Adept
The Adept is one blessed by the divine powers not through diligent prayer and careful ritual, but by some form of inherent connection to their sponsoring power.
- Paths: Acolyte, Mystic
- Hit Dice: d8
- Skill Points: 4+Int (x2 at first level)
- Saves: Will high, Fort mid, Reflex low
- Attack Bonus: 3/4 progression
- Armour Proficiency: Light, Medium, Shields
Acolyte
Original Tabletop source: Miniatures Handbook (Where it is called "favored soul")
Note: This page represents a class abstract which needs rewritten for the setting's specifics.
Please note: The following class write-up is for a class that is in a beta-testing state and is incomplete on Time of Unparalleled Darkness; expect that it will be changed before it is finalized.
The acolyte follows the path of the cleric but is able to channel divine power with surprising ease. She is able to perform the same tasks as her fellow divine spellcasters but with virtually no study; to her, it comes naturally. Scholars wonder if favored souls have traces of outsider blood from unions, holy or unholy, centuries ago and generations removed. Others suggest that divine training of the proper type awakens the ability, or that acolytes are simply imbued with their gifts by their gods when they begin the cleric's path. In any case, acolyte cast their spells naturally, as much through force of personality as through study. Though this gives them extraordinary divine abilities no normal person could ever match, they see their gift as a call to action, and so in some ways may lag behind their more studious colleagues.
Acolytes cast divine spells by means of an innate connection rather than through laborious training and prayer, so their divine connection is natural rather than learned. These divine spellcasters know fewer spells and acquire powerful spells more slowly than clerics, but favored souls can cast spells more often, and they have no need to select and prepare them ahead of time.
Acolytes learn of their connection with the divine at a young age. Eventually, a young acolyte understands the power that she has been wielding unintentionally. Acolytes, as naturally inclined divine channelers, are also born loners. Unlike clerics in a temple, they gain little by sharing their knowledge and have no strong incentive to work together.
Roleplaying an Acolyte
The acolytes serves as a group's backup healer and defensive magic specialist. She can hold her own in a fight, especially if she chooses to focus on powers that aid her in combat.
Alignment and Religion
An acolyte can be of any religion. The most common deity worshiped by human acolytes in civilized lands is Pelor, god of the sun. Among nonhuman races, acolytes most commonly worship the chief deity of their racial pantheon. Unlike clerics, acolytes are not able to devote themselves to a cause or a source of divine power instead of a deity.
Acolytes as Adventurers The innate talent of spontaneously channeling divine power is unpredictable, and it can show up in any of the common races. Divine spellcasters from savage lands or from among brutal humanoid tribes (such as orcs or half-orcs) are more often acolytes than clerics.
Acolytes are often loners, wandering the land serving their deities. They are welcomed by their churches but treated as unusual and are sometimes misunderstood. They are emissaries of their deities and outside the church's command structure - respected mystics not requiring the support normally crucial to a priest's success. This makes them sometimes revered and sometimes envied by their cleric cousins. While acolytes are occasionally disrespected for their perceived lack of discipline, devout worshipers know that they are a powerful message from, and indeed a living manifestation of, their deities.
Acolytes have the most in common with members of other self-taught classes, especially sorcerers, but also druids and rogues. They sometimes find themselves at odds with members of the more disciplined classes, specifically clerics, whom they sometimes view as too wrapped up in doctrine and rigidly defined attitudes.
Mystic
Mystics are spellcasters who have learned to channel divine energy without worshiping (or even acknowledging) any deity. The process of harnessing this magic is one of inner awareness and self-discovery - a private faith that leads to great magical power. Mystical energy affects only the living or the spiritual energy that leaves the body upon death.
There are as many different types of mystics as there are mystical "spheres" of knowledge. Nomadic healers, feral shapechangers, and vile necromancers are examples of mystics.
Mystics are on a continual journey of self-discovery, their focus internal rather than external. They may undertake dangerous quests to test themselves and add to their knowledge of the spiritual forces of the world. Adventure sometimes finds mystics who do not seek it, for their powers (which do not require obedience or homage to any deity) make them useful to others.
One mystic is rarely like another, but they do have certain things in common. They tend to be introspective. The path to power requires the mystic to listen to her own inner voice. For those who do not understand, the mystic may appear to live in an inner dream. In truth, however, mystics are often better prepared to face difficult choices and confront life-changing situations than others. Mystics have already asked themselves hard questions and forced themselves to examine complex truths.
Because mystics follow an inner truth rather than a doctrine imposed on them from the outside, mystics rarely possess a lawful alignment.
During the early Age of Dreams, mystics were divine spellcasters who had yet to establish a strong relationship with the deities and instead searched for answers within themselves. During the early Age of Mortals, mystics studied their art under the direction of those who still revered the missing gods, and thus honored them in memory. After the War of Souls, many mystics rejected the deities, who seemed capricious and unreliable. Mystics are content to know that they have the power to channel divine magic without being obliged to follow rules.
Anyone who possesses the latent talent and the sensitivity required to harness the power of the heart may become a mystic. Mystics prefer quiet contemplation to crowds and noise and tend to be loners. Others search for truth in life, having failed to find it with the gods.
Mystical talent is present in almost of Ansalon's races, though most commonly found in humans and half-elves. Only the gnomes possess little talent for mysticism, preferring to work with external power and technology rather than seek answers from within.
Mystics and sorcerers work well together, since their magic functions in a similar fashion. They sometimes find themselves at odds with those who worship or revere the deities, such as clerics, knights, and Wizards of High Sorcery.
