Portalist (3.5e Prestige Class)

Author: Eiji-kun (talk) Date Created: 1-12-15 Status: Complete Editing: Mechanical changes on Talk

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Master thinking with portals, making shortcuts from A to B. 10 6 Moderate Poor Poor Good Other Other

Portalist

“	Now you're thinking with portals!	”
—Ellen, Warforged Portalist, Test #47

What is the shortest distance between two points? If you answered a straight line, you would be incorrect. Space is warped and time is now bendable. Most don't notice it, working on scales far too small to notice, but the portalist has noticed the small wrinkles and folds in the universe, and has learned to exploit them in ways never thought possible. Now you're thinking with portals!

Becoming a Portalist

Though a portalist seems the works of magic users alone, in truth they benefit those without spells the most. Often qualifying via Shadow Hand maneuvers, the ability to increase their mobility without moving is perfect to get in the face of the opponent, something most spellcasters avoid. The ability to warp space is something spellcasters already possess, so one could say they get less out of it than most.

Entry Requirements

Skills:	Knowledge The Planes 9 ranks.
Feats:	Gatecrasher.
Special:	One teleportation effect known (such as a spell, maneuver, or power).

Table: The Portalist

Hit Die: d8

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Saving Throws			Special	Maximum Spell Level Known
		Fort	Ref	Will
1st	+0	+0	+0	+2	Gate Tuner, Partial Advancement, Spells	1st
2nd	+1	+0	+0	+3	Reduce Movement 5 ft	2nd
3rd	+2	+1	+1	+3	Portal Shot (close)	3rd
4th	+3	+1	+1	+4	Reduce Movement 10 ft	4th
5th	+3	+1	+1	+4	Portal Shield, Portal Shot (medium)	5th
6th	+4	+2	+2	+5	Reduce Movement 15 ft	6th
7th	+5	+2	+2	+5	Portal Shot (long)	7th
8th	+6	+2	+2	+6	Reduce Movement 20 ft	8th
9th	+6	+3	+3	+6	Portal Shot (1 mile)	9th
10th	+7	+3	+3	+7	Demiplane, Reduce Movement 25 ft	9th
Class Skills (4 + Int modifier per level. Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Disable Device (Int), Knowledge (arcana) (nature) (religion) (the planes) (Int), Listen (Wis), Open Lock (Dex), Profession (Wis), Search (Int), Speak Language (None), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), Use Magic Device (Cha).

Table: The Epic Portalist

Level	Special
11th	Gate Tuner, Partial Advancement, Portal Shot Unlimited
12th	Reduce Movement 30 ft
13th
14th	Reduce Movement 35 ft
15th
16th	Reduce Movement 40 ft
17th
18th	Reduce Movement 45 ft
19th
20th	Reduce Movement 50 ft

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the Portalist.

Gate Tuner: When you enter the class you can perform a ritual with one magic item of your choice, which becomes your gate tuner. Vibrating with the various energies of the planes, your gate tuner allows you to cast spells through it as if it were a magic staff. You gain a number of charges for this staff equal to your class level x4, and may imbue a number of spells known into your gate tuner as per Table: Portalist Spells Known. When you cast a spell with your plane tuner, it consumes 1 charge per spell level, so a 1st level spell only consumes 1 charge while a 7th level spell consumes 8 charges.

Charges are refreshed after 8 hours, in which you retore your character level in charges. You cannot cast spells from portalist without your gate tuner, but you may perform somatic components even if the gate tuner is in your hand. If your gate tuner is lost or destroyed, you can create another one with a magic item with a 24 hour ritual and 1000 gp in magical reagents. Only you are able to use your own gate tuner for its advanced abilities; to others it is a normal magic item.

Your gate tuner counts as the focus component to plane shift spells.

Partial Advancement: Portalist levels stack with levels in one other pre-existing class of your choice (determined each time you take a level of portalist) for the purpose of determining abilities based off class level. For example, you can advance caster level, initiator level, sneak attack, rages per day, and other abilities. You do not gain new abilities granted by your class (including greater and mighty rage), nor do you learn any new maneuvers known or spells known.

Spells: The portalist does not have a normal spellcasting ability. They cast spells through their Gate Tuner as if it were a magical item akin to a staff. As such they only need a command word and do not provoke casting with their gate tuner. Unlike a staff, they must still pay any expensive material components and XP components. They cast with their highest mental ability score to determine spell DCs, but their spells per day is set by their Gate Tuner. If they do not have a mental ability score equal to at least 10 + the spell's level, they cannot cast those spells without a Use Magic Device check, as if attempting to cast from a staff without the appropriate mental ability score. The caster level of your spells is equal to your character level.

Each day you can select new spells off your class list and ready them. From that point, you can cast these spells spontaneously as if using a staff. Table: Portalist Spells Known, below, details how many spells you can ready at each level. An epic Portalist’s number of spells per day does not increase after 10th level. Choose your spells from the following list:

1st—benign transposition^SpC, mount, portal beacon^SpC, resist planar alignment^SpC, summon monster I, summon undead I^SpC, stand^PHBII,, unseen servant.

2nd—analyze portal^SpC, avoid planar effects^SpC, baleful transposition^SpC, cloak pool^SpC, dimension hop^PHBII, discolor pool^SpC, magic circile against chaos/evil/good/law, mass backstab, portal alarm^SpC, rope trick, summon elysian thrush^SpC, summon monster II, summon undead II^SpC.

3rd—anticipate teleportation^SpC, blink, dimension step^PHBII, g'elsewhere chant^SpC, persistent summon monster, safety^SpC, scattering trap^PHBII, shadow cache^SpC, shadow phase^SpC, summon kamikaze fiend, summon monster III, summon undead III^SpC.

4th—baleful blink^PHBII, cat pile, chill horde, dimension door, dimensional anchor, fire stride^SpC, improved portal alarm^SpC, lesser planar exchange^SpC, make manifest^SpC, planar tolerance^SpC, rocks fall, scramble portal^SpC, shadow well^SpC, summon elementite swarm^SpC, summon hound archon^SpC, summon monster IV, summon undead IV^SpC, translocation trick^SpC.

5th—call zelekhut^SpC, dimension shuffle^PHBII, dismissal, gravehorde, greater blink^SpC, greater dimension door^SpC, lesser dragon ally^SpC, lesser planar binding, plane shift, redirect teleport, secret chest, shadowfade^SpC, solar window, subvert planar essence^SpC, suddenly train, summon bearded devil^SpC, summon bralani eladrin^SpC, summon monster V, summon undead V^SpC, swift etherealness^PHBII, teleport, tree stride, vacuum sphere.

6th—forbiddance, gemjump^SpC, greater anticipate teleportation^SpC, hunger of the deep, mass make manifest^SpC, passage of the warp, planar binding, planar exchange^SpC, planar train, seal portal^SpC, shadow walk, summon babau demon^SpC, summon greater elemental^SpC, summon monster VI.

7th—banishment, call kolyarut^SpC, dragon ally^SpC, ethereal jaunt, greater plane shift^SpC, greater teleport, mage's magnificent mansion, phase door, planar bubble^SpC, portal barrier, suddely doomtrain, summon monster VII, teleport object.

8th—dimensional lock, fierce pride of the beastlands^SpC, forbidden call, greater planar binding, greater planar exchange^SpC, planar rip, suddenly phantom train, summon monster VIII, trap the soul.

9th—area teleport, call marut^SpC, etherealness, freedom, gate, greater dragon ally^SpC, heavenly host^SpC, hellish horde^SpC, imprisonment, otyugh swarm^SpC, pavilion of grandeur^SpC, reality maelstrom^SpC, shadow landscape^SpC, summon elemental monolith^SpC, summon golem^PHBII, summon monster IX, teleportation circle, that which hungers.

Table: Portalist Spells Known

Level	Spells Known
	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th
1st	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2nd	1	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
3rd	2	1	1	—	—	—	—	—	—
4th	2	2	1	1	—	—	—	—	—
5th	3	2	2	1	1	—	—	—	—
6th	3	3	2	2	1	1	—	—	—
7th	3	3	3	2	2	1	1	—	—
8th	4	3	3	3	2	2	1	1	—
9th	4	4	3	3	3	2	2	1	1
10th	4	4	4	3	3	3	2	2	1

Reduce Movement (Su): The portalist can open up wormholes from point A to point B, enabling him to move long distances with barely a shuffle of his feet. At 2nd level the portalist can move up to 5 ft as a free action on their turn. This movement is a teleportation effect and does not provoke attacks of opportunity. A portalist can chose to move 20 ft, wormhole 5 ft through a wall, and continue to use their remaining 10 ft of movement. This ability also allows them to stand up from prone (counting as 5 ft of movement) without provoking.

At 4th level and every even level beyond the range they can reduce movement increases by 5 ft.

Portal Shot (Sp): At 3rd level as a move action, the portalist can shoot a bolt of energy out to Close range and create a portal of their square (5 ft for Small and Medium portalists) on any flat surface large enough to hold the portal. Once per round they can fire the portal as part of a move action (akin to drawing a weapon). The portal may either be orange or blue, and they lead nowhere on their own, little more a glowing field of energy. Once one orange and one blue portal is created, the portals are linked and one can travel from one portal to another as if using ring gates with no limit. Portals must be within Close range of each other, and only one orange and one blue portal may exist at a time. Creating another orange or blue portal removes the previous instance. You may also dismiss one or both as a move action. Otherwise, they have unlimited duration.

Portals created from portal shots cannot cross planes.

At 5th, 7th, and 9th level the range you can place the portal and how far apart the portals may be increases to Medium, Long, and then 1 mile. At 11th level in epic, the range becomes unlimited.

Portal Shield (Su): At 5th level, you may summon a portal shield as a standard action. You are considered proficient in the shield, and do not take the -2 attack penalty nor face a maximum dexterity bonus for using the shield. Otherwise it is a normal portal shield of its type. The portal shield vanishes if removed from your hands for more than 1 round.

Demiplane (Su): At 10th level, you tunnel through the universe and connect a portal to your own mini-demiplane. The demiplane is 10 ft radius per character level, ending in a foggy haze which loops travelers back around themselves. You can open portals to your demiplane as a 1 round action, and can maintain up to 10 active gates at a time. You can also dismiss a gate as a standard action, closing it.

The demiplane is initially empty as the astral plane it mimics. You may import ground, structures, and items on your own.

Campaign Information

Playing a Portalist

Combat: Your initial class will often tell you the nature of how you fight, but all portalists can take advantage of reduce movement. This enables melee to get full attacks, and many tactical options.

Advancement: Many choose to return to their initial classes, making up for lost class features, or choose to find prestige classes which augment their new abilities.

Resources: Portalists are few and far between, usually restricted to those who have explores the ancient and alien texts of physics and magical sciences.

Portalists in the World

“	Speedy thing go in, speedy thing come out.	”
—Caroline, Warforged Portalist

NPC Reactions: That person is teleporting. Obviously a wizard.

Portalist Lore

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

Knowledge The Planes

DC	Result
10	Portalists learn how to bend time and space. They wield special focii which enable them to cast space-bending magic.
15	A portalist can move without moving, seeming to step through walls and crossing great distances with a single step.
20	Powerful portalists can wield portals as their shields, and build kingdoms within the size of a doorway.
30	Those that reach this level of success can research specific portalists, their location, motives, legends about them, and more.

Portalists in the Game

Adaptation: The use of tool-assisted magic can easily make the portalist a product of science instead.

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