 levels of druid and 10 of shadowdancer by level 26.
  
• They must have Greater Spell Focus - Necromancy and Skill Focus - Healing.
  

Changes

• Shadow evade functions differently when used by a savant: The character emits a huge (the equivalent of curse song?) aura of entropy. Every round that an enemy is within it, they suffer an accumulating -1 to all saves, AC, AB, and damage to a maximum of [entropic savant levels divided by 10, rounded down] at medium range and [[entropic savant levels divided by 10, rounded down]-1] at huge range. Additionally, this aura inflicts an accumulating 5% chance of spell failure, with a similar maximum. Finally, enemies find that their ability to regenerate is dampened while inside the aura, with regeneration reduced by x% per savant level. These penalties will fade by -1/5% for every round the enemy is outside of the aura. The aura can be toggled on and off at will, and is available for 5 rounds per savant level per rest.
  
• Savants that would normally be able to assume a druid's improved elemental form are instead able to change into an entropic quasielemental. This is a risky move, though it has a pay-off. While in entropic form, the character loses 60 hp per round, but the maximum penalty to enemies for the savant's entropic aura increases by -1. If the character has 54 levels of savant, the maximum penalty increases by -2, but the hp penalty also increases to 120 hp lost per round.
  
• Savants that would normally be able to create a shadow decoy instead can create an entropic totem once per rest, which is an indestructible, immobile item that emits an entropic aura identical to the savant's normal one and lasts for one round per savant level.
  
• The shadowrift ability to inflict negative damage counts 1/2 of the savant's druid levels towards the total amount inflicted and for the duration. If the character's control class is shadowdancer, shadowrift gains the additional property of wounding. For every 10 savant levels, the shadowrift damage is inflicted for another round, and the wounding stacks with each hit as the forces of annihilation tear through the enemy's body.
  
• Certain druid spells have an effective caster level of druid + shadowdancer levels: Elemental Swarm, Premonition, Nature's Balance, Creeping Doom, Crumble, Inferno, and all of the cure spells.
  --Elemental Swarm: This spell causes no damage. Instead, it inflicts 1% vulnerability per 8 savant levels to the elements for all creatures within the area that fail their save. This infliction stacks with additional castings to a maximum of x%.
  --Creeping Doom: Savants inflict 2% physical vulnerability per round per illusion focus.
  --Crumble: Savants receive a +1 to the DC for this spell per 15 levels.
  --Curative Spells: Savants may not cast any regeneration spells or any form of healing to cure themselves or their party. Instead, all curative spells are cast as the inflicting versions, where the savant unravels life back into its component parts. These spells are cast with a +1 to the DC per 15 savant levels.
  --Regeneration: When cast upon an enemy as a touch attack, this spell inflicts 1% negative vulnerability per point of health that would otherwise have been gained each round by a regular casting of the spell. It does not stack with multiple castings.
  --Monstrous Regeneration: When cast upon an enemy as a touch attack, this spell inflicts negative damage each round that it lasts, in the amount of (1 per 2 Savant levels * 1/necro focus).
  
  
• The abjuration school of magic is entirely forbidden to them, as it goes against their goals; preservation merely delays the inevitable.
  

Please feel free to comment/tweak/scrutinize--this is my first stab at a quasi.

Edit: I changed the shadowrift modification over to wounding to make the shadowdancer path a viable choice. Also, I added regeneration dampening to the aura ability.

Edit: I added on changes to Regeneration and Monstrous Regeneration, and took away all direct damage from Elemental Swarm.

[starlandra]

looks great, but no idea of how it would balance with other quasi's.. neat concept.

[johannhowitzer]

The background almost makes it sound like these savants want to have their cake and eat it too - like they're rather confused. Their destructive powers seem contradictory to their "grooming" role; everything you said they do in the description says they're still seeking to preserve life, not destroy it. Lastly, other than Nature's Frailty and Energy Immunity, I can't think of any reasons a Druid wants Abjuration, off the top of my head. Doesn't seem like a huge sacrifice, though you are nerfing almost every other Druid spell anyway. Did you just mean for these Savants to be unable to take Frailty?

[unwitting1]

Having destructive capabilities is by no means the same thing as aiming to snuff out all life as quickly as possible, so I don't see the inconsistency or the confusion.

I've used the quasi in campaigns where they were occasional allies of Planescape's Dustmen faction, if that helps clarify the tone of the savant, and this is a sketch at converting them over to an action server where their combat abilities are really the only part that people are interested in, rather then their ethos.

In order to understand a universal law like entropy, savants seek to learn about annihilation and unraveling matter on a mortal scale.

If you object to the use of the word "grooming" to designate a non-nurturing preparation (usually long-term, sometimes not) for oblivion, we can quibble as you see fit.

The restriction on abjuration was for consistency regarding the flavor of the quasiclass.

[johannhowitzer]

It just seems like they're participating in a lost cause, like someone trying to straighten deck chairs on a sinking ship; that's what I meant by confused. Granted none of this matters on an action server, but for the sake of my curiosity (heh), what exactly are their goals, and their reasons behind them?

[starlandra]

actually it fits rather well with the Dustmen and PS. (Star wishes Ascension would be replaced by Sigil )

[unwitting1]

I made a few changes to the spell modifications.

[FunkySwerve]

Thank you, we're currently actively looking at quasiclasses.

Funky