Wordmaster (3.5e Class)

Author: Foxwarrior (talk) Date Created: 2008-09-29 Status: Playable Editing: If it makes it better (closer to Rogue balance point)

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Wordmaster

“	Gilt Charg Wyd Bang Deth Deth Deth Deth Deth Deth Deth Deth! All shall fear my wrath when the world is controlled by my skeletal army! Muahahahahaha!	”
—Seliuh Monkoth, Half-Elf Wordmaster

“	Heh. Only an idiot would combine Charg with Bang.	”
—Drozus Vlap, Halfling Fighter

The Wordmaster is a dangerous foe, striking fear into the hearts of many and confusing all who oppose them. The Wordmaster is the spontaneous casting equivalent of the Word Wizard.

Making a Wordmaster

The Wordmaster benefits from their unusual ability to create new spells on the fly. However, the rules for how their spells are created is fairly restrictive, meaning that there are many strange things that Wizards and Clerics can do that Wordmasters cannot.

Abilities: Wordmasters use Charisma to boost the power of their spells and Intelligence to learn more words.

Races: Any mentally focused race is sure to have members that would enjoy being Wordmasters, especially those that enjoy linguistics.

Alignment: Any.

Starting Gold: 6d8.

Starting Age: Complex.

Table: The Wordmaster

Hit Die: d4

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Saving Throws			Special	Words per Day
		Fort	Ref	Will
1st	+0	+0	+0	+2		5 words
2nd	+1	+0	+0	+3	Countering Words	11 words
3rd	+1	+1	+1	+3		18 words
4th	+2	+1	+1	+4		26 words
5th	+2	+1	+1	+4		35 words
6th	+3	+2	+2	+5	Nonrepetitive Prefixes	45 words
7th	+3	+2	+2	+5		56 words
8th	+4	+2	+2	+6		68 words
9th	+4	+3	+3	+6		81 words
10th	+5	+3	+3	+7	Enhancing Adjectives	95 words
11th	+5	+3	+3	+7		110 words
12th	+6/+1	+4	+4	+8		126 words
13th	+6/+1	+4	+4	+8		143 words
14th	+7/+2	+4	+4	+9	Accelerating Pronouns	161 words
15th	+7/+2	+5	+5	+9		180 words
16th	+8/+3	+5	+5	+10		200 words
17th	+8/+3	+5	+5	+10		221 words
18th	+9/+4	+6	+6	+11	Hastening Acronyms	243 words
19th	+9/+4	+6	+6	+11		266 words
20th	+10/+5	+6	+6	+12		290 words
Class Skills (4 + Int modifier per level, ×4 at 1st level) Concentration (Con), Craft (Any word-related (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Forgery (Int), Listen (Wis) Speak Language (None), Spellcraft (Int),

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the Wordmaster.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Wordmasters are not proficient with any weapons. They are also not proficient with any armor and suffer from arcane spell failure penalties while wearing it.

Spells: The Wordmaster uses wordcasting to cast spells.

When the Wordmaster levels up, they learn one new word at random. If their intelligence is at least 11, they roll for two random words and pick one. If it is at least 15, they can choose whether the word will be a Modifier Word, a Spell Shape Word, or an Effect Word. If it is at least 19, they can choose the word.

A first-level Wordmaster knows one Modifier Word of their choice, one Spell Shape Word of their choice, and two Effect words of their choice, plus a number of bonus Effect words equal to their Intelligence modifier. These bonus words are randomized as though they had acquired them on a level up.

All words the Wordmaster knows are drawn from the wordcasting page, and cannot be words that are specifically restricted to other classes.

The save DC of a Wordmaster spell is equal to 10 + one third the spell's word count + the Wordmaster's Charisma modifier.

Countering Words: Whenever a Wordmaster correctly identifies a spell with a verbal component, they may expend any number of words greater than four. The character casting the spell must then pass a Concentration check with a DC equal to half the number of words expended plus the Wordmaster's Intelligence modifier or the spell is countered.

Nonrepetitive Prefixes: The Wordmaster may reduce the casting time of his spells by condensing long chains of the same spell word into a prefix and a spell word. The time it takes to cast the spell is reduced by one fewer than the number of words removed in this way, but all other attributes of the spell are left unchanged. For example, without using Nonrepetitive Prefixes, the spell "Bang Pyr Pyr Pyr Pyr Pyr" would normally take a standard action to cast. With Nonrepetitive Prefixes, it could be spoken as "Bang Pentapyr", meaning it would take a swift action to cast.

Enhancing Adjectives: The Wordmaster may Craft Wondrous Items, Forge Rings, Brew Potions, and Craft Magic Arms and Armor as though they knew all the necessary spells. However, they must pay 1/15th of the item's cost in XP instead of 1/25th. They must still possess the prerequisite feats.

Accelerating Pronouns: The Wordmaster's spells are cast twice as quickly. As such, they take twice as many words to cross each time interval threshold.

Hastening Acronyms: The Wordmaster chooses one spell (combination of spell words) to make into an acronym. They may cast that spell as an Immediate Action if it is fewer than ten words long, a Swift Action if it is fewer than fifteen words long, or a Standard Action otherwise.

Epic Wordmaster

Table: The Epic Wordmaster

Hit Die: d4

Level	Special
21st
22nd	Hastening Acronyms
23rd
24th	Hastening Acronyms
25th
26th	Hastening Acronyms
27th
28th	Hastening Acronyms
29th
30th	Hastening Acronyms
4 + Int modifier skill points per level.

Spellcasting: The Wordmaster continues learning words as normal (If there are any left)

Campaign Information

Playing a Wordmaster

Combat: Wordmasters generally fill the same roles as Sorcerers or Clerics, although they do it less reliably and in a more adaptable fashion.

Advancement: Wordmasters would do well to consider gaining levels in Inanomancer, Scriptwriter, Literate Mage, Word of Life, Word of Undeath, Word of Lies, or Wordsman, since all of these are prestige classes designed for Wordmasters.

Wordmasters in the World

“	Ahh, words. Such power they have, yet so overlooked.	”
—Seliuh Monkoth, Half-Elf Wordmaster

Daily Life: Seliuh Monkoth, on a good day, wakes up, goes to the library and reads a large book, and then wanders over to some helpless bastion of good and slaughters all living beings within it in a blast of incredible death.

Notables: Seliuh Monkoth is the most notable Wordmaster, but Rejebus Vaweeler, renowned historian, scholar, and slayer of small armies is another one.

Organizations: Bookish Wordmasters often run into each other in libraries and bookstores. The more violent kind, however, is generally more likely to be found wandering between public speeches.

NPC Reactions: NPCs tend not to approve of Wordmasters. Sure, they are mere students of grammar and proper sentence structure. On the other hand, they have a tendency to annihilate small cities.

Wordmaster Lore

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

Knowledge(Local)

DC	Result
5	Wordmasters can create their own blend of magic. You can expect them to cast a slightly different spell every time.
10	Wordmasters are limited to a certain number of words per day before they must rest.
15	Wordmasters are skilled at countering spells, and may later become adept at crafting magic items.
20	Incredibly powerful Wordmasters can make acronyms of their spells in order to cast them far more efficiently, but they cannot change the spell if it is an acronym.

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